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Way to build employee confidence there, Ed

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Illinois

The Chicago Sun-Times has only a 60 percent chance of still being in business two years from now, according to the newspaper’s CEO.

Edwin Eisendrath, who headed the investor group that acquired the struggling daily tabloid last summer, shared the assessment in public remarks Thursday at the Illinois Press Association convention in Bloomington-Normal.

In response to an audience question, Eisendrath acknowledged that the Sun-Times was still losing money, and he pegged the likelihood of its survival in two years at “60 percent.” If it’s around then, he added, it should be viable for five years or more. […]

Despite its appeal for support among union households, the Sun-Times has not experienced a groundswell of subscribers under the new ownership, Eisendrath said. With a redesign of the paper’s website and its move to a subscription paywall model, there will be a renewed effort to attract new customers.

posted by Rich Miller
Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 1:32 pm

Comments

Not Shocked

Comment by Saluki Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 1:33 pm
I guess there isn’t such a big market for class warfare and whining

Comment by JC Penny Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 1:37 pm
The sports section is much better then the tribune. Maybe they should push that angle……

Comment by Board Watcher Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 1:40 pm
agree with Board Watcher. Like to follow hunting and fishing on the Outdoors page.

Comment by Amalia Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 1:41 pm
@ JC Penney: You’re right. The Tribune editorial page has that angle covered.

Comment by Scamp640 Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 1:41 pm
===Tribune editorial page has that angle covered===

They own it outright.

Comment by Rich Miller Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 1:45 pm
he’s not the most compelling person. in fact, he can be downright privileged arrogant. who is another face for the paper? because that couldn’t hurt.

Comment by Amalia Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 1:47 pm
Edwin is being honest. Employees usually say they want more transparency from their employers and this is one of those “be careful for what you wish” scenarios.

Frankly, nothing Eisendrath said should be “news” to his employees or to anyone at the Illinois Press Association. It’s been trending this way for more than a decade.

Comment by 47th Ward Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 1:50 pm
60% of the time, it’ll close down every time…

Comment by Oswego Willy Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 1:51 pm
They are owned by union interests I get that, but to publicly move toward unions activism and then threatened us with the paper demise is not a great way of expanding he pool of those who would consider subscribing or renewing

Comment by Texas Red Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 1:52 pm
Maybe the tabloid-style covers aren’t a recipe for credibility?

When I get my morning coffee, I always see people drift by the newspaper rack to scan headlines. They always glance right over the Sun-Times and start digging into the stories on the cover of their competitors.

Comment by NIU Grad Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 1:55 pm
Unfortunately, the Sun-Times will only survive as a non-for-profit that can take charitable donations or as a vanity project for a super-wealthy individual.

Comment by Roman Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 1:57 pm
That’s better than if Tronc had gotten in control of it.

Comment by Precinct Captain Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 1:58 pm
–That’s better than if Tronc had gotten in control of it.–

Absolutely true.

Actually, for the S-T, 60% odds aren’t that bad. They’ve been tougher to kill than Rasputin over the decades.

Comment by wordslinger Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 2:08 pm
What the compelling reason to spend money on it. While I am a 7 day a week subscriber to the Trib and also have a national paper subscription, I am not the norm. In fact I don’t know of anyone else in either my generation or my children’s generation that consume news through a newspaper anymore. They want their information on demand. They want it to see the news through their bias, not independently. And they want it digitally. I will subscribe until either I die or they die but I think they will go first.

Comment by NeverPoliticallyCorrect Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 2:09 pm
I always preferred CS-T over the Trib, mostly because of the columnists: Ebert, Telander, Roeper, Steinberg. But Ebert died, I don’t consume sports news as I once did, Roeper shifted from daily life to entertainment, and Steinberg has gone off the deep end with Trump. At least the web interface is much improved.

I hope they can turn it around.

Comment by City Zen Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 2:12 pm
“Despite its appeal for support among union households”

Sounds like “identity press.” Big mistake. Why don’t they just proclaim they are the beacon of all the other identities du jour?

Just skip the executives, small business owners, and normal non-identity folks, etc. Ya, that’ll help. /s

Comment by whatev Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 2:29 pm
I would say all of print media has those odds.

Comment by Claud Peppers Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 2:30 pm
Sun Times: Tries to build business by defending the status quo of elevating government union benefits over taxpayers and social services, wonders why it’s failing.

Comment by Phil King Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 2:39 pm
What will happen to Mike Sneed? Where else is she going to get a job that requires her to work a whole 3 weeks a year and allow her to plug her favorite restaurants and buddies’ birthdays?

Comment by Colin O'Scopy Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 2:42 pm
Sun Times needs to morph into the DNAinfo niche.

h8er’s can pound sand.

Comment by South Shore Bob Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 2:56 pm
- NeverPoliticallyCorrect - Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 2:09 pm:

I subscribe to both the Sun times and Tribune. I have for over 40 years. I keep thinking that I will cancel both but don’t.

If the Suntimes goes out of business, I will save money. It has gotten smaller over the years just like the Trib.

I read a lot but don’t agree with much that I read except for RNUG.

I wish there was a RNUG run paper. I would be a 7 day subscriber and go to RNUG rib fest even though the older I get the more I don’t like crowds.

Comment by Anonymous Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 3:31 pm
I remember some three decades ago knowing hard-core Sun-Times reporter-types who’d say in all seriousness the paper would be gone some time about the beginning of the 21st Century. We’re now 18 years into the century; meaning I’m sure some would say the paper already has lasted longer than it should have.

Comment by Gregory Tejeda Friday, Jun 8, 18 @ 9:49 pm