Posted by chicagomedia.org on June 19, 2009 at 17:53:58:
Chicago Tribune to discontinue weekly publication of magazine
The Chicago Tribune said today it is discontinuing its weekly Sunday magazine, replacing it as of July 5th with Sunday, a new section that will combine some of the magazine's features with content that had been in the paper's Smart and House & Homes sections.
Chicago Tribune Magazine, which traces its roots to 1914's Chicago Tribune Pictorial Weekly and took on its current form on Oct. 4th, 1953, will continue as a series of themed sections published roughly once a month beginning in September.
Gerould Kern, the Chicago Tribune's editor, said in a memo to staff that the change involving the magazine was made "because declining advertising and high costs made weekly publication unsustainable."
Other changes coming to the Sunday Tribune next month involve the introduction of new sections and consolidation of others. "To succeed in this economic climate, we must continually evaluate and adapt our offerings to meet reader and advertiser needs and to improve profitability," Kern wrote.
The Chicagoland report will be incorporated in the Sunday main news section, as it is on weekdays, while the Tribune launches a new World & Nation section, which will also include obituaries and the Sunday weather page.
The new Money & Real Estate section on Sunday will incorporate stories, graphics, advice columns, special features and guidance on home sales and personal finance previously found in House & Home and the Your Money pages of the Business section. Career Builder ads will now appear in the back of the Business section, rather than as a section unto themselves.
The Chicago Homes section will move from Friday to Saturday, as of July 11th. The Tribune in April moved The Guide, with its television listings, from Sunday to Saturdays.
"In a special message to readers last Sunday, we told how we are investing in areas like watchdog reporting, local news and digital publishing," Kern wrote. "We are able to do this by making clear choices in our priorities and shifting resources to activities that readers and advertisers value most. These changes are part of this effort."
The Chicago Tribune's paid Sunday circulation average for the six months ending in March was 858,256 copies, making it the No. 4 Sunday newspaper in the nation behind the New York Times (1.451 million), Los Angeles Times (1.019 million) and Washington Post (868,965).
Tribune Co. owns the Tribune and Los Angeles Times.
(Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune)