RedEye editor Jane Hirt has been named the new managing editor of its sister the Chicago Tribune, and my colleague Whet Moser explains why this might be not such a bad thing. Moser believes RedEye does what it does brilliantly, though whether what it does can be called journalism is another matter. Hirt replaces both Hanke Gratteau, who'd already resigned as ME/news, and James Warren, whose decision to quit as ME/features was announced along with Hirt's appointment.

Warren had an impressive career at the Tribune -- media writer, Tempo editor, Washington editor, features editor, to name the highlights -- and if the fates hadn't started looking cross-eyed at the Tribune he might have wound up running it all. Gerould Kern, the new editor, lost a face-off with Warren for head of features a few years ago, and when Kern returned to the paper and other top editors started bailing out, the question over Warren's head shifted from what will happen to him now to why hasn't he already quit. I'll miss the daily weather report on Warren's voicemail and I'll miss Warren, a talented eccentric whose staff, in the best of times, swore by him.