Chicago Tribune

It would appear from published reports that our new President is committed to working to reduce or even eliminate mercury pollution. This is good news. An aggressive, science-based approach to cleaning up the environment is something everyone welcomes.

It's a question perhaps best answered by his bosses, and we're sending them a letter asking just that. We'll let you know what they say. But while they ponder that query let's take a look at his latest Chicago Tribune article titled Mercury-tainted fish on FDA menu. The very first paragraph is quintessential Hawthorne; a mix of distortion, opinion and poor (if not absent) sourcing.

It wasn’t long ago that we told you about some questionable standards at the Chicago Tribune and how the official

So it looks like the Chicago Tribune is completely satisfied that Michael Hawthorne's latest story about mercury in seafood meets its high journalism standards, an interesting development given the paper's once-proud lineage.

The Chicago Tribune fears that it was unclear in its previous letters. They wrote back yesterday to reiterate that they believe Mr. Hawthorne's article was "factual and fair."

Here's a look at our latest letter to the Tribune. I am eager to hear back from them and without sounding catty I fear the managment may be ignoring our requests. With that in mind I must say, perhaps prematurely, that if they are indeed simply ignoring our requests their silence speaks volumes. The old adage that if you ignore a problem it will go away isn't what I would consider a thorough proactive management technique. But I will hold off on my judgment for now.

Here's the latest on our contacts with the Chicago Tribune. I wrote to the Standards Editor Margaret Holt  last week to make sure she had received my pervious emails and was aware of my continued request for review of Mr. Hawthorne's work. That was just about a full week ago. My letter to her can be found below.

Still no word from the Chicago Tribune on our multiple requests for a review of Michael Hawthorne's latest story about mercury in seafood, so let's continue to look at some of his previous work.

While we wait for the Chicago Tribune to answer our requests for a review of Michael Hawthorne's latest story about mercury in seafood let's take a look at some of his previous work.

We heard back from the Chicago Tribune last night. Take a look at what they wrote: Mr. Gibbons: