"The Skyline, the Booster and News-Star will cease publication," a Sun-Times spokeswoman said. "The final day of publication for all of these titles is January 30. There have been jobs eliminated related to the shuttering of these publications."
Skyline Editor Beth Burmahl and long-time columnist Ann Gerber were let go on Tuesday and more employees are expected to receive notice today.
The Sun-Times acquired the publications when it bought Lerner Communications Group in 2000. Earlier this month, it shut down three northwest-side papers that were also former Lerner papers, operated since 2005 under the Pioneer Press banner.
Blognotes: Another sad day for the publishing industry. I'm at a loss for words at the moment.
7 comments:
i posted comments about this on Uptown Update --definitely a sad thing overall.
i'm glad Ann Gerber finally got fired -- her gossip column/ personal pulpit was a waste of space. They got rid of Marcella Tardy to put in Gerber's garbage.
-- Think the RP Blogs gae the Sun Times a reason to discontinue the local paper ;) (that's a joke -- not at all an accusation)
Wednesday Journal purchases 3 city weeklies from Sun-Times
Web Extra!
In discussions which did not quite conclude before the Chicago Sun-Times announced the demise of three city weeklies, Wednesday Journal, Inc. reached a tentative agreement Wednesday to purchase those papers and continue their uninterrupted publication.
The papers--Skyline, Booster and News-Star-are the last vestiges of the once mighty Lerner Newspaper chain and cover neighborhoods stretching from Lincoln Park to Lakeview, from Ravenswood to Rogers Park.
"Those three flags are part of Chicago newspaper history and are worth preserving," said Dan Haley, publisher of Wednesday Journal, Inc. "And the neighborhoods they have long covered are vibrant city communities which we know will embrace the kind of relentlessly local newspapers, and now websites, our company has published for almost 30 years. This is going to be fun."
Oak Park-based Wednesday Journal, Inc. currently publishes six weeklies. Three are in the near west suburbs; three are in city neighborhoods including Austin, South Loop, Wicker Park, Ukrainian Village, the Near West and Bucktown. The company also publishes Chicago Parent magazine which is distributed across the metropolitan area.
The Lerner titles will be paired with two editions of Chicago Journal to create a group of distinct local papers stretching from the South Loop to Rogers Park. "We will be serving a wonderful marketplace and will be able to offer advertisers opportunities to reach all of the neighborhoods or to choose specific areas they want to reach," said Andrew Johnston, vice-president of Wednesday Journal, Inc.
Haley offered his thanks to both the Sun-Times and Pioneer Press for persevering to get a deal completed. "We all know the Sun-Times and Pioneer are facing great challenges at this moment and we recognize that these three papers are a tiny part of the puzzle they are trying to assemble. Leaders at both the Sun-Times and Pioneer went the extra way to make this deal happen and to preserve three newspapers at a time when most of the discussion is of newspapers disappearing. We are grateful to them and respect that effort," said Haley.
Here's what to expect. Hard hitting crime stories.
Man, are we in trouble.
At least there will still be a community newspaper. Had the newspapers simply folded, the Joe Moores, Carole Ronens, Jan Schakowskys and Robert Creamers of the area would have a field day in practicing their brand of hypocritical politics at the public's expense!
JUST GREAT THE PAPERS WERE TAKEN OVER-
WE NEED THEM TO KEEP AN EYE OPEN, ESPECIALLY ROGERS PARK AND THE 49TH-
dunno who Wednesday Journal Inc is, hope they have some integrity and let the writers be independent, I don't always agree with NewsStar etc but the fewer actual local news outlets the worse it is for everyone...the major dailies won't even touch a lot of smaller political races or news about developments or schools....
Where in the world can you find copies of the News-Star? I haven't seen that paper for months.
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