GREAT inside account of life at the Sun-Times under Conrad Black

[Cocoa]

Telander is a darn good writer...

http://www.suntimes.com/output/telander/cst-spt-rick21.html

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I could feel the pulse go down at the Sun-Times as things like Conrad Black's parties and photo ops with Donald Trump (what in the hell should that hairball ever have to do with journalism?) became more important than hiring a good copy editor.

The old Sun-Times building, sold for a profit that never came close to trickling down to the rank-and-file, was allowed to deteriorate to the point that this sports guy was embarrassed to take any human being into the working area.

The filth was stunning.

Ruined ceiling tiles, battered desks from the 1960s, hideously stained carpet, fingernail clippings under tables, grease spots on the walls, clocks that never changed time, a discount-store couch that sank to the floor -- the Sun-Times newsroom was a wreck of a place that somehow still produced quality work.

One afternoon in the late 1990s, fellow writer Carol Slezak and I were so nauseated that we got cleanser, paper towels and garbage containers and attempted to make at least one desk look sanitary and reasonable.

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