Newspaper & Mailroom
The New York Times Expands Chicago Area Report
Monday 23. November 2009 - The Times Will Publish Added Pages on Fridays and Sundays, with News Provided by the Chicago News Cooperative
Second in a Series of Local Print and Online Initiatives
The New York Times announced today an expanded Chicago area report, produced in collaboration with the Chicago News Cooperative, with added pages of local content running in The New York Times on Fridays and Sundays in the Chicago area. The report will launch on Friday, Nov. 20. The new pages will complement the national and global coverage that has made The Times a popular news provider in the region.
“This collaboration with the Chicago News Cooperative will allow us to expand our coverage of Chicago, supplementing our own work with sophisticated reporting by local journalists who have deep roots in the community,” said Bill Keller, executive editor of The Times.
The Chicago News Cooperative, comprising a group of Chicago journalists committed to public service journalism, launched on Oct. 22. Its editor and co-founder, James OShea, former editor of the Los Angeles Times and former managing editor of the Chicago Tribune, said: “We are delighted that Americas premier newspaper has enough faith in our ideas to partner with us in producing quality political, educational and cultural coverage for readers in Chicago. We share The Timess commitment to serve its Chicago audience with reliable, substantive journalism as we work to address the problems facing all media.” WTTW, Chicagos public television station, is a founding partner in CNC, which is also collaborating with WBEZ, Chicagos public radio station.
The regional report, to run in The Times and on NYTimes.com, is devoted to local news, policy, sports and culture and will focus on issues of importance to the Chicago community. James Warren, a former Tribune managing editor and television commentator, will write a regular column for CNC that will appear in The New York Times Chicago pages.
Other journalists recently hired by the CNC are Jessica Reaves and Bill Parker, former Tribune reporters, and David Greising, former Tribune business columnist. Veteran photojournalist José M. Moré, a Tribune photographer for 28 years, will lead CNC’s photographic efforts.
Dan Mihalopoulous, who has covered City Hall for the Tribune since 2003, will head up CNC’s coverage of city government. Katie Fretland, formerly a reporter at the Omaha World-Herald, will join Mihalopoulous on the city beat.
The CNCs advisory board is chaired by co-founder Peter Osnos, founder of Public Affairs books, who has a background in journalism, publishing and social entrepreneurship. Other members of the advisory board are: James OShea; Dan Schmidt, president and CEO of WTTW; Newton Minow, senior counsel at Sidley & Austin; Martin Koldyke, former chairman of WTTW and founder of the Golden Apple Foundation; Ann Marie Lipinski, the Pulitzer Prize-winning former editor of the Chicago Tribune and vice president of Civic Engagement at the University of Chicago; Michael Davies, president and CEO of AlphaZeta Interactive; Bruce Sagan, owner and publisher of the Hyde Park Herald; Rishad Tobaccowala, CEO of consulting firm Denuo; and Dawn Sinclair Shapiro, Director of Woodlawn Avenue Productions.
The Chicago pages will feature enterprise reporting and will expand on the work of The Timess Chicago news bureau and its already extensive coverage of the Chicago area. The online component will consist of news from the CNC, regional Times content and timely up-to-the-minute news feeds throughout the day. The added pages and online components will be supported by local advertising.
The Times launched added pages and an online blog called “The Bay Area” in the San Francisco Bay Area in October.
“Our intent is to roll out these expanded reports in several key markets around the country, working with local journalists and news organizations in a collaborative way,” said Scott Heekin-Canedy, president and general manager of The Times. “This approach is a service to our readers and will strengthen our subscriber retention.”
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation is a major funding source for the CNCs initial operations; other support has come from The Chicago Community Trust, Winston & Strawn LLP and civic leaders interested in funding substantive journalism for a democratic society. The New York Times will pay CNC for its journalism as it does other news services whose work appears in the pages of the newspaper and on NYTimes.com.