Who is behind ChicagoTribunal.com?

I often search Google for stories similar to ones I’ve written to see who else is talking about them. Recently, local reporters have been talking about whether or not the city is planning on closing any of its mental health centers.

The Chicago Tribune has written a number of stories, several of which took place at town hall meetings with Mayor Daley.

I expected to see them on ChicagoTribune.com. I did not expect to see those mental health stories – indeed, all of the Chicago Tribune’s stories – on ChicagoTribunal.com.

Chicago Tribunal? It looks a lot like the Trib’s pre-redesign site, and the logo uses the same old(e) English font as the Trib. But it’s not the Tribune. It’s merely a regurgitation of Trib stories on a copycat site.

So who’s behind it? Tough question.

I typed in www.chicagotribunal.com into the form at the powerful domain search engine WhoIs.net.

I didn’t tell me who the operator was, as it does with many sites. Instead it gave me an address and a phone number.

And when I typed the phone number into the White Pages’ reverse directory, it came up one Adriano Galliani, who shared the same address as the WhoIs listing. It also listed a business, AC Milan Online Shop. Galliani, Google tells me, owns AC Milan, the stories Italian soccer club.

But why would a rich Italian sportsman own a copycat Web site? It makes no sense.

Turns out the address, 8939 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Westchester, Calif, is occupied by WhoIs, and it allows Web site domain owners to hide their real addresses.

WhoIs tells readers to check out ChicagoTrbunal.com’s listing on AboutUs.Org, which tells us it is a Chicago news site, with related sites including ChicagoTribune.com and ChicagoBreakingNews.com, both Trib properties. Its Alexa rankings don’t even register.

A Free Republic article from 2004 shows these elusive domains are quite common, and some of them are hidden by their Web hosts. There is some concern that these sites might be run by terrorist cells. In fact, the Free Republic story notes that one Web host, HostingAnime, lists the Sepulveda address as its home base. But building managers said it is not actually located there.

Should the Trib be worried about this copycat? Probably not. Unlike some aggregators, it has a miniscule audience and next to no outreach, meaning its only readers are probably like me, coming across it unwittingly.

But I wonder if the site will last after TribCo finds out about it. It seems like there would be a case for misrepresentation and unfair use of content. But I’m no lawyer.

By the way, AboutUs recommends a number of URLs which have yet to be purchased. Maybe I’ll gobble up ChicagoTribunet.com or ChicagoTribunen.com. I may just be the next shady dot com media mogul

Does anyone know how or why these sites operate? Chicago Tribunal has no advertising, so what’s the point? Color me intrigued.

In praise of copy editors

Ah, copy editors. The unheralded saviors of newsrooms everywhere. It's too bad they are casualties of the faltering news business, in addition to reporters. Doh.

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In which I take credit for breaking the StreetWise story on Twitter

Not that it matters, but it was interesting to watch the development of stories about the potential demise of "StreetWise," a paper peddled by homeless Chicagoans.

And I submit that I was the first to say anything about it. Again, not that it matters.

I had a news release from Ald. Manny Flores this morning, discussing his plan to hold City Council hearings about StreetWise, which has suffered from the shoddy economy.

Soon after I read the release, I posted a note on Twitter:



















Shortly after that, a few people retweeted the note. And then the media got a hold of it. In fact, the story in on the front page of chicagotribune.com right now.

So this is the "who cares?" moment.

Nobody cares that I was the first to say anything, and they shouldn't. It's just kind of cool to know you're ahead of the curve, and that you were a catalyst in something that everyone's talking about.

I do hope that StreetWise finds the help it needs. It's vendors are part of the patchwork that makes up Chicago. Some are pushy, some are surly, but the best ones - the creative ones - leave an impression and make you want to buy that paper.

In which I talk beat blogging

Pat Thornton of BeatBlogging.org interviewed me about my new Chi-Town Daily News blog, Chicago Health Matters. We spoke on Friday about why we started the blog - it's what you need to do in an online world - and how we hope to enhance our coverage of public health in Chicago (more reader interaction equals more discussion equals story ideas and maybe sources).

I talked to Pat last year about Schoolhouse Talk, the education beat blog I kept at the Journal-World.

Listen to the interview HERE (or you can read about it, too).

Giving readers in¢entive$ to $ubscribe to newspapers

The echo chamber of how to save the news business is as loud as it’s ever been.

The recent Chicago Journalism Townhall brought much discussion but few answers to how news organizations in Chicago might survive in the future.

The closing of the Rocky Mountain News Friday and the clouded futures of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and San Francisco Chronicle are underscoring the dire situation in which newspapers find themselves. Broadcast is not immune either, as the closing of bankrupt Tribune Co.’s Washington television bureau shows.

Rumor of the Kansas City Star shuttering some suburban bureaus, following devastating layoffs, bring the issue close to home in that city.

Just this week, Cablevision announced its Newsday would begin charging for online content. Hearst is exploring similar measures. And a lot of people don’t think this tactic will fly.

What other options are out there? Heck if I know, but I wonder if the following would fly:

• Give newspaper subscribers another incentive to get the paper: Make subscriptions tax-deductible. This is something I know next to nothing about, but if government appreciates the place the Fourth Estate holds in our democracy, this idea might gain traction. Readers could get some sort of tax incentive from local, state or the federal government to subscribe to the newspaper.

• Charge a small annual fee to give readers the privilege of commenting online. It’s often the most passionate (take that any way you want) who comment on news stories. A lot of people get fired up when their comments are removed from sites, claiming First Amendment violations, but the fact remains, it is the news organization’s choice to allow the public to participate in a forum. It is their choice to let people browse for free – or not.

• Charge for external components: Tribune Co. is part owner of CareerBuilder, the job search Web site. Having used this site in the past, I can attest that I’ve never paid a buck to post my resume, browse jobs or apply for new gigs. (It may be that CareerBuilder charges for some services, but I can’t determine that) Why not allow people to post their resumes for free, but charge for different levels of access to jobs? This is one example of external companies that are owned by news companies.
  

• I’m a big fan of wacky marketing ideas. Case in point: The Golden Ticket. It sent the world into a frenzy when Willy Wonka announced a lucky few could visit his (creepy) chocolate factory if they found a Golden Ticket. While this idea doesn’t leverage the news so much, I think newspapers could do a lot with the idea of a Golden Ticket. Five newspapers will include Super Bowl tickets/Eagles tickets/a fabulous Hawaiian vacation, etc. The Sun-Times does this periodically, and recently gave a reader a check for $25,000. For some towns, this is a great marketing opportunity for not only the paper, but also for businesses/advertisers.
  

Could ideas like this save the Rocky? I don’t know. But we’ve got to be open-minded, even if it means appearing close-minded. Too much is at stake.

Constructive criticism for "The Printed Blog"

About two months ago, I was ruminating about the future of journalism and how I could capitalize off the industry's woes. I realized that I and many other journalists will have to keep plugging away towards something to tip the balance back in our favor, but not before I had a genius idea.

Wouldn't it be great, I thought, if you could take locally produced news and blog content from the Web and repurpose it in print to distribute for free as a commuter tabloid, relying on local advertising? You can imagine my shock and dismay when I read several weeks later about The Printed Blog, a commuter tabloid relying on local advertising that repurposes locally produced Web content for print. Naturally, I think entrepreneur Scott Karp has a good idea here, and it debuted to much fanfare from major media outlets.

I finally got my hands on a copy of the full color, glossy rag, which looks more like Rolling Stone than the Sun-Times (PDF here). I was looking forward to seeing how Karp and his team presented my brilliant idea (with a hat-tip to Karp for putting it in motion...oh, and coming up with the same idea). I am unimpressed, and here's why.

I will concede that The Printed Blog, which is also distributed in San Francisco, is in its infancy, and is still working to add contributors, and is not a final product (in searching for a tagline, its temporary tag reads "Tagline would actually be nice here").

The publication strives to be uber-local, adding advertisers that appeal to crowds at certain L stops in Chicago. That said, I was expecting similiarly local blog content. But when I read the Feb. 17 edition, given to me by a co-worker, I found only one story that even mentioned Chicago. It was written by a blogger that apparently lives in New York.

Only two stories appeared to be written by Chicagoans. One was from a blog called Second City Hockey, and talked about how the NHL should link up with Turner Sports. The other, from The Latest and Greatest, compared the live viewing experiences of Oprah vs. Bozo the Clown.

To recap: Chicago mentioned once in a publication aimed at Chicagoans. Other places mentioned include: Washington, D.C.; New York; Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico, North Dakota and Texas, in a story about states that have decent job markets; and Rhode Island. There's also a story written by what appears to be a British writer. A front-pager dealing with Proposition 8 was written by a New York blogger.

So this seems contrary to uber-localism. There's not one piece of content from some of the well-known local blogs, like Chicagoist or Gapers Block (which may not be signed on to contribute). Seems to me that if you're going to appeal to Chicagoans, your content should deal with issues and themes relevant to Chicago.

I also didn't like how TPB shared links to the blogs. Rather than showing readers they could visit a blog at say, www.webstainedwretch.blogspot.com, it directs to sites like tpburl.com/0rdnq3. If you go there, you'll somehow reach The Latest and Greatest. But tpburl.com is TPB's "link direction system," which I can only imagine leads to more clicks at TPB's Web site. It takes away from writers the opportunity for immediate recognition.

I don't know if it's because my 20s are waning, but I thought a lot of the content in this particular issue was lacking in substance. A rant about stupid band names (Wilco, Nirvana, the Beatles, apparently) by a guy who just discovered My Morning Jacket lacked passion. A Seattle blogger's story on foie gras is old news to Chicagoans. A lengthy detailing of a British girl's attempts at a one-night stand made me cringe. A slightly unpleasant story about kids trying anal sex would do little brighten a morning commute.

There's a lot of good blogging and reporting happening by indie outlets in Chicago. This could be a great place for them to be featured.

Lastly, I am not a big fan of the ultra-glossy paper. I was reading this issue at home and it was difficult to read, since the pages reflected the light in my apartment. I would suspect that newsprint would be easier on the eyes, easier to fold and read, and perhaps even cheaper to produce.

Now, this post is not meant as a slam on TPB, which I think has potential if it thinks more about its audience. And this is a non-scientific analysis of just one issue. If I looked through others, I might find differently. I hope so.

I wish the TPB the best of luck, but I think it needs to take a deep breath and think about how this publication can serve readers and survive.