Posted by RD on December 23, 2009 at 12:18:11:
The editor-in-chief, art director, senior writer, graphic designer and most of the writers at the Chicago Free Press -- one of two weekly gay and lesbian papers in the city -- left the paper Monday after the company stopped paying its employees
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Exodus at Chicago Free Press as paychecks stop
December 22, 2009 3:17 PM
The editor-in-chief, art director, senior writer, graphic designer and most of the writers at the Chicago Free Press -- one of two weekly gay and lesbian papers in the city -- left the paper Monday after the company stopped paying its employees, according to Matt Simonette, the former editor-in-chief.
The news follows financial struggles and decreased ad sales for the paper.
Simonette said editorial contributors had not been paid since mid-November and other staff members had not received paychecks that were due Dec. 15.
Other former employees said paychecks had not come on time in the past. Publisher David Costanzo, who heads up Rainbow Media, acquired the assets of the Chicago Free Press in 2002 from Novus Publishing Group, which launched the newspaper in August 1999.
Simonette said Constanzo has not been in the office for two weeks and attempts to contact him were unsuccessful.
No one picked up the phone at the Chicago Free Press office late this afternoon. The company's Web site lists about 20 employees at the newspaper. The newspaper has a weekly circulation of 23,000 to 26,000.
-- Julie Wernau