The Chicago Tribune, founded in 1847, is a major American daily newspaper that once styled itself as the "World's Greatest Newspaper"—a slogan that inspired the call letters for WGN radio and TV—and remains the most-read paper in the Chicago metropolitan area. Its early influence grew under Joseph Medill, who tied the paper to Abraham Lincoln and the nascent Republican Party, while in the 20th century, under 'Colonel' Robert R. McCormick, it became a crusading conservative voice that fiercely opposed Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal. In a historic break with tradition, the Tribune endorsed Democrat Barack Obama for president in 2008, and it briefly experimented with a tabloid format in 2009 before reverting to its classic broadsheet in 2011 due to reader backlash. After decades under Tribune Publishing, the paper was acquired by Alden Global Capital in May 2021, which pivoted its coverage away from national and international news toward a tighter focus on Illinois and Chicago-area stories. The newspaper has also weathered legal troubles, settling a lawsuit over illegal consumer charges in 2013 and facing a fresh lawsuit for deceptive billing practices in 2023.