Chicago Sun-Times to Sell all Suburban Newspapers to the Tribune

[LanceyHoward]

It is being reported that the Tribune will buy nine suburban dailies and 32 weeklies from the Sun-Times. The Sun-Times will only have the flagship paper left.

http://www.robertfeder.com/2014/10/21/stop-the-presses-tribune-buying-sun-times-suburban-newspapers/

How is the Sun-Times doing? Is this the beginning of the end?.

 

[Bronco77]

This isn't a big surprise. When Tribune Publishing was formed, the CEO said the company would look to acquire smaller suburban newspapers situated within the major metros' circulation areas. Looks like that strategy is being implemented.

I don't know much about the Sun-Times' financial situation these days, but I sure hope it's not the beginning of the end. It was my parents' newspaper of choice during my childhood years, and it was arguably as good as (and maybe even a little better than) the Trib until Murdoch took over in the early '80s.

 

[Walter Lippmann]

The beginning of the end started several years ago. This is close to the end.

 

[podunk press]

I speak from experience: That will not be good news for those who work at the suburban newspapers acquired by the Tribune.

They will considerably trim staff.

 

[LanceyHoward]

This isn't a big surprise. When Tribune Publishing was formed, the CEO said the company would look to acquire smaller suburban newspapers situated within the major metros' circulation areas. Looks like that strategy is being implemented.

I don't know much about the Sun-Times' financial situation these days, but I sure hope it's not the beginning of the end. It was my parents' newspaper of choice during my childhood years, and it was arguably as good as (and maybe even a little better than) the Trib until Murdoch took over in the early '80s.

This is speculation but given the plummeting circulation of the Miami Herald I wonder if the Tribune tries to by that paper and combine it with Fort Lauderdale.

 

[Drip]

This isn't a big surprise. When Tribune Publishing was formed, the CEO said the company would look to acquire smaller suburban newspapers situated within the major metros' circulation areas. Looks like that strategy is being implemented.

I don't know much about the Sun-Times' financial situation these days, but I sure hope it's not the beginning of the end. It was my parents' newspaper of choice during my childhood years, and it was arguably as good as (and maybe even a little better than) the Trib until Murdoch took over in the early '80s.

This is speculation but given the plummeting circulation of the Miami Herald if the Tribune tries to by that paper and combine it with Fort Lauderdale.

I used think that could never happen. Now.....

 

[Bronco77]

The Sun Sentinel/Herald combo is a periodic subject of speculation in South Florida and makes some sense. There's very little overlap in the circulation areas anymore (Sun Sentinel doesn't sell papers in Miami-Dade County and the Herald doesn't have much of a presence in the northern half of Broward), so it might be a good fit. McClatchy has made noise in the past about selling the Herald/El Nuevo Herald. It probably would come down to the asking price, and whether Tribune Publishing can afford it.

I've always thought a Tribune purchase of the Palm Beach Post would make at least as much sense as the Sun Sentinel/Herald combo. Not sure, though, how interested Cox is in selling the Post.

 

[LanceyHoward]

The Sun Sentinel/Herald combo is a periodic subject of speculation in South Florida and makes some sense. There's very little overlap in the circulation areas anymore (Sun Sentinel doesn't sell papers in Miami-Dade County and the Herald doesn't have much of a presence in the northern half of Broward), so it might be a good fit. McClatchy has made noise in the past about selling the Herald/El Nuevo Herald. It probably would come down to the asking price, and whether Tribune Publishing can afford it.

I've always thought a Tribune purchase of the Palm Beach Post would make at least as much sense as the Sun Sentinel/Herald combo. Not sure, though, how interested Cox is in selling the Post.

At one point I think Cox tried to sell but pulled back. And a combination of the three makes sense.

 

[LanceyHoward]

The sale has been finalized. Things are moving quickly. Office staff of the Sun-Times told to report to Tribune Tower Monday.

http://breakingnews.suntimes.com/chicago/sun-times-parent-company-sells-suburban-newspapers-to-tribune/

The Tribune says no changes are planned and that employee salary and benefits are guaranteed until the end of the year. I would hate to be one of the affected employees who has to report to work January 2.

One reader commented that suburban papers have been particularly hard hit by competition from other sources. These papers served as a vehicle for classified and real estate advertisers to reach a focused, local market far more cheaply than they could in the big metro daily. But these advertisers have largely abandoned print. I don't know the credibility of the source but it sounds logical. And it would explain the demise of papers like the East Valley Tribune as a daily the and loss of the North County Times.

I also makes me wonder what will happen to the suburban clusters of MediaNews (is that the name of the parent? They keep going into Chapter 11 and I have lost track) in Los Angeles and San Francisco which are for sale.

 

[I Should Coco]

As someone who started my career at one of the papers affected, I wish the best to everyone involved in this ... especially once January arrives.

Lancey, your point about car dealers and real estate companies abandoning print in the 'burbs is ominous for all of us in the biz. Those damn Realtors (TM) and slimy car salesmen used to flood the suburban weekly and daily papers with ads not long ago.

 

[podunk press]

All I know is Tribune bought a newspaper where I previously worked.

Almost everyone I worked with is gone now ... mostly voluntary departures, some layoffs.

 

[LanceyHoward]

What has happened now that the papers have merged? I called up the Southtown Economist website and it has a Chicago Tribune URL. Has Tribune maintained all the mastheads? Has the Tribune merged editorial staffs? How many people were given the ax?

 

[Fredrick]

I speak from experience: That will not be good news for those who work at the suburban newspapers acquired by the Tribune.

They will considerably trim staff.

How the hell are they going to put out their newspapers then? Those papers have hardly any fulltimers anyway.

 

[I Should Coco]

What has happened now that the papers have merged? I called up the Southtown Economist website and it has a Chicago Tribune URL. Has Tribune maintained all the mastheads? Has the Tribune merged editorial staffs? How many people were given the ax?

Well, for one thing, I noticed the suburban weeklies are now inserted into the daily Chicago Tribune for print subscribers. (My inlaws came back to a print subscription — at a considerably cheaper price — after refusing to renew due to a rate increase).

No offense to anyone working there, but wow, the Suburban Life/Downers Grove Reporter is just a hollow shell these days. I guess anything remotely interesting gets played up in the Tribune, and the weekly gets whatever reader submitted junk and retyped press releases are left over.

 

[Bronco77]

No offense to anyone working there, but wow, the Suburban Life/Downers Grove Reporter is just a hollow shell these days. I guess anything remotely interesting gets played up in the Tribune, and the weekly gets whatever reader submitted junk and retyped press releases are left over.

I hear the same thing about the Tribune-owned weekly that covers the suburb in which I grew up (I even worked there as a sports stringer as a teen). Formerly independently owned, it used to be one of the top weeklies in Illinois, and several reporters and photographers who eventually went to major metros got their start there. I'm sure the decline began under Sun-Times ownership, and the Tribune purchase accelerated the process. Long-time residents have told me the paper still does an adequate job covering sports, but everything else has been cut back and dumbed down.

 

[I Should Coco]

On a slight tangent ... will the last staff writer at the Tribune's Red Eye please turn out the lights:

Subscription Center | ChicagoBusiness.com

From the link: "The paper was born in 2002 with a mission to connect with 20-somethings mainly on CTA trains and buses, but today it faces a new generation of young adults who have a slew of smartphone alternatives for their commute. Scanning urban transportation lines, it's clear that newspaper readership is all but dead, presenting a particular challenge for a daily like RedEye that targeted commuters.
“What they did well was fill your time when you had nothing to do, and the nothing-to-do time is being filled now by mobile devices,” said Rachel Davis Mersey, an associate professor at the Medill School of Journalism, Media, Integrated Marketing at Northwestern University. “That's a new game, and it's a tough one to try to win.”