Chicago Sun-Times leaves front page blank, pleads for subscribers: 'We need you to be there for us'

[brooklynite]

Source: The Hill

The Chicago Sun-Times left its front page blank in a plea for subscribers on Monday in an effort to “protect the long-term survival” of its newsroom.

The unorthodox appeal comes one month after the 174-year-old newspaper completed a round of layoffs as it struggles with falling advertising revenue from its print edition.

The Sun-Times has been working to build digital subscriptions for content that readers in the past have gotten for free.

“We’re asking you to please support our daily work by subscribing to our website for $7.49 a month. That’s less than 25 cents a day,” writes the paper in a story titled “Imagine Chicago without the Sun-Times: An urgent appeal.”



Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/media/384423-chicago-sun-times-leaves-front-page-blank-pleas-for-subscribers-we-need-you-to

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I pay for the NY Times, the Daily News, the Washington Post and the Guardian. How many news outlets do you subcsribe to?

[MiniMe]

1. I get the Washington Post

It is my "local" paper

[kimbutgar]

2. I get my local paper the SF Chronicle delivered everyday

And it’s not cheap but I want to support the free press.

[Hugin]

3. I used to subscribe to four.

Then they all went Right-Wing Republican Echo Chamber. So, today. None.

My local paper, which sadly, is really the only remaining State wide distribution was the worst of these conversions. When I left it, it had nearly zero local news and had become a fountain of Republican talking points.

[dembotoz]

4. i buy the ny times and milw journal

over the years the journal has been less and less what i want to read.
right wing
crappy coverage

so yesterday, i did not get my traditional sunday paper....seems i am supposed to send them another check.

did not miss it...not sure i will

stick with the times

[DylanUSC]

5. I have been a subscriber for some time to the Washington Post & still subscribe to it. I dropped my

subscription to the NY Times back when they what I thought broke open the Clinton email thing & never seemed to let up on her. There were other issues with the NY Times as well I thought. Overall, they are still I know, one of the better national & international newspaper.

As for the Guardian, I do not subscribe but I am a donor monthly supporting them because I believe they really are an important newspaper investigative & does a really great job.

[No Vested Interest]

6. I subscribe to my local paper, the Cincinnati Enquirer, and their weekly neighborhood offshoot.

I pay for both online and hard copy with the Enquirer.

At one time the Cincinnati Enquirer had a strong national reputation. Like most local newspapers these days, they have cut their staff enormously, and it is no longer printer locally, but in Columbus, Ohio. While there are still some good local stories, one section is USA Today, another is sports, which I am no longer interested in. I'm a big obituary reader. Although I can and do get both local and national news online, I like having the hard copy in my hands at breakfast & lunch. I'll likely stay with it until either I or the Enquirer goes.

I get the weekly neighborhood paper to support the boy who delivers it. My own children delivered it decades ago, and I believe in supporting young people working regularly - wonderful training in responsibility.

[FakeNoose]

7. I pay for 2 subscriptions

Pittsburgh Post Gazette and New York Times. (both are emailed/online)
I used to get WaPo through an Amazon Prime promotion, but I think that's over now.

When you're retired and on a fixed income it's not possible to support all the worthy publications.

Just sayin'

[pnwmom]

8. Just so people know, this is the more progressive paper in the city. The other paper,

the Chicago Tribune, has endorsed only one Democratic President in its entire history -- Barack Obama -- and didn't endorse Hillary.

[mopinko]

11. they were recently acquired by a group of very progressive chicagoans.

i think there is employee ownership.

i should pick it up. i pay for wapo.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. I subscribe to the NYT, WP, Philly Inquirer, Mother Jones, Nation

[Corgigal]

10. Washington Post

and Texture.

[flygal]

12. Wa post and my local paper. nt

[elfin]

13. Times, Post, Guardian Vanity Fair, New Yorker

Thinking of adding The Atlantic.

[LisaM]

14. I tend to buy from the newsstand.

I probably should subscribe, but they dropped the print version of the local paper we took (the Seattle Post-Intelligencer), and only kept its far more conservative counterpart, the Seattle Times, in print. We nevertheless subscribed to that for a while, too, but delivery became an increasing problem, and when we were forced to move to an apartment, almost impossible. They barely got it to the outside of our (locked) entry, and we were paying for about half the copies we actually received.

It's maddening that we have a ton of millennials in our building and all their frou-frou Blue Apron and Chewy and Amazon Prime stuff gets delivered, but the paper doesn't (and I don't think the people who deliver it care about getting it to us, either).

Now I'm noodling over what to do about this. I like a print version of whatever paper.

[Wuddles440]

15. I'm an avid consumer of newspapers and have four subscriptions.

One is the Akron Beacon Journal which is delivered daily and an excellent paper. However, it's just been sold and I'm concerned about the new ownership. I also receive the Cleveland Plain Dealer which I've found to be an outstanding paper. However, a few years ago they reduced their home delivery to only four days and required that readers access their digital edition for Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. Lastly, I have digital subscriptions to the Pittsburgh Post Gazette and New York Times.

[No Vested Interest]

16. It would be interesting to know the ages of those of us who have responded to the OP.

I'm an older senior.
Of my four adult children, in their young to mid-50's, only one is a newspaper reader.
The other three seem to rely on their Smart phones, for the most part.
They are moderately well-informed, in my eyes.

[DAMANgoldberg]

17. WaPo

On my fixed income, that is it. Plus the price is right $3.99/mo. If The Charlotte Observer came close to that price, despite's it's diminished self, I would buy it.

[locks]

18. Same problem

for the Denver Post. It is not as progressive as I would like but the only large newspaper in the mountain West. Some jerk bought it and fired most of the editorial staff. I have digital subscriptions to Washpost, NYTimes, Denver Post, and Boulder Daily Camera but I live on Social Security which doesn't leave much for papers. Glad to be able to read the Guardian online and some articles from the Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Atlantic, New Yorker but would prefer the Sun-Times. We so much need more media like NPR and free local papers. My grandchildren only get news from TV and their phones.

[DeminPennswoods]

19. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Interestingly, I've noticed more advertizing inserts in the Monday through Saturday editions recently. I wonder if this is how businesses are responding to what I'm sure will be a rush to enable the new privacy settings on facebook and other social media?