By Tom Ryan, Kansas City Star Reader Advisory Panel

Oprah and the Obamas need to fly home to Chicago to conduct some serious mediation. The (un)timely press about recent violence in Chicago probably lost the Olympic bid. It’s an awkward reality, isn’t it?

This article is one of many that bubbled into the news in the past few days. Despite the safety records of competing cities, the recent news in Chicago was news around the world. Timing is everything and the reality of timing damaged Chicago’s chances such as they were.

Balance the actual stories with the public relations machines for this bid. Consider the personal stakes our presenters placed in this bid. Consider the perceptions of the world for more than a minute. Chicago has a reputation as a tough town.

There are probably more factors at work that eliminated Chicago, but we’ll probably never know the full story as votes are confidential. Chicago lost. But Chicago now needs to get back to the stark reality of their city’s issues. We wish them well as we address our own.