Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of the non-profit Chicago Public Media,[3] and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the Chicago Tribune. The Sun-Times resulted from the 1948 merger of the Chicago Sun and the Chicago Daily Times newspapers. Journalists at the paper have received eight Pulitzer Prizes, mostly in the 1970s; one recipient was the first film critic to receive the prize, Roger Ebert (1975), who worked at the paper from 1967 until his death in 2013. Long owned by the Marshall Field family, since the 1980s ownership of the paper has changed hands numerous times, including twice in the late 2010s.
"The Sun Times" redirects here. For the Canadian newspaper, see The Sun Times (Owen Sound).Facilities[edit]
The headquarters are in the Chicago Navy Pier.[116] WBEZ, affiliated with the newspaper, is the lessee of 45,000 square feet (4,200 m2) of space, which has radio and newspaper functions.[117]
Prior to 2004, the headquarters were on Wabash Avenue. The newspaper had its headquarters in 350 North Orleans for a 13 year period, from 2004 to 2017. In 2017, the Sun-Times moved to a facility on Racine, and in 2022 it was to open a facility in the Old Chicago Main Post Office.[117]
Journalists at the Sun-Times have won eight Pulitzer Prizes.
Doug Moench was nominated for a Chicago Newspaper Guild Award in 1972 for his stream-of-consciousness story on violence in the Chicago subway system. In 1978, the newspaper conducted the Mirage Tavern investigation, in which undercover reporters operated a bar and caught city officials taking bribes on camera.[126]
In January 2004, after a six-month investigation written by Tim Novak and Steve Warmbir, 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."[127] The newspaper later silently withdrew the story without making any apologies or excuses.
Staff[edit]
The Sun-Times' best-known writer was film critic Roger Ebert, who died in April 2013.[128] 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 of famed cartoonist Bill Mauldin from 1962 to 1991, as well as advice columnist Ann Landers and the Washington veteran Robert Novak for many years. Lisa Myers, the Senior Investigative Correspondent for NBC News, was the publication's Washington correspondent from 1977 to 1979.[129] Author Charles Dickinson worked as a copy editor for the publication from 1983 to 1989.
The newspaper gave a start in journalism to columnist Bob Greene, while other notable writers such as Mary Mitchell, Richard Roeper, Gary Houston, Michael Sneed, Mark Brown, Neil Steinberg, sportswriters Rick Telander and Rick Morrissey, theater critic Hedy Weiss, Carol Marin, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporters Frank Main and Mark Konkol, and technology expert Andy Ihnatko have written for the Sun-Times. As of October 2013, Lynn Sweet is the Washington Bureau Chief and Pulitzer Prize-winner Jack Higgins is the publication's editorial cartoonist.[130][131][132]
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.[133][134]
On May 30, 2013, the Sun-Times laid off the vast majority of its photography staff as part of a change in its structure, opting instead to use photos and video shot by reporters, as well as content from freelancers, instead. Two staff photographers remained after the restructure: Rich Hein was named Photo Editor and Jessica Koscielniak, who was hired in January 2013, became the newspapers' only multimedia reporter. Among those photographers who were laid off was Pulitzer Prize winning photographer John White.[135] In an official statement, the newspaper explained: "The Sun-Times business is changing rapidly and our audiences are consistently seeking more video content with their news. We have made great progress in meeting this demand and are focused on bolstering our reporting capabilities with video and other multimedia elements."[105]
Early Edition[edit]
The paper was featured in the CBS show Early Edition, where the lead character mysteriously receives each Chicago Sun-Times newspaper the day before it is actually published.[136]
Former Chicago Sun-Times headquarters, located in the River North Point building at 350 North Orleans Street
Former Sun Times and Daily News headquarters
