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Chicago area news

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Moderator1, Oct 3, 2007.

  1. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    From The Pipeline:

    October 3, 2007

    Sun-Times Media Group colleagues:

    We announced today that we are combining the Daily Southtown and the Star newspapers into a single, stronger publication, effective mid-November.

    This decision was not made lightly. We considered carefully the importance of these individual brands to the communities they serve, and weighed that against the economics facing the Sun-Times News Group and our industry. We believe our decisions to combine the Daily Southtown and the Star strikes the right balance for our advertisers, our readers and our Company.

    Why are we doing this? We face increased competition in the markets served by the Southtown and the Star. This combination of our two paid subscription publications will allow us to better serve our readers and advertisers with increased zoning opportunities, and will position us for growth in a challenging environment. And we will be able to focus our advertising, subscription sales and marketing efforts on a single publication rather than splitting them.

    The combination of the newspapers, which will retain aspects of both the Southtown and the Star, will be effective mid-November and will result in an estimated annual savings of $3 million. We will combine our newsrooms into a single organization and will refocus our editorial coverage within our overall market – as has already been done with circulation, advertising and other core departments. There will be an impact on the overall editorial staff size of the two publications. When that exact impact has been determined, affected employees will be eligible for the benefits of the STNG severance policy set forth in the employee handbook.

    Our new publication will combine the best key characteristics of both the Daily Southtown and the Star. The new name of the combined newspaper is being finalized and will be announced to you soon. Managers at both publications will meet with staff to discuss the combination and its implementation. And we’ll share more details with you closer to the launch.

    Change is tough, but we are doing what we believe is best to restore financial health and prosperity to the Sun-Times News Group.


    Cyrus Freidheim
     
    Moderator1, Oct 3, 2007
    #1
  2. WaylonJennings

    WaylonJennings Guest

    Wow. That's big.

    I wonder if this means the Southtown will start to emphasize more local sports, preps and such, over the Chicago scene?
     
    WaylonJennings, Oct 3, 2007
    #2
  3. Jeremy Goodwin

    Jeremy Goodwin Active Member

    This should be interesting. I'm from the coverage area and don't think this is a good thing. My parents subscribe to the Tribune and we also got The Star for local news and better coverage of area high schools. I went to a catholic school and would always check out The Star at my school's library to see what they were writing about my school because it was a different edition than what I got at home.
     
    Jeremy Goodwin, Oct 3, 2007
    #3
  4. rascalface

    rascalface Member

    Video killed the Chicago Heights Star.

    I grew up reading the Star for HS sports. I have many family members who more than likely be confused and bewildered when this all shakes out.
     
    rascalface, Oct 3, 2007
    #4
  5. Bob Cook

    Bob Cook Active Member

    I live in the coverage area, and I'm hardly stunned by this. We subscribed to the Star for a while, but most everything was recycled Southtown and S-T stuff -- although a lot of the sports stuff was staff-written. It's a shame this is happening, but it's clear STNG had cut back so severely that there was only one more step. It makes me wonder when STNG is going to fold the Southtown, or merges the staff with the Post-Tribune or something.
     
    Bob Cook, Oct 3, 2007
    #5
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