The Chicago Sun-Times‘ bias against former Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene is showing. In a remarkable story, on Saturday, reporter Scott Fornek quizzes the local branch of the FBI on its investigation of the woman with whom Greene had a sexual encounter 10 years ago. The second paragraph of the story states:
A spokesman for the bureau’s Chicago office said agents did not give the now-disgraced former Chicago Tribune columnist special treatment because of any influence he may have had as a media star.
So who was accusing Greene of using influence with the FBI? The Sun-Times story doesn’t name names. But Green’s detractors — many of them journalists at rival publication who lack Greene’s celebrity or commercial success — have been openly speculating that Greene sent the FBI after this woman as a way to intimidate her. No so says the FBI:
“What influence?” Special Agent Ross Rice quipped to a reporter. “You guys would probably get less response from us. No offense.”
None taken.
If the there serious allegations that Greene exercised influence, that the Sun-Times and the Tribune should have reported it, not speculated about it in a story. If the Tribune knows, and it should, it has an obligation to report it. But the Tribune gave up the ghost on the public’s right to know a long time ago by keeping important details about this case from the public. The Sun-Times isn’t distinguishing itself with its reporting about it either, preferring to let columnist Neil Steinberg, who has his own ethical problems, speak for the paper. Steinberg, in a Salon.com article, accused Greene of scouring “trailer-parks” to get information on child abuse cases. It is a racist and class-based slur on child abuse victims that would probably lead to Steinberg’s departure from the Sun-Times if more Chicago residents were aware of it. Steinberg also wrote the anonymous “Bob Watch” column in the Chicago Reader than regularly criticized Greene.
Fornek’s story has objectivity problems that a fresh-out-of-college copy editor should have caught. Fornek refers to Greene as a “now-disgraced former Chicago Tribune columnist.” That Greene is a former columnist for the Trib is a matter if fact. The exact details of the incident that led to the departure are a matter of conjecture, thanks to his and the Tribune’s reticence to reveal all the details. Whether Greene is “disgraced” is a matter of opinion, and opinion has no place in a news story. Well, it has no place in most newspapers. I have learned over the years that small newspapers tend to take objectivity more seriously than big city papers.
The Trib’s Crystal Yednak and Jim Kirk double-teamed to write a very matter-of-fact article about the same subject. The story ended with prepared quotes from publisher Scott Smith that repeat the company line that Greene’s firing had nothing to do with sex, but about an ethics violation. It is a contention that is getting harder and harder to believe as more details are revealed. An incident of consensual sex with a person above the age of consent with a person who was the subject of a column ten years ago is, by itself, an ethical violation so serious, it required termination of employment. It just doesn’t pass the smell test and there isn’t any reporter worth a byline who believes this is the whole story.
Sun Times,Bob Greene,Chicago Tribune,Salon,Neil Steinberg
