The Fate of Skyline and Chicago Journal - a contributor's perspective
It's not really news at this point. On Monday, my editor let e know that Wednesday Journal Inc, the company that publishes the Chicago Journal and the Skyline, intends to stop publishing both papers before the end of the year. It's looking to sell off Skyline and (maybe) Chicago Journal, but even if Wednesday Journal manages to sell one (or both) papers find the buyer, there is no guarantee that it will still want me (or any of the other contributors) to keep writing for them.
I didn't see this coming. Not exactly. During the summer, I noticed that the ads and classifieds seems to be dropping off, and I started to wonder. But then, the company hired a new display ad salesperson and became much more aggressive in its efforts to get city advertising. The efforts seem to have paid off - I definitely saw a jump in city-based classified ads, and we got regular ads from higher-profile companies than what we usually got. I figured we dodged a bullet.
But, according to the message from our publisher, it was ultimately too late. As Haley put it in a staff-wide e-mail, if Shelley Chakan (that's the display ad salesperson) came on board two years ago rather than several months ago, the papers might have been in a different shape. And, according to the same message, Chakan has been hired by Chicago Tribune, so...
In an interview with Chicago Reader's Michael Miner, Haley said that the papers "sporadically made a few bucks," so it was never just about the bottom line. But at the end of the day, Wednesday Journal is a business, and I can't really fault Haley for deciding to cut his losses.
From what I understand, the only reason why Wednesday Journal gave the papers a few more weeks is because a "notable legal notice" is supposed to be published in December 13th issue.
That said... at least, through it all, Wednesday Journal remained committed to reporting. Even as the company cut staff, it still kept asking reporters to write their own stories, and it still kept paying reporters and photographers for their work. Many of the old Chicago community newspapers have become little more than glorified collections of press releases. Wednesday Journal could have very easily done the same thing with Chicago Journal and Skyline. God knows they would have earned more profits this way. But the fact that the possibility never even came up... that really says something about what kind of person Haley is. and, in this day in age, it is nice to see someone actually try to invest in good community journalism.
I hope that Chicago Journal and Skyline will find new home(s). Not just because it might mean I would still be getting paid. Over the past few years, I'd seen far too many Chicago newspapers and magazines bite the dust. Real Chicago. UR Chicago. Conscious Choice. Mindful Metropolis. Chicago Free Press. Gay Chicago. Chicago Shoreline News. N'Digo. VenusZine. Kilter. Clubline Chicago. Image Chicago. Chicago Scene. Chicago Flame - the very first newspaper I wrote for. And those are just the one I can think of atop of my head.
We've done some great reporting for Chicago Journal. And by we, I mean everyone who's ever wrote for it, past and present. I'm proud of my contributions, but I'm also proud to be part of the paper's tradition of great investigative reporting and community coverage. It would be a shame to see it end.
And Skyline... Take all that and add six decades. Unlike Chicago Journal, which Wednesday Journal created from scratch, Skyline was part of Lerner Newspapers, a North/Northwest Side chain of community newspapers that survived for nearly a century. Today, only three of those newspapers - Skyline, the Booster (now known as Inside-Booster) and News-Star - survive. After all the ownership changes, Skyline managed to retain its society coverage thanks to the efforts of Ann Gerber, Chicago' oldest surviving gossip columnist. As Crain's Chicago Business columnist Shia Capos pointed out, if Skyline doesn't find a buyer, this will be the first time in over 50 years that Gerber wouldn't have a place in Chicago print journalism.
I hope it doesn't come to that.
The next few weeks are going to be tough. I'm going to keep working on the articles. I'm going to be looking at other freelance opportunities. But, if I have time, I'm going to try to put together a few entries about of the papers' most interesting and noteworthy stories. I see it as the way of celebrating my work and the work of everybody who wrote for Chicago Journal and Skyline (under Wednesday Journal management). Because online archives have huge gaps, I can't do a complete retrospective, but I will try my best to fit in as much as I can find.
Wish me luck.
I didn't see this coming. Not exactly. During the summer, I noticed that the ads and classifieds seems to be dropping off, and I started to wonder. But then, the company hired a new display ad salesperson and became much more aggressive in its efforts to get city advertising. The efforts seem to have paid off - I definitely saw a jump in city-based classified ads, and we got regular ads from higher-profile companies than what we usually got. I figured we dodged a bullet.
But, according to the message from our publisher, it was ultimately too late. As Haley put it in a staff-wide e-mail, if Shelley Chakan (that's the display ad salesperson) came on board two years ago rather than several months ago, the papers might have been in a different shape. And, according to the same message, Chakan has been hired by Chicago Tribune, so...
In an interview with Chicago Reader's Michael Miner, Haley said that the papers "sporadically made a few bucks," so it was never just about the bottom line. But at the end of the day, Wednesday Journal is a business, and I can't really fault Haley for deciding to cut his losses.
From what I understand, the only reason why Wednesday Journal gave the papers a few more weeks is because a "notable legal notice" is supposed to be published in December 13th issue.
That said... at least, through it all, Wednesday Journal remained committed to reporting. Even as the company cut staff, it still kept asking reporters to write their own stories, and it still kept paying reporters and photographers for their work. Many of the old Chicago community newspapers have become little more than glorified collections of press releases. Wednesday Journal could have very easily done the same thing with Chicago Journal and Skyline. God knows they would have earned more profits this way. But the fact that the possibility never even came up... that really says something about what kind of person Haley is. and, in this day in age, it is nice to see someone actually try to invest in good community journalism.
I hope that Chicago Journal and Skyline will find new home(s). Not just because it might mean I would still be getting paid. Over the past few years, I'd seen far too many Chicago newspapers and magazines bite the dust. Real Chicago. UR Chicago. Conscious Choice. Mindful Metropolis. Chicago Free Press. Gay Chicago. Chicago Shoreline News. N'Digo. VenusZine. Kilter. Clubline Chicago. Image Chicago. Chicago Scene. Chicago Flame - the very first newspaper I wrote for. And those are just the one I can think of atop of my head.
We've done some great reporting for Chicago Journal. And by we, I mean everyone who's ever wrote for it, past and present. I'm proud of my contributions, but I'm also proud to be part of the paper's tradition of great investigative reporting and community coverage. It would be a shame to see it end.
And Skyline... Take all that and add six decades. Unlike Chicago Journal, which Wednesday Journal created from scratch, Skyline was part of Lerner Newspapers, a North/Northwest Side chain of community newspapers that survived for nearly a century. Today, only three of those newspapers - Skyline, the Booster (now known as Inside-Booster) and News-Star - survive. After all the ownership changes, Skyline managed to retain its society coverage thanks to the efforts of Ann Gerber, Chicago' oldest surviving gossip columnist. As Crain's Chicago Business columnist Shia Capos pointed out, if Skyline doesn't find a buyer, this will be the first time in over 50 years that Gerber wouldn't have a place in Chicago print journalism.
I hope it doesn't come to that.
The next few weeks are going to be tough. I'm going to keep working on the articles. I'm going to be looking at other freelance opportunities. But, if I have time, I'm going to try to put together a few entries about of the papers' most interesting and noteworthy stories. I see it as the way of celebrating my work and the work of everybody who wrote for Chicago Journal and Skyline (under Wednesday Journal management). Because online archives have huge gaps, I can't do a complete retrospective, but I will try my best to fit in as much as I can find.
Wish me luck.