• by John Gaffney , October 8, 2002

Catching The Red Eye: I think The Chicago Tribune’s decision to launch Red Eye is a big deal. It is potentially a watershed moment in the newspaper business, maybe on the scale of USA Today’s launch. If you haven’t heard, what the Tribune has done is launch a mini-version of its news and entertainment content aimed at the younger end of its demographic spectrum. A similar, less formulated idea was floated by USA Today founder Al Neuharth earlier this year, but it never found traction. Red Eye marks a potentially brilliant opportunity. It reaches out to the younger, less patient reader in a way that the Internet does. Quick, easy, accessible. If it finds its mark, I have to believe the Nikes, Warner Bros. and Budweisers of the world will be interested. I have to believe it will copied in other ways, in other markets. The Red Eye strategy also makes an unstated but dangerous admission. It admits that a journalistic and advertising stalwart like the Trib is having trouble connecting to a big part of its audience. Maybe that’s admitting what the whole industry has been whispering. But I love it when big companies roll the dice. Props to the Trib. Now if someone could fix the Bears, the Windy City would be on a roll.

Out In The Street: Let’s face it. Halloween was off at retail (although my wife doesn’t seem to be done spending money on it yet), and now NPD Group predicts a flat Christmas. Q1’s economy will be all about driving out inventories. Good news in Q1 for radio and local newspapers. Potentially bad news for those two media in Q2.

None Of My Business, But: As long as Time Magazine has started the process for Person of the Year nominations, I think the person who has most influenced the news for better or worse is captured Bin Laden lieutenant Abu Zubaydah. If he gave up as much information as many news sources say he did, he stopped a lot of terrorist activity this year. It would be a very ballsy call. It has no shot.