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Published on Friday, 25 May 2012 12:26
Michael Ferro Jr., the Chairman of the Board of Wrapports LLC -- parent company of Sun-Times Media Holdings, which operates numerous Chicagoland periodicals, including the Chicago Sun-Times -- revealed yesterday plans to add numerous features and extras to the Chicago Sun-Times in the coming months, in an effort to increase circulation.
While
recent (arguable) statistics show the Chicago Sun-Times as Chicagoland's #1 newspaper and #9 in the country, Ferro said while speaking to an audience at the City Club of Chicago Thursday that the newspaper's goal is to become #1 in the nation.
In order to achieve that lofty goal, the Chicago Sun-Times will begin adding new sections, magazines, and weekly give-aways to entice new & former subscribers to pick up the Sun-Times.
One such new section, entitled Splash, begins this Monday. This will be a daily feature in the newspaper that will assemble non-hard news together. Subjects such as entertainment, gossip, fashion, and society events will covered. The Sun-Times has lined up 30 Chicago celebrities -- including famous Chicago actors, comedians, singers, musicians, politicians, and more -- who will each rotate at writing a column for the Splash section. Starting this summer, an expansive Sunday Splash weekly wrap-up section will be added.
Content from the website
High School Cube will soon be added to the Sun-Times' newspaper and website, giving the paper a way to further showcase Chicagoland's high school activities.
Coming this fall, the Sun-Times will add a new magazine to its Sunday paper, entitled Sportsapalooza. The magazine will contain in-depth coverage and statistics for Chicagoland professional sports teams, as well as college and high school sports.
Also planned for the fall is a new weekly business section called Money Mondays. This full-color section will contain news, information, profiles, lists, and stories not normally found in regular business sections.
There will also be "give-aways" with the Sun-Times. Each Friday edition will come with a version of the newest issue of the Chicago Reader. With the Wrapports LLC's
recent purchase of the popular alternative weekly, the company is looking to expand the periodical's reach well beyond Chicago's borders and deep into the suburbs. Additionally, starting this fall, each Sunday paper will come with a free product sample -- something different each week.
The Sun-Times will also publish an annual book, compiling sports highlights for the year.
Unrelated to new features to the newspaper, announced yesterday was the recent formation of the Sun-Times Foundation, a multimillion-dollar charitable organization. The Sun-Times Foundation is affiliated with the Chicago Community Trust, and is being backed financially by local investors, which includes Wrapports LLC board members. Alisa M. Alexander, Vice President of Public Relations for Wrapports LLC, serves as director of the foundation. Among the recipients by the new foundation has been the aforementioned website, HighSchoolCube.com.
The upcoming additions to the Chicago Sun-Times were first
reported by Sun-Times Business Reporter Sandra Guy.
