Jeff Gianola Trib Reference: Local Institution or Product Placement?

In the first paragraph of the Tribune’s article on Tom Grant this week, it compared the awesome pianist to other institutions in Portland, including KOIN anchor Jeff Gianola. That compliment is clouded by the Trib’s business relationship with KOIN news. Besides, if anybody at KOIN is an institution it’s Mike Donahue.
Wanting to be fair the Portland Freelancer googled “Jeff Gianola institution”- and the search results were immediate. He was mentioned in an old PDX Media Insider post as a great anchor “before his ego got the best of him.” The word “institution” did appear on the same post but it was in regards to Tim Hibbits.
Here’s how the conversation between the editors and sports/piano reporter Kerry Eggers should have gone: “Kerry, you better take out this Jeff Gianola reference. Some idiot with a blog is going to think we stuck it in there just to plug KOIN News. Besides, the only real institution they’ve still got over there is Mike Donahue.” “But it’d mean so much to Tom Grant. No one knows this but Jeff is Tom’s childhood hero.” “I’m sorry, but I don’t care. We don’t even want the appearance that we are exaggerating Jeff’s importance just because we have a relationship. That would be wrong.”