Chicago Tribune admits 'breach'

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: Chicago Tribune admits 'breach' : Chicago Tribune halts project that let readers view unpublished story outlines : By Phil Rosenthal | Tribune reporter : May 1, 2009 : A short-lived research project in which the Chicago Tribune solicited responses from current and former subscribers to descriptions of Tribune stories before they had been published has been halted after reporters raised journalistic concerns. : Gerould Kern, the Tribune's editor, gathered newsroom staff Thursday to tell them the brief experiment was over and to field their questions a day after a letter signed by dozens of editorial employees alerted him to the unorthodox sharing of unpublished materials. : "We've stopped this," Kern said later. "To prematurely disseminate information about stories in progress compromises reporting. ... There are a lot of reasons, such as potential legal [issues], fairness, accuracy and completeness. : "Reporters raised this question, as they should. Editors responded. We had a conversation about it. We made it clear what our values are. It was an affirmation of what we all believe in this afternoon, even though there was a breakdown and it was unfortunate, and we wish it hadn't happened." : The employees' letter to Kern and Jane Hirt, the Tribune's managing editor, expressed concern that providing story information to those outside the newsroom prior to publication seemed "to break the bond between reporters and editors in a fundamental way." : Kern agreed. He said he had been unaware that the research project, a collaboration between the paper's editorial and marketing departments that previously asked consumers about general topics and past Tribune stories, had in the last two weeks begun asking for their preferences regarding the synopses of stories not yet in print. : "The right questions weren't asked at the right time," Kern said. "There was a failure of communication and a breakdown in judgment, and that resulted in a mistake. We want people to be entrepreneurial, to take action, and that can result in mistakes, and it did in this case. : "I take responsibility for that because it stops with me. No matter how busy I was, and I was, this should have gotten on my radar screen and I should have been more tuned into it. : "Everyone who had a role in it understands what the breach was about, and we are going to ensure that communication and discussion goes on so mistakes like this don't happen again." : He did not identify those who had a role in the project. : Surveys were sent by e-mail to around 9,000 would-be readers on two occasions. About 500 responded to each, indicating which of 10 story ideas they preferred. Kern said the stories "tended to be news features," and the results never made it to him or had any impact in how stories were handled. : "Journalists make decisions about news play. We're not taking a marketing survey and adding up the numbers and saying, 'OK, this goes on Page One,' " he said. "Research is an important tool in understanding consumer needs. It provides context, and we listen to it carefully. ... You can get compass directions on people's interests and the trends. That becomes part of your broader understanding about your audience." : It is not known if other newspapers have presented unpublished story ideas to the public for appraisal. Lee Enterprises' Wisconsin State Journal of Madison, Wis., for a time let online readers vote on stories to appear on the next day's front page.

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