The
Chicago Sun-Times is an American
daily newspaper published
in Chicago
, Illinois
. It
is the flagship paper of the
Sun-Times Media Group.
History
The Chicago
Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published
daily newspaper in the city. It began in 1844 as the Chicago
Evening Journal (which was the first newspaper to publish
the rumor, now believed false, that a cow owned by
Catherine O'Leary was responsible for the
Chicago fire). The
Evening
Journal, whose West Side building at 17-19 S. Canal was
undamaged, gave the
Chicago
Tribune a temporary home until it could rebuild. In 1929,
the newspaper was relaunched as the
Chicago Daily Illustrated
Times.
The modern paper grew out of the 1948 merger of the
Chicago
Sun, founded in 1941 by
Marshall
Field III, and the
Chicago Daily Times.
Before Rupert Murdoch, the newspaper was for a time
owned by Field Enterprises,
controlled by the Marshall Field
family, who also owned WFLD
channel 32
since its inception in 1966, and the afternoon paper Chicago Daily News. When the
Daily News ended its run in 1978, much of its staff,
including Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist
Mike Royko, were moved to the
Sun-Times.
During the Field period, the newspaper had a populist, progressive
character that leaned
Democratic but was
independent of the city's Democratic establishment. Although the
graphic style was urban tabloid, the paper was well-regarded for
journalistic quality and did not rely on sensational front-page
stories. It typically ran articles from the
Washington Post/
Los Angeles Times wire service.
In 1984, Field sold the paper to
Rupert
Murdoch's
News Corp, and the paper's
style changed abruptly toward that of its suitemate
New York Post. Its front pages tended
more to the sensational and its political stance shifted toward the
conservative. This was in the era that the traditional Republican
bulwark, the
Chicago
Tribune, was softening its positions, ending the city's
clear division between the two newspapers' politics. This shift was
made all but official when Mike Royko defected to the
Tribune.
However,
on July 10, 2007 new editorial page editor Cheryl Reed announced:
"We [the Chicago Sun-Times editorial page] are returning
to our liberal, working-class roots, a position that pits us
squarely opposite the Chicago Tribune —- that Republican, George Bush-touting paper over on moneyed
Michigan
Avenue
."
After
Murdoch sold the paper (to buy its former sister television station
WFLD
to launch the Fox network) the Sun-Times
was acquired by Hollinger
International, controlled, indirectly, by Canadian-born
businessman Conrad Black. After
Black and his associate
David Radler
were indicted for skimming money from Hollinger International,
through retaining noncompete payments from the sale of Hollinger
newspapers, they were removed from the board, and Hollinger
International was renamed the
Sun-Times Media Group.
In 2004, the
Sun-Times was censured by the
Audit Bureau of Circulations
for misrepresenting its circulation figures.
In 2002, with
Kuczmarski
& Associates, the
Chicago Sun-Times co-founded the
Chicago Innovation
Awards.
On March 31, 2009, the newspaper filed for bankruptcy protection
[33501]
On October 9, 2009 the Sun Times unions agreed to concessions
paving the way for
Jim Tyree to buy
the newspaper, and their 50 suburban newspapers. Of the $25 million
purchase price, $5 million is in cash, with the other $20 million
to help pay off past debts.
[33502]
Notable stories
In 1978, the newspaper conducted the Mirage Tavern investigation,
in which undercover reporters operated a bar and caught city
officials taking bribes on camera.
In January 2004, after a six-month investigation led by Tim Novak,
the paper broke the story of the
Hired Truck Program scandal.
After a
Sun-Times article by Michael
Sneed erroneously identified the perpetrator of the April 16,
2007 Virginia Tech
massacre
as an unnamed Chinese national, the People's
Republic of China
criticized the Chicago Sun-Times for
publishing what it called "irresponsible reports". The
newspaper later silently withdrew the story without making any
apologies or excuses.
Staff
The
Sun-Times' best-known writer is
film critic Roger Ebert. Chicago
columnist Mike Royko,
previously of the defunct
Chicago
Daily News, came to the paper in 1978 but left for the
Chicago Tribune in 1984
when the
Sun-Times was purchased by
Rupert Murdoch's
News
Corp.
Irv Kupcinet's daily column
was a fixture from 1943 until his death in 2003.
It was also the home
base for many years of advice columnist Ann
Landers and the late Washington
veteran Robert Novak
for many years.
The newspaper gave a start in journalism to columnist
Bob Greene. Current
Sun-Times writers of
note include movie critic
Roger Ebert,
Mary Mitchell,
Richard Roeper,
Michael Sneed, Mark Brown, religious reporter
Cathleen Falsani,
Neil Steinberg, sports writer
Rick Telander, Hedy Weiss,
Carol Marin, investigative reporter Frank Main,
pop music writer
Jim DeRogatis, and
technology expert
Andy Ihnatko.
Lynn Sweet is the Washington Bureau
Chief.
John Cruickshank became the publisher in 2003 after
David Radler, and on September 19, 2007
announced he was resigning to head the
Canadian Broadcasting
Corporation's news division.
Gallery
Image:Chicagosuntimes.JPG|Current Chicago Sun-Times headquarters,
located in the Chicago Apparel Center, 350 N.
Orleans St., owned by
the Merchandise
Mart
.Image:Chicago Sun-Times.jpg|Former Chicago
Sun-Times headquarters, demolished in 2004 to make way for the
Trump Tower
Image:DowntownChicagoILatNight.jpg|Former
Chicago Sun-Times headquarters with Wrigley Building
and Tribune
Tower
Image:Chicago Sun-Times Front Page
06MAR06.jpg|The
Chicago Sun-Times before its most recent
redesign.Image:Marina_City_-_Sun_Times_-_Daily_News_-_by_Chalmers_Butterfield.jpg|Former
Sun Times & Daily News Headquarters
Image:2003-08-23 View
from Michigan Ave bridge in Chicago.jpg|Viewed from Michigan Avenue Bridge with 330 North
Wabash
References
- "Barroom Sting," Time (magazine), January
23, 1978.
- Sun-Times publisher leaving for CBC Chicago
Sun-Times, September 19, 2007
- Former Vancouver Sun editor John Cruickshank to
head CBC news The Vancouver Sun, September 19,
2007