Just for Fun - a Guide to Pioneer Press Easter Eggs
Chicago's two daily newspapers are different in a lot of ways - including approach to archiving material online. Chicago Tribune's website has articles that go as far back as 1960s (if not further). Its archives may be notoriously hard do search, but it's all there somewhere. Chicago Sun-Times (and all the other Sun-Times Media newspapers) goes for a more slash-and-burn approach. It seems like every time there is a major website redesign, all of its articles vanish into ether. The massive redesign of Pioneer Press websites in the middle of this July is just the latest example.
But a closer look reveals that, while revamps are pretty thorough, they occasionally miss things. Pieces of older versions of the websites are still out there, undisturbed. Some are even occasionally updated.
For this entry, I decided to focus on Pioneer Press. Mostly because, at the moment, it has the most "Easter Eggs." I just hope they won't be deleted any time soon.
Pioneer Press Community Guides - not recent guides (you can see those here), but the guides from between 2006-2008. The guides cover Chicagoland suburbs and Chicago neighborhoods Pioneer Press covered at the time (hard as it is to remember now, but Pioneer Press briefly owned Lerner Newspapers, a Chicago community newspaper chain). More than anything, those guides are valuable as historical artifacts - it's interesting to see what businesses closed, what businesses opened and how the communities they covered changed over time.
Pioneer Press Maps - similar to above, those maps were produced for chambers of commerce of various Chicagoland suburbs and Chicago neighborhoods. Unlike the guides, some of the areas were never in Pioneer Press' coverage area. Those maps were all made before the real estate bubble burst, so reading some of them can be... interesting.
Pioneer Press Photo Store - technically speaking, it's Sun-Times Media photo store, but it has plenty of Pioneer Press material. Basically, every photo ever taken by Pioneer Press staff photographer or freelance photographer is available for sale at this site. That includes everything from the latest photos to the photos from newspapers that no longer exist. Every area Pioneer Press ever covered is represented here, Even though Pioneer Press (or any other Sun-Times Media newspapers' websites) no longer link to it, the store still seems to be perfectly functional.
Pioneer Press Blogs - for a while, the publisher had a punch of those, but it seemed to have quietly done away with them by the August 2012 redesign. Not all the blogs are still online, but here is the list of the ones that are.
But a closer look reveals that, while revamps are pretty thorough, they occasionally miss things. Pieces of older versions of the websites are still out there, undisturbed. Some are even occasionally updated.
For this entry, I decided to focus on Pioneer Press. Mostly because, at the moment, it has the most "Easter Eggs." I just hope they won't be deleted any time soon.
Pioneer Press Community Guides - not recent guides (you can see those here), but the guides from between 2006-2008. The guides cover Chicagoland suburbs and Chicago neighborhoods Pioneer Press covered at the time (hard as it is to remember now, but Pioneer Press briefly owned Lerner Newspapers, a Chicago community newspaper chain). More than anything, those guides are valuable as historical artifacts - it's interesting to see what businesses closed, what businesses opened and how the communities they covered changed over time.
Pioneer Press Maps - similar to above, those maps were produced for chambers of commerce of various Chicagoland suburbs and Chicago neighborhoods. Unlike the guides, some of the areas were never in Pioneer Press' coverage area. Those maps were all made before the real estate bubble burst, so reading some of them can be... interesting.
Pioneer Press Photo Store - technically speaking, it's Sun-Times Media photo store, but it has plenty of Pioneer Press material. Basically, every photo ever taken by Pioneer Press staff photographer or freelance photographer is available for sale at this site. That includes everything from the latest photos to the photos from newspapers that no longer exist. Every area Pioneer Press ever covered is represented here, Even though Pioneer Press (or any other Sun-Times Media newspapers' websites) no longer link to it, the store still seems to be perfectly functional.
Pioneer Press Blogs - for a while, the publisher had a punch of those, but it seemed to have quietly done away with them by the August 2012 redesign. Not all the blogs are still online, but here is the list of the ones that are.
- Arlington Parker - a blog that covered Arlington Park racetrack, it is most likely an artifact of the time when Pioneer Press had a Arlington Heights newspaper (known as Arlington Heights Post) Last post dates back to October 11, 2010. Arlington Heights Post published its last issue at the end of April 2011.
- Entertaining Ideas - an TV news and reviews blog by Pioneer Press features editor Jennifer Thomas. The blog updated regularly until January 2012, after which there was only one other entry posted on May 8, 2012.
- Heard in the Hallways - a high school sports blog. It still seems to be regularly updated.
- Lake Affect - a news and opinions blog by two (now former) editors for several Pioneer Press Lake County newspapers (some of those newspapers, by the way, no longer exist). The last post dates back to February 2010, which makes it one of the oldest Easter Eggs here (and boy do the broken pieces of pre-2011 Pioneer Press layout show it)
- The News Peg - nothing in the name suggests that this blog focuses on Oak Park, but that's precisely what it does. This may be the oldest Easter Egg I've been able to find - last update was made in November 2009
- North Shore Notebook - a "news, views and observations" blog for reporters and editors who work on Pioneer Press newspapers covering the North Shore region. It's a mix of opinion pieces, commentary, stray observations and some behind-the-scenes-of-reporting stuff. Was updated fairly regularly until May 2012, after which updates became much more scattershot. The latest update was posted on June 12 of this year, though, so maybe the blog might get updated again.
- Oak Park 365 - it originally started out as a 2009 year-long look at Oak Park and what makes it unique. Somewhere along the way, it seems to have gotten extended for another year. For any Oak Park residents reading this, the blog is probably a fascinating look back at the news and events of the time.
- Olympic Connection - did you know that Pioneer Press had a blog covering 2010 Winter Olympics? I sure didn't. Thankfully, it's still up, offering an interesting look back at a very specific slice of our recent past.
- Page Turners - billed as Pioneer Press' "online book club," it seems to be that - plus personal musings by author/librarian Laura L. Enright. And, toward the end, it did some more general book coverage. It's bit of a mixed bag, but some of Enright's posts are informative, funny and even occasionally touching. Even though it lasted longer than many other blogs (last post was on February 26, 2013), it suffers from screwed up layout - you have to scroll down about a page (no pun intended) to see the actual blog.
- Proviso POV - the blog focusing on western suburbs that are part of Proviso Township. Includes news posts, along with some opinion bits and "what do you think" type posts. Updates are very scattershot, with the latest post made in February 2010.
- Teen Times - I'm especially curious about this one. It appears to be part of Pioneer Press' effort to appeal to young readers by getting actual teenagers to write blog posts. Unlike other blogs, it has its own Facebook page. The blog is a mix of lists, reflections, opinions and more news article type posts. And honestly - a lot of the writers involved weren't bad. Not at all. The whole thing ran from March 2009 - May 2011. Reading it, I can't help but wonder what was the story behind this project - and why it was wrapped up before many other blogs.
- 1000 Words - the official blog of Pioneer Press cartoonist Eric Allie. Features cartoons themselves and some behind-the-scenes stuff and commentary. While Allie still does cartoons for Pioneer Press to this day, the blog hasn't been updated since March 7, 2010.
- What Do We Believe - as the name suggests, it's a religion blog by Brett Johnson (currently the editor of Pioneer Press' the Doings newspapers) and Jeff Finley, a (now former) managing editor for several Northwestern suburban Pioneer Press newspapers. At the time this blog was written, at least, both men were Sunday School teachers and had experience working for religious institutions. The last update was on April 2011.