Chi Tribune, LA Times to run Page One ads

CHICAGO, July 17 (UPI) -- The Chicago Tribune will run ads on its front page and on the first page of some sections, the newspaper reported Tuesday.

The paper will begin selling a 1.5-inch strip along the bottom of the Tribune's front page this week "to key clients," Publishing President Scott Smith wrote in a memo to employees.

The space will be reserved for "brand and image advertising," Smith wrote.

The ads will be priced between $25,000 and $45,000, the newspaper said.

Smith did not say when the ads would begin to appear.

The format will be duplicated across all Tribune newspapers, the memo said. The Los Angeles Times, Tribune Co.'s largest newspaper, said Saturday it would also begin Page One ads.

Tribune Editor Ann Marie Lipinski said Smith had sought input from the newsroom but had not followed the editors' advice.

"It's safe to say we were opposed (to front-page ads) on the grounds that it wasn't in the best interest of readers. But that view did not prevail," she said.

Times Editor James O'Shea said he considered front-page ads "a huge mistake."

"Front-page ads diminish the newspaper, cheapen the front page and reduce the space devoted to news," O'Shea said.