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Feder: John Kass takes buyout, leaving Chicago Tribune

John Kass, the Chicago Tribune's most prominent columnist and one of its leading conservative voices, called it quits Friday after 38 years at the newspaper.

Kass, 64, was the latest to opt for a voluntary buyout offered by Alden Global Capital, the New York-based hedge fund known for severe cost-cutting at newsrooms across the country.

According to the Chicago Tribune Guild roughly a quarter of all newsroom staffers - including columnists Eric Zorn and Heidi Stevens - applied for buyouts this week.

"You readers are the reason I've been able to do this for so long," Kass wrote in his farewell column. "You've stood by me. You've had my back. And as subscribers, you've fed my family and helped pay our bills. I owe you everything."

Get the full report, and more Chicago media news, at robertfeder.com.

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