Chicago Daily Observer

As the national media finally swarms around Barack Obama, asking him about his same day property purchase with accused corruption kingpin Tony Rezko, most of the questions are off the mark.

Here is the question he needs to be asked:

This appears to be the danger zone for Obama. From my seat, this seems to be the most logical reason for Rezko’s participation in the purchase. Acknowledging that reason could be deadly to Obama because it might be construed as a gift and therefore a Senate ethics violation. The association with Rezko, by itself, is bad judgment but nothing more. Any arrangement that bestowed a gift upon Obama is much worse.

You couldn’t ask for a bigger task. Turn around a newspaper giant when the newspaper business is sinking fast, perhaps irretrievably. There are few institutions more stodgy and resistant to innovation than a newspaper, and especially a large one like the Chicago Tribune.

Sam Zell and his band of unconventional managers are trying anyway. I like their style. This presentation is instructive and entertaining. If anybody can break the mindset and possibly reinvent the product, it might be Zell.

Do you remember watching previous Tribune management talks to employees on the Internet? This is more than a shakeup—it’s an upheaval.