Mad About You

Mad About You

In the have-your-cake-and-eat-it-too department, Chicago Sun-Times publisher John Cruickshank—well known in T.O. as a former managing editor at the Globe—wrote an open letter to his readers yesterday making a Pollyannaish vow of journalistic chastity. “Despite feelings of resentment that are still quite inflamed in some quarters,” it read, “our coverage of Mr. Black’s trial will be founded on the presumption that he and his colleagues are innocent until they are proven guilty.” (The phrase “in some quarters” is particularly coy.)

Having set up the high-mindedness of his purpose, Cruickshank then took the opportunity to lambaste his former bosses. “These events stir strong feelings among those of us who lived through the trying years of Black’s control at the Sun-Times’ parent company,” he wrote. “While our talented staff made valiant efforts to improve the quality of the paper, far too little was done by our parent firm to invest in a unique community enterprise experiencing intense competition in a challenging industry.” Nice. The piece was a classic example of the wise dictum “always kick a man when he’s down.”

All of which brings to mind the scene in Richard Siklos’ biography Shades of Black, in which Cruickshank whinges at David Radler about having to suffer Barbara Amiel’s disparaging comments regarding the state of the Sun-Times. “Tell her to fuck off,” came Radler’s blasé reply.

Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold.