The Name Game in Chicago

Wow. I hadn't heard of this yet, although I did notice referers coming in from their new domain. I haven't had a chance to email Geoff Dougherty about it yet, but I welcome him here to share his thoughts. He pretty much sums it up in his blog post, though. The Sun-Times, which, like other newspapers, is ... well, you know. Anyway, they sent a letter to PublicMedia, the non-profit group set up by Dougherty and others, demanded they stop using the name Chicago Daily News. Here's the interesting bit (maybe) Dougherty is taking it fairly well, saying the money they have would be better spent paying journos. They've relocated to Chi-Town Daily News. Still, shame on the Sun-Times. Should we start a letter writing campaign? Nah, I think they've shown what kind of company they are.

Dougherty wrote:

To be blunt, we’ve been bullied by a huge corporation, which never sits well. And we’ve been the target of some cheesy conduct by executives at a newspaper that claims to stick up for the little guy and is quick to question the conduct of others.

When I say cheesy, here’s what I mean: The Sun-Times closed the Chicago Daily News in 1978. Since then they’ve sporadically published old Daily News articles in the Sun-Times. They appear to have spent no money marketing the name in more than 25 years, and don’t appear to get any revenue from using it. They don’t publish a newspaper called the Daily News, don’t operate a website called the Daily News, and don’t list the Daily News as a business unit in any of their federal regulatory filings. Clerks who answer the phone at the Sun-Times are unaware that the company publishes any material using the Daily News name. When I called there recently to check, a receptionist on the city desk informed me, helpfully and accurately, that the Daily News had closed in 1978.

Yet Sun-Times lawyers claimed under penalty of perjury in a trademark filing last year that the paper was continuing to use the name in commerce. The filing claimed the Sun-Times was publishing a “news column” under the name.

The last time I looked in my dictionary, news means something that’s new – not ancient recycled copy. And using a name in commerce means trying to make money with it, not occasionally trotting it out to keep your trademark safe.

We hope the Secretary of State and the Illinois Attorney General's office will investigate whether the Sun-Times' filings constitute perjury.

It’s also worth noting that the Sun-Times told us they were planning to spend up to $400,000 of their shareholders’ money to fight us over the Chicago Daily News name. The Sun-Times is losing money, according to its most recent quarterly report. And it isn’t, as far as I can tell, making any money with the Chicago Daily News name. If you’re a shareholder of Sun-Times stock or a member of the company’s board, I hope you’ll ask some pointed questions about why executives were willing to spend a pile of your money on a baseless lawsuit to protect a name that’s not producing revenue. To me, this seems like a pretty clear breach of fiduciary duty by the folks running the Sun-Times.

Lastly, I hope people at the Sun-Times will take a hard look at their commitment to the First Amendment in the wake of this episode. Newspapers, including the Sun-Times, have protested loudly whenever others enlist the courts in an effort to interfere with reporting and publishing the news. By quickly and enthusiastically threatening to use the courts to shut down our website, the Sun-Times has tainted its legacy as a protector of the First Amendment, and made it difficult for anyone to take seriously its arguments against court intervention in future cases.

Meanwhile, we will redouble our efforts to revive the kind of journalism that made the Daily News a great Chicago newspaper. And if you’ve got comments or suggestions on all of this, please let us know.

Wow. There is Journalism Hope. And it ain't coming from big media. Imagine that.

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