The Sun-Times sees 20 percent of staff exit through buyouts

Changes ahead as the sports department is the hardest hit  [Editor’s Note: This post was updated on March 19.] A fifth of Sun-Times employees – roughly twenty percent of the workforce, or thirty employees, have elected to take buyouts from the paper. which the paper offered to employees in January.  Those exiting are longtime writers and editors, including Richard Roeper, […]

The Media Notepad: Chicago Public Media to offer buyouts to selected employees of WBEZ, Sun-Times

Also: Meteorologist loses job due to social media post; new game show announced; Trump Country returns to SW Florida With revenues falling short of expectations, WBEZ and Sun-Times owner Chicago Public Media announced Wednesday it was offering buyouts to certain employees, including journalists at the paper and business employees from the radio station. In a staff meeting Wednesday, newly installed […]

SAG-AFTRA files labor complaint against WBEZ management

Relations continue to deteriorate between Chicago Public Media and WBEZ employees  The clash between SAG-AFTRA and WBEZ management is heading to a showdown. On Monday, SAG-AFTRA filed an unfair labor complaint to the National Labor Relations Board against Chicago Public Media, the non-profit owner of the Chicago Sun-TImes and WBEZ -the first since the station’s employees joined the union in […]

The Media Notepad: Fallout continues from Chicago Public Media layoffs

Paramount, Skydance advance merger talks; Iger survives Disney proxy board vote The fallout continues from the decision to lay off fourteen employees at WBEZ and Sun-Times owner Chicago Public Media last Wednesday, with a Chicago alderperson from the city’s 49th Ward on the far North Side being the latest to weigh in. “Seeing the increases, seeing the benefits, and then […]

Report: Chicago Sun-Times to drop paywall

Moves to a membership model instead It’s rare for a newspaper to drop its paywall, given it helps pay the bills because as you know, journalism doesn’t come free. But the Sun-Times is betting a new model would attract more readers and visitors to its website.  Crain’s Chicago Business reported Thursday the paper is dropping its paywall five months after […]

The Media Notepad: Sun-Times, WBEZ complete merger

Also: Televisa and Univision become one; Weigel launches another diginet ; The last tie to Marvel at Netflix severs Been away for awhile, so let’s catch up on some items of note making news: The non-profit merger between the Chicago Sun-Times and WBEZ officially closed on January 31, with $61 million in philanthropic backing, raised by WBEZ parent Chicago Public […]

WBEZ, Sun-Times strike “non-binding” deal to merge

Historic deal aims to strengthen journalism For the first time since the Chicago Tribune and WGN-AM had the same owner, a daily newspaper and a local radio station could team up – though the transaction is unusual.  But unlike the Tribune and WGN-AM, the transaction discussed here is non-profit. Chicago Public Media’s WBEZ-FM and the Chicago Sun-Times on Wednesday night […]

T Dog’s Media Notepad: Tax the cloud

The latest edition of T Dog’s Media Notepad: – Only in Chicago: if you stream any kind of entertainment and have a paid subscription, you – the consumer- are now going to be subjected to a 9 percent sales tax. This includes any paid subscription to Netflix, Hulu, Spotify, Amazon Prime, etc. The so-called “cloud tax” also applies to businesses […]