Tronc Pulls Bob Seidenberg From Evanston Beat

EVANSTON, IL - A reporter who has covered news in Evanston for decades has been reassigned to the west suburbs by Tronc, the company formerly known as Tribune Publishing.

The move comes after a dispute between Bob Seidenberg and an editor over Seidenberg’s decision to withhold his name from an article he deemed was inaccurate after his lead was changed, according to the Chicago News Guild - the labor union representing Seidenberg and other Pioneer Press reporters.

Seidenberg told the Guild that top Pioneer Press editor John Puterbaugh said he was tired of dealing with such matters. Shortly after, he was pulled from the Evanston beat.

Pioneer Press has denied the move was a result of the dispute over the removal of the byline and told Seidenberg it was “a business decision,” according to the Guild.

Seidenberg has been a mainstay with the Evanston Review for nearly 30 years and has become a fixture in the community.

But beginning on Sept. 26, he’ll be assigned to a beat covering Franklin Park and other suburbs west of the city. When informed of the re-assignment, Seidenberg told Puterbaugh his experience would benefit the Tribune most if he stayed in Evanston.

For years, the Evanston Review has been an anchor for Pioneer Press. Ownership of Pioneer Press changed in recent hands from the Chicago Sun-Times to Tribune Publishing. Pioneer Press operates several other weekly newspapers in Chicago’s North Shore suburbs.

Seidenberg is one of several Pioneer Press reporters who are contracted through the Chicago News Guild union and have the right to withhold their name from any story. Craig Rosenbaum, executive director of the Guild, says Tronc’s move was nothing more than “retaliation.”

“Bob is being punished for exercising a contractual right,” Rosenbaum said. “I don’t think it’s a coincidence that he asked for his byline to be held just before this. Removing Bob from Evanston will be a loss to Evanston.”

Well-known Evanston residents like Hecky Powell, owner of the famous Hecky’s Barbecue, also blasted the move by Tronc.

“Pulling Bob from Evanston is stupid,” Powell told the Guild. “I’ve known all the reporters here. No one can build the kind of trust Bob has … They are making a huge mistake.”

Powell added that Seidenberg knows Evanston like “the back of his hand.”