The Chicago Sun-Times, which bills itself as the hardest-working newspaper in America, may have to work even harder after more than a fifth of its staffers took a buyout, likely heading off potential layoffs in a sweeping cost-cutting initiative by Chicago Public Media.
Thirty Sun-Times employees, including 23 reporters and editors, will be voluntarily leaving the newspaper, which joined forces three years ago with NPR radio station WBEZ in a groundbreaking nonprofit media model.
In addition, five business employees at WBEZ have also taken the buyout offer.
Chicago Public Media CEO Melissa Bell shared the news of 35 departing employees in a letter to supporters and members posted on the Sun-Times website Tuesday afternoon.
“Some people work behind the scenes, while others have recognizable bylines and specific areas of coverage,” Bell said. “Each of them has played a vital role in shaping our organization into what it is today, and all are deeply valued. Their absence will be felt, but so will their legacy, and we are truly thankful for their contribution to public service through journalism.”
A Chicago Public Media spokesperson Wednesday confirmed the 35 employees that took the voluntary separation offer included 15 members of the Sun-Times Guild and eight non-union journalists, along with 12 business-side employees across both the newspaper and radio station. The buyouts, along with other cost-saving measures, including “leaving certain executive roles unfulfilled,” will create $4.2 million in annual savings for the nonprofit news organization, the spokesperson said.
In a separate article, the Sun-Times detailed the buyouts and listed a number of the departing journalists, with a large chunk of the sports department leaving the newspaper, including columnists Rick Morrissey and Rick Telander, Bears beat writer Mark Potash and White Sox beat writer Daryl Van Schouwen.
Other prominent bylines that took the buyout include longtime columnist Michael Sneed and advice columnist Ismael Perez, according to the Sun-Times.
All departing employees will receive severance and a cash bonus based on their tenure, according to Chicago Public Media. The payouts range from 10 weeks of salary and a $9,000 bonus for employees with less than five years to 24 weeks and $12,500 for those with 30 or more years on the job, the spokesperson said. Departures begin Friday, but will roll out over several weeks.
Chicago Public Media announced the cost-savings plan in January, looking to shave $3 million to $5 million off the annual budget through the buyouts. In her letter, Bell said the buyouts met the goal, ostensibly avoiding any layoffs, at least for now.
“I am grateful to share with you now that we reached our cost reduction targets through voluntary departures,” Bell said.
The Chicago Sun-Times merged with WBEZ-FM 91.5 in January 2022, backed by $61 million in initial philanthropic support. But the nonprofit combo has failed to realize the synergies envisioned by former CEO Matt Moog, who stepped down last year amid revenue shortfalls.
Bell, who co-founded online news site Vox.com, took the helm at Chicago Public Media in September.
At the start of the year, the Sun-Times had 144 employees, including 104 on the editorial side, while WBEZ had 134 employees, with 64 content creators, Chicago Public Media told the Tribune in January.
The downsizing at the Sun-Times follows national trends that have seen dramatically reduced employment at local newspapers across the U.S. in the post-millennium digital media landscape. Since 2005, more than 266,000 newspaper jobs have been eliminated, a 73% decline, according to the 2024 State of Local News report by Northwestern’s Medill School of Journalism.
The total includes the loss of more than 45,000 newsroom jobs, a 60% reduction over the past two decades, according to the study.
Reducing the Sun-Times staff by 20% in one fell swoop, however, could presage a significant change in the content produced by Chicago’s longtime No. 2 newspaper, which has struggled financially for years.
Founded in 1948 by Marshall Field III, the Sun-Times has had a colorful history and a succession of owners, including media baron Rupert Murdoch, who bought it in 1984. Murdoch was forced to sell the Sun-Times in 1986 after acquiring WFLD-Ch. 32 because of Federal Communications Commission cross-ownership restrictions.
In 2009, a group led by former Mesirow CEO Jim Tyree rescued the Sun-Times from bankruptcy, paying $5 million in cash and taking on $20 million in liabilities.
Wrapports, a local investor group headed by tech entrepreneur Michael Ferro, stepped up after Tyree’s death to buy the Sun-Times and 38 suburban newspapers for about $20 million in December 2011.
In 2017, an investor group that included the Chicago Federation of Labor bought the money-losing Sun-Times and other assets from Wrapports for $1, after Tribune Publishing was thwarted in its own bid to buy the newspaper by Justice Department antitrust concerns.
The Sun-Times has continued to bleed red ink since joining the nonprofit fold and faced a $12 million operating deficit this year, according to Chicago Public Media. While the shortfall was covered by philanthropic funding through 2026, downsizing at the Sun-Times is part of a strategy to eliminate the losses before the initial backing runs out.
Chicago Sun-Times Media received nearly $11.2 million in contributions and grants for fiscal year 2024, which ended in June, according to the most recent Form 990 tax return filed with the Internal Revenue Service.
In 2024, operating revenue for the nonprofit newspaper was $27.9 million, a 6% year-over-year decline which landed the Sun-Times in the red by more than $1.1 million – despite the philanthropic contributions, the filing showed.
In addition to the buyouts, the resignation of Moog, a Chicago tech entrepreneur who was elevated from interim to permanent CEO of Chicago Public Media in 2021, may help defray costs going forward. He received $722,861 in total compensation last year, according to the tax filing.
Bell, who was named in June to replace Moog, pledged in her letter Tuesday to “secure the future of independent journalism in Chicago” after stabilizing the organization through the buyout plan. At the same time, with the initial $61 million in philanthropic funding expiring, Bell wrote that she is looking to double the number of Chicago Public Media supporters and members over the next five years to help fill that void.
rchannick@chicagotribune.com
