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More Warmth. Before it was bought by the Chicago Tribune in 1956, the afternoon American followed the Hearst formula of crime and sex and did not even think of competing with the top-ranked News. That largely has changed under Tribune-appointed Editor Lloyd Wendt, who often beats the News on breaking stories. "I thought we ought to write short, edit tightly, emphasize things of interest to women and develop a stable of good features," says American Publisher Stuart List. "It seems to me that if we edit for the great middle class, we put out a good paper." The American manages to remain editorially independent of the inflexibly right-wing Trib. "I'm sure when we came out for Senator Douglas over
Chuck Percy, there was some gulping over there," says List. "But we never heard about it."
The unlooked-for troubles of the News puzzle everybody. With reporters such as Washington Bureau Chief Peter Lisagor and columnists such as Mike Royko, the paper has perhaps the most talent of any in Chicago. But since the 1950s, it has not been able to come to any useful conclusion about what it wants to be. Editor Larry Fanning tried to make it a quality paper with a magazine-style format. After he was ousted in 1965, his successor, Roy Fisher, strove for circulation gains with more conventional fare. That hasn't worked either. Once again, the paper is planning a substantial change: in October an attempt will be made to give it more warmth and informality. "The News of today has a masculine image," says Field Vice President and General Manager J. G. Trezevant. "We are going to have to make a stronger appeal to women."
Both Field and the Tribune have the resources to fight almost indefinitely. It boils down to how long they are willing to go on taking substantial losses. At the moment, there is talk neither of merger nor of giving up—only of new and ingenious ways to continue competing. And that, at least, is in the best Chicago tradition.