Sun-Times Media Will Close Suburban Newsrooms

Chicago-area newspaper publishers are retrenching as the year draws to a close, with major cost-cutting initiatives from Sun-Times Media.

Most recently, Sun-Times Media announced that it will close six of its suburban newsrooms with an eye to consolidating all editorial and production activities in the company’s main Sun-Times building in downtown Chicago. Sun-Times Media will close suburban newsrooms in Aurora, Glenview, Gurnee, Joliet, Tinely Park and Merrillville, Indiana, and relocate about 70 employees, including editors and production personnel, to the Sun-Times headquarters building. Suburban reporters will work from the field or from home via laptops and mobile devices. Some workers involved in production may be laid off. In addition to saving money on rent and streamlining production, Sun-Times execs said the moves are part of a push to transition to a “digital first” company.