Chicago Sun-Times and Daily Herald agree to content-sharing deal
Daily Herald is an Arlington Heights based daily newspaper covering Chicago's northwest, west and (to lesser extent) north suburbs. Before February, it competed with Sun-Times Media's suburban dailies (and not-quite-dailies) in more far-flung suburbs, but in much of Chicagoland, it had no competition - at least daily newspaper wise.
But this was before Wrapports sold most of Sun-Times Media newspapers to Tribune Publishing. So when, late last week, Robert Feder reported that Chicago Sun-Times and Daily Herald announced a content-sharing agreement, it wasn't as shocking an unexpected as it would have been last year.
What Sun-Times gets out of it has been spelled out in the article - local prep football coverage that Sun-Times has cut back on significantly in the last few months. But the article doesn't really say what Daily Herald gets out of it. It mentions that Sun-Times website would link to Daily Herald's articles more, which seems like... a bit of an uneven trade. And, something which doesn't require a content-sharing agreement (it's not like the new Sun-Times Network websites have been at all shy about linking to other media companies' content in the past).
THe article makes it clear that there is going to be more content sharing between the two papers in the future - and a memo to the two papers' staffs hints at what that might be.[T]here are areas where we can work together to improve the journalism each publication offers. The Sun-Times has a reputation in particular for strong coverage of the city of Chicago. The Daily Herald has a reputation for dominant coverage of the suburbs. Both of us are committed to aggressive watchdog reporting, enterprising sports coverage and spirited entertainment advice. There clearly are opportunities where we can supplement each other’s work without detracting from those individual characteristics that makes each publication unique.
However, this leaves more questions than answers.
Daily Herald has always been a suburban newspaper first and foremost. It rarely reported much on the Chicago proper, and I don't see any reason why it would start now. On the other hand, one can see why Sun-Times would want to get some of Daily Herald's articles. Before October, it tended to reprint articles from the suburban papers whenever it wanted to do more in-depth suburban coverage. Obviously, that isn't really an option anymore.
Paddock Publications, the parent company of Daily Herald, also publishes the Business Ledger, a bimonthly magazine covering Chicago and suburban businesses. As I've written before, Chicago Sun-Times' business coverage comes entirely from USA Today so it tends to be more national than local in its focus. Some content from Daily Herald could change that.
Since March, Chicago Sun-Times has cut its own entertainment coverage severely, using national content from USA Today. The only exception to that are the Friday issues, which still have the Agenda section (which pulls content from the Chicago Reader and Sun-Times' freelancers and staff) and a separate movie section.
Daily Herald has its own entertainment coverage and its own film critic. I could see Sun-Times wanting some entertainment content to pad out its local coverage - though that's a bit of a stretch. After all, it already has the Reader.
I could see Daily Herald possibly wanting to take advantage of what little is left of Sun-Times coverage of Chicago arts and culture that might be relevant to suburbanites (concerts, theater, etc). They may want some of the Reader's entertainment coverage and its restaurant reviews. But other than that, I don't see what on earth Daily Herald could possibly want with Chicago Sun-Times.
As I've written before, Wrapports as a whole has been struggling financially. To the best of my knowledge, Paddock Publications is doing fine.
I guess we'll have to wait and see what sort of content sharing the two companies actually have in mind, but for now, I continue to ask what a lot of people in Chicago media has been asking since the news broke - what on Earth is Daily Herald getting out of the deal?
But this was before Wrapports sold most of Sun-Times Media newspapers to Tribune Publishing. So when, late last week, Robert Feder reported that Chicago Sun-Times and Daily Herald announced a content-sharing agreement, it wasn't as shocking an unexpected as it would have been last year.
What Sun-Times gets out of it has been spelled out in the article - local prep football coverage that Sun-Times has cut back on significantly in the last few months. But the article doesn't really say what Daily Herald gets out of it. It mentions that Sun-Times website would link to Daily Herald's articles more, which seems like... a bit of an uneven trade. And, something which doesn't require a content-sharing agreement (it's not like the new Sun-Times Network websites have been at all shy about linking to other media companies' content in the past).
THe article makes it clear that there is going to be more content sharing between the two papers in the future - and a memo to the two papers' staffs hints at what that might be.[T]here are areas where we can work together to improve the journalism each publication offers. The Sun-Times has a reputation in particular for strong coverage of the city of Chicago. The Daily Herald has a reputation for dominant coverage of the suburbs. Both of us are committed to aggressive watchdog reporting, enterprising sports coverage and spirited entertainment advice. There clearly are opportunities where we can supplement each other’s work without detracting from those individual characteristics that makes each publication unique.
However, this leaves more questions than answers.
Daily Herald has always been a suburban newspaper first and foremost. It rarely reported much on the Chicago proper, and I don't see any reason why it would start now. On the other hand, one can see why Sun-Times would want to get some of Daily Herald's articles. Before October, it tended to reprint articles from the suburban papers whenever it wanted to do more in-depth suburban coverage. Obviously, that isn't really an option anymore.
Paddock Publications, the parent company of Daily Herald, also publishes the Business Ledger, a bimonthly magazine covering Chicago and suburban businesses. As I've written before, Chicago Sun-Times' business coverage comes entirely from USA Today so it tends to be more national than local in its focus. Some content from Daily Herald could change that.
Since March, Chicago Sun-Times has cut its own entertainment coverage severely, using national content from USA Today. The only exception to that are the Friday issues, which still have the Agenda section (which pulls content from the Chicago Reader and Sun-Times' freelancers and staff) and a separate movie section.
Daily Herald has its own entertainment coverage and its own film critic. I could see Sun-Times wanting some entertainment content to pad out its local coverage - though that's a bit of a stretch. After all, it already has the Reader.
I could see Daily Herald possibly wanting to take advantage of what little is left of Sun-Times coverage of Chicago arts and culture that might be relevant to suburbanites (concerts, theater, etc). They may want some of the Reader's entertainment coverage and its restaurant reviews. But other than that, I don't see what on earth Daily Herald could possibly want with Chicago Sun-Times.
As I've written before, Wrapports as a whole has been struggling financially. To the best of my knowledge, Paddock Publications is doing fine.
I guess we'll have to wait and see what sort of content sharing the two companies actually have in mind, but for now, I continue to ask what a lot of people in Chicago media has been asking since the news broke - what on Earth is Daily Herald getting out of the deal?