At Chicago Sun-Times, New Owners Vow Return to Paper’s Working-Class Roots
The idea is particularly resonant in Chicago, one of the last two-newspaper cities in the country, and the place
that gave America Studs Terkel and Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle.”
“The North Star, for us, is great journalism that genuinely reflects the lives
and interests of the working people of Chicago,” Mr. Eisendrath, 59, said in an interview last week in his downtown office, a room with few trinkets or wall hangings but a sweeping view of the Chicago River.
We think we’re going to serve the city really well.”
Along with Mr. Eisendrath, the new ownership of The Sun-Times includes several private investors
and the Chicago Federation of Labor, an umbrella organization whose president is Mr. Ramirez.
When Mr. Eisendrath’s group emerged victorious, many in the country’s third-biggest city — at
least those who pay attention to the ownership of The Sun-Times — felt a sense of relief.
The Sun-Times also has a burdensome $25 million-a-year contract with Tronc to print
and distribute the paper, which the new ownership group has said it will honor.
Less than two weeks ago, their fledgling idea came to fruition, when a group led by
Mr. Eisendrath overcame a rival bid by Tronc, the publisher of The Chicago Tribune.
