{"id":8323,"date":"2015-07-29T21:30:17","date_gmt":"2015-07-30T02:30:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=8323"},"modified":"2015-07-29T21:52:35","modified_gmt":"2015-07-30T02:52:35","slug":"sam-zell-hit-with-unintended-pitch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2015\/07\/29\/sam-zell-hit-with-unintended-pitch\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Zell hit with unintended pitch"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Jim<\/a>

<\/a> Jim O'Shea<\/p><\/div>\n

It takes real chutzpah to publicly shame a guy for practically wrecking journalism and then hit him up for a donation to help bankroll a journalist.<\/p>\n

But Jim O\u2019Shea has an explanation for his wayward pitch to Sam Zell.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Shea, a former editor at the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times and founder of the late Chicago News Cooperative, is author of The Deal From Hell,<\/em> a scathing indictment of Zell\u2019s ill-fated acquisition of Tribune Co. and its eventual bankruptcy. In his 2011 book, O\u2019Shea blames the foul-mouthed billionaire and his henchmen for nearly destroying the company \u2014 and the quality of journalism it represented.<\/p>\n

\"Sam<\/a>

Sam Zell<\/p><\/div>\n

So it was surprising to find Zell\u2019s name among those who were sent an email solicitation from O\u2019Shea last week on behalf of Paul Salopek,<\/a> a former Chicago Tribune reporter who\u2019s retracing on foot the global migration of mankind in a 21,000-mile, seven-year odyssey around the world.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Shea helped launch a Kickstarter campaign<\/a> to \u201csupport the penetrating journalism being practiced by Paul . . . as he engages the major stories of our times and connects with students around the globe to tell them of the people and problems he encounters.\u201d<\/p>\n

O\u2019Shea said he \u201cdidn\u2019t notice\u201d Zell\u2019s name among his email recipients until I pointed it out. \u201cI simply sent the appeal to all of my email contacts, Facebook friends, Twitter followers and LinkedIn contacts,\u201d he said. \u201cSam must have been on the list from my days in L.A. when we were on better terms. I'd welcome a donation from him, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of Wednesday, the campaign raised more than $21,000 \u2014 close to half its $45,000 goal \u2014 with about two weeks to go.<\/p>\n

I asked O\u2019Shea to tell me if Zell responds. \u201cWill do,\u201d he said, \u201cbut don't hold your breath.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is the text of O\u2019Shea\u2019s solicitation:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dear Friends,<\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes it seems like a day doesn\u2019t pass that I don\u2019t hear someone complain about the sorry state of journalism. Well here\u2019s a chance to do something about it: Support the penetrating journalism being practiced by Paul Salopek on his unique Out of Eden Walk.<\/em><\/p>\n

Paul started about two and a half years ago in Ethiopia, walked up through the Middle East and now is in Tbilisi, Georgia preparing for the next phase of his 21,000 mile, seven-year journey following mankind\u2019s trek from the heart of Africa to the tip of South America. He has walked about 4,000 miles so far.<\/em><\/p>\n

We have a new Kickstarter campaign http:\/\/kck.st\/1HrPlRS<\/a> for those who want to support Paul as he engages the major stories of our times and connects with students around the globe to tell them of the people and problems he encounters. Visit the Out of Eden Walk website www.outofedenwalk.com<\/a> to read stories of compassion, hope, triumph and tragedy.<\/em><\/p>\n

The world sorely needs journalists like Paul Salopek and his brand of \u201cSlow Journalism,\u201d the kind that takes time and digs deep. Support us if you can.<\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks so much,<\/em><\/p>\n

James O\u2019Shea<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It takes real chutzpah to publicly shame a guy for practically wrecking journalism and then hit him up for a donation to help bankroll a journalist. But Jim O\u2019Shea has an explanation for his wayward pitch to Sam Zell.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8323"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8323"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8328,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8323\/revisions\/8328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}