Sun-Times owner: ‘We’re not buying Tribune’
The Chicago Sun-Times, which has a daily circulation of 422,355, aims to add 100,000 new subscribers over the next two years by beefing up sports, celebrities and business coverage.
“We’re becoming the No. 1 local newspaper in U.S. — we can do it,” Michael Ferro, chairman of the company that bought the paper last December, told a Chicago City Club lunch crowd on Thursday. “We’re not buying the Tribune, by the way.” (An earlier Crain’s story “hinted” that Ferro might purchase the rival paper once it exits bankruptcy.)
Crain’s Lynne Marek reports:
With regard to his digital strategy, Mr. Ferro said he’s trying to create a “great user interface” for a tablet application that is in the works. On that front, he praised the example set by the New York Post tablet application.
And in his goal to make the paper “credible, colorful and charitable,” he said the company will also make a multimillion-dollar contribution to a new Sun-Times Foundation to be affiliated with the Chicago Community Trust.
Chicago Tribune Editor Gerry Kern, who was at the luncheon, declined to comment on Ferro’s plans.
* Sun-Times owner: We’re not buying Chicago Tribune (Crain’s)
* Sun-Times to bolster sports, business entertainment content (Chicago Tribune)
* Earlier: Will the Sun-Times buy the Tribune? (JimRomenesko.com)
