Pioneer Press
Encyclopedia
The Pioneer Press publishes 50 local newspaper
s in the metropolitan Chicago
area. It is a division of the Sun-Times Media Group
. Pioneer Press' headquarters is in Glenview
. There are several other satellite offices: Waukegan
(where the Sun-Times News Group publishes the News Sun
), Oak Park
, Hinsdale
, Arlington Heights
, and Park Ridge
.
The community newspapers are the main source of local news in affluent communities like Winnetka
, Highland Park
and Lake Forest
.
Unrest among staffers has marred Pioneer Press' reputation. In March 2002, a sportswriter covering Highland Park High School
basketball learned his beat would switch to covering the village of Lake Bluff
and the city of Lake Forest, effective immediately. It meant he would not be afforded the chance to cover the high school's first-ever trip to Illinois' boys basketball quarterfinals
in Peoria
. Angry with that and stung by several other actions by the newspaper, including the paper allowing Chicago Sun-Times
publisher David Radler
to overturn endorsement decisions made by staff, the sportswriter wrote an angry letter to then-Executive Editor Paul Sassone. The letter was distributed and the letter-writer was terminated. Pioneer's lead editorial
s and political endorsement
s now "represent the view of the Sun-Times News Group of 100 papers in Metropolitan Chicago" rather than the voice of the community paper.
In August 2003, the company made headlines after longtime arts and entertainment editor Virginia Gerst ran a negative review of a restaurant that had previously advertised in the papers. Although the place had ceased to advertise before the time of the review, Gerst was reportedly reprimanded and told the papers were "not in the business of bashing business." She was given a puffed-up new review of the same restaurant to run, this time written by Kyle Leonard, a former restaurant reviewer and managing editor who had since moved to the newspaper's marketing department. Gerst refused to run the review and resigned, earning several ethics awards, among them the Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism
, as a result.
In 2005, Hollinger merged the 80-year-old Lerner Newspapers
chain into Pioneer Press, Pioneer's first real inroads into the city of Chicago. Despite announcements by Publisher Larry Green that Pioneer intended to "grow" the Lerner Papers, over the course of the next six months, Pioneer dumped the venerable Lerner name, shut down most of its editions and laid off most of its employees. Subsequently, the Sun-Times ceased production of Skyline, the Booster and News-Star, the remaining members of the Lerner group, eliminated the jobs, and sold the titles to Oak Park-based Wednesday Journal, Inc.
Pioneer, which also publishes North Shore magazine, began taking over the Daily Southtown
's Elite magazine in 2006.
Pioneer has adopted the standard Sun-Times web page format, although the separate papers have been given their own domain name
s.
The following is a listing of all Pioneer Press Chicago newspapers as of 2010:
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
s in the metropolitan Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
area. It is a division of the Sun-Times Media Group
Sun-Times Media Group
Sun-Times Media Group is a Chicago-based newspaper publisher. It is known for its prior association with controversial Canadian businessman Conrad Black.-History:...
. Pioneer Press' headquarters is in Glenview
Glenview, Cook County, Illinois
Glenview is a suburban village located approximately north of downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 41,847...
. There are several other satellite offices: Waukegan
Waukegan, Illinois
Waukegan is a city and county seat of Lake County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 87,901. The 2010 population was 89,078. It is the ninth-largest city in Illinois by population...
(where the Sun-Times News Group publishes the News Sun
News Sun
The Lake County News-Sun is a regional newspaper based in Gurnee, Illinois, that predominantly covers news for Lake County, Illinois, a part of the Chicago metropolitan area. It is currently owned by the Sun-Times Media Group as part of its Suburban Chicago Newspapers division, which publishes...
), Oak Park
Oak Park, Illinois
Oak Park, Illinois is a suburb bordering the west side of the city of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It is the twenty-fifth largest municipality in Illinois. Oak Park has easy access to downtown Chicago due to public transportation such as the Chicago 'L' Blue and Green lines,...
, Hinsdale
Hinsdale, Illinois
Hinsdale is a suburb of Chicago, Illinois; it is located partly in Cook County and mainly in DuPage County in the U.S. state of Illinois. The population was 17,349 at the 2000 census. The town's ZIP code is 60521. The town has a rolling, wooded topography, with a quaint downtown and is a 30-minute...
, Arlington Heights
Arlington Heights, Illinois
Arlington Heights is a village in Cook and Lake counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. A suburb of Chicago, it lies about 25 miles northwest of the city's downtown. The population was 75,101 at the 2010 census....
, and Park Ridge
Park Ridge, Illinois
-Climate:-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 37,775 people, 14,219 households, and 10,465 families residing in the city. The population density was 5,374.6 people per square mile . There were 14,646 housing units at an average density of 2,083.8 per square mile...
.
The community newspapers are the main source of local news in affluent communities like Winnetka
Winnetka, Illinois
Winnetka is an affluent North Shore village located approximately north of downtown Chicago in Cook County, Illinois. Winnetka was featured on the list of America's 25 top-earning towns and "one of the best places to live" by CNN Money in 2011...
, Highland Park
Highland Park, Illinois
Highland Park is a suburban municipality in Lake County, Illinois, United States, about north of downtown Chicago. As of 2009, the population is 33,492. Highland Park is one of several municipalities located on the North Shore of the Chicago Metropolitan Area.-Overview:Highland Park was founded...
and Lake Forest
Lake Forest, Illinois
Lake Forest is an affluent city located in Lake County, Illinois, United States. The city is south of Waukegan along the shore of Lake Michigan, and is a part of the Chicago metropolitan area and the North Shore. Lake Forest was founded around Lake Forest College and was laid out as a town in...
.
Unrest among staffers has marred Pioneer Press' reputation. In March 2002, a sportswriter covering Highland Park High School
Highland Park High School (Highland Park, Illinois)
Highland Park High School, or HPHS, is a public four-year high school located in Highland Park, Illinois, a North Shore suburb of Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. It is part of Township High School District 113, which also includes Deerfield High School.Prior to the 1949–50 school year, the...
basketball learned his beat would switch to covering the village of Lake Bluff
Lake Bluff, Illinois
Lake Bluff is a village in Lake County, Illinois. It is the closest moderate-sized town near the Great Lakes Navy Base and is North of Lake Forest. The population is 6,056 according to the 2000 census. The town has a police department and volunteer fire department.-History:In 1836, John and...
and the city of Lake Forest, effective immediately. It meant he would not be afforded the chance to cover the high school's first-ever trip to Illinois' boys basketball quarterfinals
Illinois High School Association
The Illinois High School Association is one of 521 state high school associations in the United States, designed to regulate competition in most interscholastic sports and some interscholastic activities at the high school level. It is a charter member of the National Federation of State High...
in Peoria
Peoria, Illinois
Peoria is the largest city on the Illinois River and the county seat of Peoria County, Illinois, in the United States. It is named after the Peoria tribe. As of the 2010 census, the city was the seventh-most populated in Illinois, with a population of 115,007, and is the third-most populated...
. Angry with that and stung by several other actions by the newspaper, including the paper allowing Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
publisher David Radler
David Radler
F. David Radler is a Canadian executive and close associate of Conrad Black for 36 years. Radler was once president of Ravelston Corporation, a privately owned corporation owned by Black and Radler to control their former newspaper empire. Ravelston owned Argus Corporation which in turn...
to overturn endorsement decisions made by staff, the sportswriter wrote an angry letter to then-Executive Editor Paul Sassone. The letter was distributed and the letter-writer was terminated. Pioneer's lead editorial
Editorial
An opinion piece is an article, published in a newspaper or magazine, that mainly reflects the author's opinion about the subject. Opinion pieces are featured in many periodicals.-Editorials:...
s and political endorsement
Political endorsement
Political endorsement is the action of publicly declaring one's personal or group's support of a candidate for elected office.In the case of a 4 or 5 party system, where one of the parties has a 15 to 20% predicted electoral support, just prior to the election, the official representative of the...
s now "represent the view of the Sun-Times News Group of 100 papers in Metropolitan Chicago" rather than the voice of the community paper.
In August 2003, the company made headlines after longtime arts and entertainment editor Virginia Gerst ran a negative review of a restaurant that had previously advertised in the papers. Although the place had ceased to advertise before the time of the review, Gerst was reportedly reprimanded and told the papers were "not in the business of bashing business." She was given a puffed-up new review of the same restaurant to run, this time written by Kyle Leonard, a former restaurant reviewer and managing editor who had since moved to the newspaper's marketing department. Gerst refused to run the review and resigned, earning several ethics awards, among them the Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism
Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism
The Payne Awards for Ethics in Journalism were created at the University of Oregon's School of Journalism and Communications in 1999. In the words of the school's dean, Tim Gleason, the awards were created "to honor the journalist of integrity and character who reports with insight and clarity in...
, as a result.
In 2005, Hollinger merged the 80-year-old Lerner Newspapers
Lerner Newspapers
Lerner Newspapers was once the largest chain of weekly newspapers in the world. Founded by Leo Lerner, the chain was a force in community journalism in Chicago from 1926 to 2005....
chain into Pioneer Press, Pioneer's first real inroads into the city of Chicago. Despite announcements by Publisher Larry Green that Pioneer intended to "grow" the Lerner Papers, over the course of the next six months, Pioneer dumped the venerable Lerner name, shut down most of its editions and laid off most of its employees. Subsequently, the Sun-Times ceased production of Skyline, the Booster and News-Star, the remaining members of the Lerner group, eliminated the jobs, and sold the titles to Oak Park-based Wednesday Journal, Inc.
Pioneer, which also publishes North Shore magazine, began taking over the Daily Southtown
Daily Southtown
The SouthtownStar is a newspaper of the Chicago, Illinois metropolitan area that covers the south suburbs of Chicago and the South Side neighborhoods of the city - a wide region known as the Chicago Southland. Its popular slogan is "People Up North Just Don't Get It"...
's Elite magazine in 2006.
Pioneer has adopted the standard Sun-Times web page format, although the separate papers have been given their own domain name
Domain name
A domain name is an identification string that defines a realm of administrative autonomy, authority, or control in the Internet. Domain names are formed by the rules and procedures of the Domain Name System ....
s.
The following is a listing of all Pioneer Press Chicago newspapers as of 2010:
| Antioch Review |
| Barrington Courier-Review |
| Buffalo Grove Countryside |
| Deerfield Review |
| Doings: Clarendon Hills Edition |
| Doings: Elmhurst Edition |
| Doings Hinsdale Edition |
| Doings La Grange Ed |
| Doings Oak Brook |
| Doings Weekly |
| Doings Western Springs |
| Edison Park Times |
| Elm Leaves |
| Evanston Review |
| Forest Leaves |
| Franklin Park Herald Journal |
| Glencoe News |
| Glenview Announcements |
| Grayslake Review |
| Gurnee Review |
| Highland Park News |
| Lake Forester |
| Lake Villa Review |
| Lake Zurich Courier |
| Libertyville Review |
| Lincolnshire Review |
| Lincolnwood Review |
| Morton Grove Champion |
| Mundelein Review |
| Niles Herald-Spectator |
| Norridge Harwood Heights News |
| Northbrook Star |
| Oak Leaves |
| Park Ridge Herald Advocate |
| Proviso Herald |
| Skokie Review |
| Vernon Hills Review |
| Wilmette Life |
| Winnetka Talk |