Posted by chicagomedia.org on October 18, 2009 at 14:44:54:
Blackhawks owner Rocky Wirtz on Sun-Times bid: 'I'd like to see two papers in Chicago'
When Jim Tyree first pitched Rocky Wirtz on the idea of joining his group of local investors to bid on the Chicago Sun-Times and its suburban sisters, it was a real eye-opener.
"I thought he was nuts," Wirtz recalled. "But the more I listened to him, the more I understood him, the more it did seem to make some sense. ... I think it's good we can do it. I believe in it."
Wirtz, who owns the Chicago Blackhawks, said he joined the $26 million effort to acquire the Sun-Times Media Group and save it from liquidation because he believes in Tyree's strategy to turn the ailing publisher around.
But Wirtz also noted that 95 percent of the reason he was making a financial commitment was because he thought it was important to preserve the flagship Sun-Times.
"(Tyree has) got a business plan and I think it made some sense, so we'll see. But I think it was worth the investment because I'd like to see two papers in Chicago," Wirtz said. "We didn't make the investment with the idea that we were going to lose the house. I'm prepared to lose the investment, but I think it's the right investment."
Wirtz is not the only newsmaker among the 11 would-be Sun-Times investors, but he has the highest profile because of the Hawks and their resurgence since he took over after the death of his father in 2007. He not only presides over the pro hockey team, but as chairman of his family's Wirtz Corporation, he also is in charge of the Wirtz Beverage Group, a regional alcohol distributor with $1.5 billion in annual sales, as well as a couple of banks, Wirtz Realty and Wirtz Insurance.
He knows he will read about himself and his businesses in the Sun-Times and he may not always like what he sees. But, echoing Tyree, he said he will distance himself from editorial decisions.
"You have to separate church and state. You know that going in," Wirtz said. "There are going to be contrary views. As long as it's not a personal attack, I don't care what they write."
Some of the press attacks on his late father clearly still sting.
"Sometime toward the end, they were very personal and I just thought those articles went above and beyond," Wirtz said. "What you're trying to run is a good newspaper and hopefully they want a good newspaper and not just sensationalism for sensationalism's sake."
Posted at 03:18:13 AM by Phil Rosenthal, Chicago Tribune