The Chicago Sun-Times calls itself "the hardest-working paper in America." On January 31, 2022, the newspaper was acquired by Chicago Public Media, the owner of WBEZ FM 91.5 in Chicago. The deal is the first-ever combination of an American big-city newspaper with a public radio station.
The Sun-Times was first published in 1844 as the Chicago Evening Journal. The current name was the result of the 1948 merger of the Chicago Sun and the Chicago Daily Times, under the control of Field Enterprises, owned by the Marshall Field family. Field Enterprises bought the afternoon Chicago Daily News in 1959, which was published until 1978.
In 1984, the Sun-Times was sold to Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, which resulted in the editorial becoming more like that of the conservative New York Post. Murdoch sold the paper in 1986, and in 1994 the Sun-Times was acquired by Hollinger International, controlled by Canadian businessman Conrad Black. Black was convicted in 2007 of illegally taking millions of dollars from Hollinger International.
The company changed its name to Sun-Times Media Group, declared bankruptcy and then had several owners, ending in the hands of a local investment group called Wrapports LLC. Wrapports sold all of the group's suburban Chicago newspapers to Tribune Publishing, the owner of the Chicago Tribune, in 2014. In July 2017, a group of Chicago investors bought the Sun-Times and sister publication the Chicago Reader. With the Sun-Times reported to be losing over $4 million per year, the value of the deal was one dollar.
In March 2019, Robert Feder reported the purchase of the Sun-Times by two Chicago businessmen -- Michael Sacks, CEO of Grosvenor Capital Management and an adviser to former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and Rocky Wirtz, president of Wirtz Corp. and principal owner of the Chicago Blackhawks ice hockey team. Sacks also helped secure the agreement for Chicago Public Media's 2022 acquisition of the Sun-Times and contributed significant funding for the deal.
Circulation estimate: 120,000
The Chicago Sun-Times is one of the highest circulation newspapers in the USA.
This newspaper is owned by Chicago Public Media Inc.
| Entertainment editor: | Darel Jevens |
| Sports editor: | Chris De Luca |
For Chicago Sun-Times contact information, see the Illinois news media contacts at EasyMediaList.com.
Average (9 votes)Chicago Sun-Times Drops Paywall, Makes Digital Content Free Jennifer Kho Named Executive Editor of Chicago Sun-Times Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ Radio Plan Merger
Chicago Sun-Times Prints Blank Front Page
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-- October 6, 2022: The Chicago tabloid, now controlled by WBEZ FM 91.5 owner Chicago Public Media, has removed its website paywall. It has been replaced by a digital membership program in which readers "pay what they can" to read the news.
Sun-Times CEO Nykia Wright, Executive Editor Jennifer Kho and Chicago Public Media Chief Audience Officer Celeste LeCompte wrote at the Sun-Times on October 6, 2022:
The Sun-Times' new chapter: Our digital content is now free for everyone
Posted by Mondo Times editors, Boulder, Colorado USA, October 7, 2022
-- The Chicago tabloid now owned by public radio station WBEZ FM 91.5 has hired Jennifer Kho to lead its newsroom. She previously served as managing editor of HuffPost and Guardian US. Interim Editor-in-Chief Steve Warmbir will leave the paper; he worked there for 22 years.
David Roeder wrote at the Sun-Times on June 2, 2022:
Sun-Times names Jennifer Kho executive editor
Posted by Mondo Times editors, Boulder, Colorado USA, July 25, 2022
-- Two major Chicago news outlets are looking into combining in a deal that would see the Chicago Sun-Times become a subsidiary of Chicago Public Media, which operates public radio station WBEZ FM 91.5. The deal would create one of the largest local nonprofit news organizations in the United States.
Matt Moog, interim CEO of Chicago Public Media, said "Local journalism has never been more...
-- On April 23, 2018, the Chicago Sun-Times may have foretold its future -- by publishing a blank front page. The paper described the stunt as "an urgent appeal" for people to subscribe to the Sun-Times website for $7.49 a month. In effect, the blank page was an ad for the paper's new digital subscription model.
The story included an interesting statistic about original content on the...
-- In August 2015, Craig Newman left his role as managing editor of the Chicago Sun Times.
Posted by Mondo Times Editors, Boulder Colorado, September 18, 2015Also in Illinois...
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