Chicago Tribune columnist Greene resigns over 'inappropriate' sexual relationship

AP ^ | 9/15/2002

[ArcLight]

Chicago Tribune columnist Bob Greene resigned after acknowledging he engaged in inappropriate sexual conduct with a teen-age girl, the newspaper said Sunday.

In a note on the paper's front page, editor Ann Marie Lipinski said Greene, 55, acknowledged the sexual conduct with a girl in her late teens whom he met in connection with his column.

[ArcLight]

This is bloody awful. Greene, after a long slump during the 1980s, had come back to form as a really good columnist. I take no pleasure in this posting, and I hope he gets his life together.

[07055]

Late teens?

Didn't the Tribune support Clinton during impeachment?

I guess its ok to have inappropriate sexual relationships with young women in the Oval Office, but not at the Tribune.

Or, more likely, the paper didn't like some of the recent opinions expressed by Greene--hasn't he said some pro-military things?

[dark_lord]

The Tribune first heard of the allegation after receiving an anonymous complaint last week, prompting an inquiry by editors and other Tribune officials, Lipinski said in the note. The conduct occurred "some years ago," she said. Greene was suspended by the paper, which then sought his resignation. He submitted it Saturday night.

I wonder what is up with this? Anonymous complaint? Some years ago? Late teens? 17? 18? 19?

[1rudeboy]

Bob Greene was at his worst when writing those generic, let's-get-in touch-with-our-feelings columns. Clearly, he should have spent more time getting in touch with his common sense. Life sometimes does imitate art.

[ArcLight]

I think you missed the key point. It seems Greene met this young lady in the course of doing his job. I presume that there's some reason to believe that his performance as a journalist and Trib employee was somehow implicated in the affair, in ways not made clear by the story.

So it seems that what Greene did was legal, but a violation of journalistic ethics. Hard to know without more details, but it's a sad story all the same.

[thinktwice]

All this proves is that American religious ethics still remain at puritan -- witch burning -- levels.

A late-teen age girl knows what she's doing and this man was not the President of the United States. This affair is not the public's business.

[Timesink]

So it seems that what Greene did was legal, but a violation of journalistic ethics.

In other words, he'll be hired by the Sun-Times within 72 hours.

[07055]

Duty: A Father, His Son, and the Man Who Won the War by Bob Greene

Bob Greene's father, a World War II veteran, often spoke in admiration of Paul Tibbets who lived in quiet solitude in their hometown in Ohio. Tibbets was, in the eyes of Greene's father, "the man who won the war." After Greene's father passed away, Greene began a quest to better understand his father and the generation from which he came. Tibbets, who piloted the bomber which dropped the atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, became a mentor and friend. Through Tibbet's remembrances and Greene's memories of his father, the book becomes an absorbing and intimate tribute from a son to his father and to a generation whose values were embodied in the concepts of honor, duty, and courage. This is a wonderfully well written book replete with fascinating insights into the personality of the man who triggered the most devastating act in the history of man.

I read and enjoyed this book. But, at the time I wondered if Bob wasn't digging his own grave with the Left. Imagine, paying tribute to the man who dropped the A-Bomb on Hiroshima!

This firing sure sounds like payback.

[Roscoe]

A newspaper's employment decisions equal witch burning?

[07055]

I think you missed the key point. It seems Greene met this young lady in the course of doing his job. I presume that there's some reason to believe that his performance as a journalist and Trib employee was somehow implicated in the affair, in ways not made clear by the story.

And Clinton didn't meet Monica at *his* job?

Jouralistic ethics?

Talk about an oxymoron.

[Willie Green]

Apparently the site you linked the article to has already changed the URL.

Here's a link to another thread with the AP release: Chicago Writer Quits For Sex Conduct

[ArcLight]

In other words, he'll be hired by the Sun-Times within 72 hours.

Oooh, good point. Hadn't thought of that. He didn't violate the Sun-Times' rules, did he? Bob'll probably be back at work in a couple of weeks.

[Brush_Your_Teeth]

All this proves is that American religious ethics still remain at puritan -- witch burning -- levels.

A late-teen age girl knows what she's doing and this man was not the President of the United States. This affair is not the public's business.

I would rather live in a country with puritan religious ethics then the alternative of the discusting mess that is europe.

[ppaul]

Updated link to story HERE.

[sushiman]

" some years ago " ...damn ! I'm 50 and until reading this part of the story naively thought I still had a chance with a sweet young thing ... If she was 18 or 19 there is absolutely NO reason why this should have developed into a sordid scandal story . She's old enough to know what the hell she is doing . You can't blame him for wanting a younger woman - most men DREAM of one ! Come on guys , admit it !

[thinktwice]

A newspaper's employment decisions equal witch burning?

The "offending" party being unjustly dismissed -- yes!

If this happened at a French newspaper, the couple would be -- with their consent -- publicly feted at parties thrown by the newspaper.

[kcvl]

Bob Greene Author and master storyteller, this Chicago Tribune columnist paints a compassionate portrait of America and takes millions of loyal readers places they’ve never been before.

[Roscoe]

The "offending" party being unjustly dismissed

Unjustly? Do you own the newspaper?

[strela]

Big deal. Another pecksniffian nico-nazi "writer" who would happily slap every US smoker into Auschwitz gets caught putting his Mini Me where he shouldn't. Here's hoping he finds pole smoking more objectionable than the tobacco form, as he gets frequent cellblock visits from "Delicious" and "Bubba."

Good riddance.