Lerner Newspapers
Encyclopedia
Lerner Newspapers was once the largest chain of weekly newspaper
s in the world. Founded by Leo Lerner
, the chain was a force in community journalism
in Chicago
from 1926 to 2005.
In its heyday, Lerner published 54 weekly and semi-weekly editions on the North and Northwest sides of Chicago and in suburban Cook
, Lake
and DuPage counties, with a circulation
of some 300,000. Editions included the Booster, Citizen, Life, News, News-Star, Skyline, Star, Times and Voice.
" versions of daily newspapers.
At one time, the chain had its own printing plant at its headquarters in Chicago's Rogers Park
neighborhood and a network of satellite offices across the city and suburbs.
Journalist
s who got their start at Lerner include the late Mike Royko
, Crain's Chicago Business columnist Greg Hinz, Chicago Sun-Times columnists Bill Zwecker and Robert Feder
, sportscaster Bruce Wolf
, novelist Bill Brashler, syndicated columnist Robert C. Koehler and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy personality Ted Allen
.
to a real newspaper
.
From 1924-28, Lerner worked in editorial positions on the Morton Grove News, the North Side Sunday Citizen and the Lincoln Belmont Booster. He then became a partner of A. O. Caplan in the management of the 16 Myers Newspapers, with a combined circulation of 219,000.
During World War II
, Lerner inspired his staff to concentrate on local news with such statements as, "A fistfight on Clark Street is more important to our readers than a war in Europe."
By 1958, Lerner was president of a growing group of newspapers, including the Myers Publishing Co., the Lincoln Belmont Publishing Co., the Times Home Newspapers (J. L. Johnson Publishing Co.) and the Neighbor Press of Chicago.
Lerner's son Louis A. Lerner served as assistant to the publisher of Lerner Home Newspapers and an account executive for Times Home Newspapers from 1959 to 1962. He became executive vice president of Lerner Home Newspapers in 1962 and publisher in 1969.
, publishers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. When it bought the chain of 52 weeklies for $9.1 million, Pulitzer hoped to win readers and advertising dollars from the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times in the same way that the Suburban Journal weeklies were weakening the Post-Dispatch. Pulitzer planned to increase Lerner's combined circulation of about 300,000 to compete in the Chicago newspaper market, but the recession of the early 1990s eroded the chain's advertising base, over half of which was help-wanted classified ads, and the chain was unsuccessful in winning automotive and real estate ads away from the dailies.
The sole weekly group in Pulitzer's stable, Lerner was left to founder. Pulitzer closed and merged many of its editions, until only 15 were left. Circulation had plummeted from 300,000 in 1985 to 100,000 by 1992. In 1992, Pulitzer was on the brink of shutting down the Lerner papers but, at the last minute, with final editions set in type, sold the chain's assets to Sunstates Corp. for a reported $4 million.
Sunstates, an investment firm led by Clyde Engle, was in the business of buying moribund companies for tricky financial operations. Under Sunstates, which owned a mixed bag of companies such as an insurance firm, a chocolate factory, a furniture factory and an apple orchard, but had never before run newspapers, the Lerner chain continued to erode while Sunstates managers constrained journalists to keep 9-to-5 hours and ordered senior newspaper staff to cook doughnuts and pick apples after orchard workers walked out.
In 2000, in a surreptitious arrangement that came to be known as the "Lerner Exchange," Sunstates sold the chain to a company fronted by Canadian press baron Conrad Black
, who resold it to Hollinger International. This and other illegal maneuvers by Black and sidekick David Radler
, Sun-Times publisher, ultimately led to their conviction on fraud charges when they were found to have looted millions from the company.
Amid Hollinger reorganization (ultimately to the Sun-Times Media Group
) in the wake of the scandal, the company merged Lerner Newspapers into its longtime suburban rival, Pioneer Press
, in 2005. Pioneer management quickly dropped the now-embarrassing Lerner name and killed all Lerner's suburban editions. Pioneer continued to print a handful of city of Chicago newspapers with the old nameplates — the Booster, News-Star, Skyline and Times — converting them from broadsheet
to tabloid, until January 2008, when the company announced it was pulling out of urban publishing entirely. At the last moment, the Booster, News-Star and Skyline titles were sold to the Wednesday Journal
, another Chicago-area weekly group.
In March 2009, the Wednesday Journal announced that it was dropping the News-Star and the Booster, along with the Bucktown/Wicker Park edition of the Chicago Journal (into which a Booster edition had been merged). Although reduced to operating from his home, Ron Roenigk, the publisher of Inside Publications, said he would be buying the two former Lerner nameplates, largely to get their legal advertising.
The Booster covered various North Side neighborhoods, including Avondale
, Irving Park
, Lake View
, Lincoln-Belmont, Lincoln Park
, Logan-Armitage, North Center
, Roscoe Village and Sheridan Center. The Wednesday Journal-published editions covered Lake View, North Center and Roscoe Village.
Royko had his start at the Lincoln-Belmont Booster.
edition, and later expanding into covering Chicago's northern suburbs, including, at various times, Buffalo Grove
, Deerfield
, Des Plaines
, Evanston
, Ft. Sheridan
, Glenview
, Highland Park
, Highwood
, Lake County, Lake Forest
, Lincolnwood
, Morton Grove
, Niles
, Niles Township
, Northbrook
, Skokie
and Wheeling
.
Pulitzer shut down most of the Life editions in the 1980s. When Pioneer Press folded the papers in 2005, editions covered Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles and Skokie.
Communities covered by the various versions included Albany Park
, Edgewater
, Lake View, Lincoln Square
, North Park
, North Town
, Ravenswood
, Rogers Park, Sauganash and Uptown
. The Wednesday Journal-published editions covered Edgewater, Ravenswood, Rogers Park and Uptown.
Lesley Sussman, now an author and journalist in New York City
, was for many years editor of the Uptown and Edgewater News.
, Lincoln Park, the Loop
and the Near North Side
, with an emphasis on society gossip. The Skyline was the only Lerner paper not to cover school sports. In 2005, Pioneer Press sold the nameplate to the Wednesday Journal, which continues to publish it, covering the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, Old Town
and River North.
Queer Eye's Allen was a Skyline reporter.
, Belmont-Cragin, Dunning
, Edison Park
, Edgebrook, Harlem-Foster, Harlem-Irving, Higgins-Oriole, Jefferson Park
, Logan Square
, Mayfair
, Montrose, O'Hare
, Norwood Park
and Portage Park
and suburban areas including Elmwood Park
, Franklin Park
, Harwood Heights
, Norridge
, Northlake
, River Grove
, Schiller Park
and Leyden
and Proviso
townships.
At the time Pioneer Press took over and folded the papers in 2005, the Times covered Edison Park, Jefferson Park, Norwood Park and Portage Park in the city and the suburban communities of Elmwood Park, Harwood Heights, Norridge and River Grove.
, Bartlett
, Bensenville
, Bloomingdale
, DuPage County, Elk Grove Village
, Glendale Heights
, Hanover Park
, Hoffman Estates
, Itasca
, Medinah
, Roselle
, Rosemont
, Schaumburg
, Streamwood
and Wood Dale
.
Pulitzer shut the original Voice down in 1990.
In the mid-1990s, Sunstates reused the Voice name for a small, short-lived group of north suburban tabloids, launched as shoppers, and then expanded into regular editions covering community news and features, with longtime Chicago journalist Leah A. Zeldes as managing editor
. The tabloids covered Glenview, Northbrook and Park Ridge
.
Weekly newspaper
A weekly newspaper is a general-news publication that is published on newsprint once or twice a week.Such newspapers tend to have smaller circulations than daily newspapers, and are usually based in less-populous communities or small, defined areas within large cities; often, they may cover a...
s in the world. Founded by Leo Lerner
Leo Lerner
Leo A. Lerner was an American newspaper editor and publisher, who founded Lerner Newspapers in Chicago, Illinois, at one time the largest chain of weekly newspapers in the world....
, the chain was a force in community journalism
Community journalism
Community journalism is locally oriented, professional news coverage that typically focuses on city neighborhoods, individual suburbs or small towns, rather than metropolitan, state, national or world news....
in 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...
from 1926 to 2005.
In its heyday, Lerner published 54 weekly and semi-weekly editions on the North and Northwest sides of Chicago and in suburban Cook
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County is a county in the U.S. state of Illinois, with its county seat in Chicago. It is the second most populous county in the United States after Los Angeles County. The county has 5,194,675 residents, which is 40.5 percent of all Illinois residents. Cook County's population is larger than...
, Lake
Lake County, Illinois
Lake County is a county in the northeastern corner of the state of Illinois, on the shore of Lake Michigan. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 703,462, which is an increase of 9.2% from 644,356 in 2000. Its county seat is Waukegan. The county is part of the Chicago metropolitan area...
and DuPage counties, with a circulation
Newspaper circulation
A newspaper's circulation is the number of copies it distributes on an average day. Circulation is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the...
of some 300,000. Editions included the Booster, Citizen, Life, News, News-Star, Skyline, Star, Times and Voice.
Overview
The Lerner papers focused on community news and local issues, including a widely read police blotter, but also featured localized sections devoted to arts and entertainment, food, lifestyles and high-school and neighborhood sports, like "hyper-localLocal news
In journalism, local news refers to news coverage of events in a local context which would not normally be of interest to those of other localities, or otherwise be of national or international scope.-Television:...
" versions of daily newspapers.
At one time, the chain had its own printing plant at its headquarters in Chicago's Rogers Park
Rogers Park, Chicago
Rogers Park is one of the 77 Chicago community areas on the far north side of Chicago, Illinois, and is also the name of the Chicago neighborhood that constitutes most of the community area...
neighborhood and a network of satellite offices across the city and suburbs.
Journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s who got their start at Lerner include the late Mike Royko
Mike Royko
Michael "Mike" Royko was a newspaper columnist in Chicago, who won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for commentary...
, Crain's Chicago Business columnist Greg Hinz, Chicago Sun-Times columnists Bill Zwecker and Robert Feder
Robert Feder
Robert Feder is a noted Chicago media blogger who was the TV and radio columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1980 until 2008 and a blogger for Vocalo.org from 2009 until 2010...
, sportscaster Bruce Wolf
Bruce Wolf
Bruce Wolf is a veteran Chicago broadcaster and sports anchor who has been on both TV and radio for more than 20 years. He currently hosts a politics-themed talk show every weekday morning on WLS radio in Chicago and also fills in as a sportscaster on WMAQ-TV in Chicago...
, novelist Bill Brashler, syndicated columnist Robert C. Koehler and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy personality Ted Allen
Ted Allen
Ted Allen is an American writer and television personality. He was the food and wine connoisseur on the American Bravo network's Emmy-winning television program Queer Eye. He now is the host of the prime-time series on Food Network Chopped, a culinary competition in which four chefs per episode...
.
Beginnings
Leo Lerner (1907–1965) founded his namesake chain in 1926 with the Lincoln-Belmont Booster, turning it from a shopperPennysaver
A pennysaver A pennysaver A pennysaver (or free ads paper, Friday Ad (British English or shopper) is a kind of free community periodical available in North America (typically weekly or monthly publications) that advertises items for sale. Frequently pennysavers are actually called The Pennysaver...
to a real newspaper
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...
.
From 1924-28, Lerner worked in editorial positions on the Morton Grove News, the North Side Sunday Citizen and the Lincoln Belmont Booster. He then became a partner of A. O. Caplan in the management of the 16 Myers Newspapers, with a combined circulation of 219,000.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Lerner inspired his staff to concentrate on local news with such statements as, "A fistfight on Clark Street is more important to our readers than a war in Europe."
By 1958, Lerner was president of a growing group of newspapers, including the Myers Publishing Co., the Lincoln Belmont Publishing Co., the Times Home Newspapers (J. L. Johnson Publishing Co.) and the Neighbor Press of Chicago.
Lerner's son Louis A. Lerner served as assistant to the publisher of Lerner Home Newspapers and an account executive for Times Home Newspapers from 1959 to 1962. He became executive vice president of Lerner Home Newspapers in 1962 and publisher in 1969.
Decline and fall
The 49-year-old Louis Lerner died of cancer in 1984. The following year, the Lerner family sold the chain to Pulitzer PublishingPulitzer, Inc.
Founded by Joseph Pulitzer , Pulitzer Inc., owned 14 daily newspapers across the United States, and one weekly chain. Its papers included the St...
, publishers of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. When it bought the chain of 52 weeklies for $9.1 million, Pulitzer hoped to win readers and advertising dollars from the Chicago Tribune and Chicago Sun-Times in the same way that the Suburban Journal weeklies were weakening the Post-Dispatch. Pulitzer planned to increase Lerner's combined circulation of about 300,000 to compete in the Chicago newspaper market, but the recession of the early 1990s eroded the chain's advertising base, over half of which was help-wanted classified ads, and the chain was unsuccessful in winning automotive and real estate ads away from the dailies.
The sole weekly group in Pulitzer's stable, Lerner was left to founder. Pulitzer closed and merged many of its editions, until only 15 were left. Circulation had plummeted from 300,000 in 1985 to 100,000 by 1992. In 1992, Pulitzer was on the brink of shutting down the Lerner papers but, at the last minute, with final editions set in type, sold the chain's assets to Sunstates Corp. for a reported $4 million.
Sunstates, an investment firm led by Clyde Engle, was in the business of buying moribund companies for tricky financial operations. Under Sunstates, which owned a mixed bag of companies such as an insurance firm, a chocolate factory, a furniture factory and an apple orchard, but had never before run newspapers, the Lerner chain continued to erode while Sunstates managers constrained journalists to keep 9-to-5 hours and ordered senior newspaper staff to cook doughnuts and pick apples after orchard workers walked out.
In 2000, in a surreptitious arrangement that came to be known as the "Lerner Exchange," Sunstates sold the chain to a company fronted by Canadian press baron Conrad Black
Conrad Black
Conrad Moffat Black, Baron Black of Crossharbour, OC, KCSG, PC is a Canadian-born member of the British House of Lords, and a historian, columnist and publisher, who was for a time the third largest newspaper magnate in the world. Lord Black controlled Hollinger International, Inc...
, who resold it to Hollinger International. This and other illegal maneuvers by Black and sidekick 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...
, Sun-Times publisher, ultimately led to their conviction on fraud charges when they were found to have looted millions from the company.
Amid Hollinger reorganization (ultimately to 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:...
) in the wake of the scandal, the company merged Lerner Newspapers into its longtime suburban rival, Pioneer Press
Pioneer Press
The Pioneer Press publishes 50 local newspapers in the metropolitan Chicago area. It is a division of the Sun-Times Media Group. Pioneer Press' headquarters is in Glenview...
, in 2005. Pioneer management quickly dropped the now-embarrassing Lerner name and killed all Lerner's suburban editions. Pioneer continued to print a handful of city of Chicago newspapers with the old nameplates — the Booster, News-Star, Skyline and Times — converting them from broadsheet
Broadsheet
Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...
to tabloid, until January 2008, when the company announced it was pulling out of urban publishing entirely. At the last moment, the Booster, News-Star and Skyline titles were sold to the Wednesday Journal
Wednesday Journal
Wednesday Journal is a newspaper publisher Oak Park, Illinois. It publishes free weekly community newspapers throughout Chicago and its western suburbs.- Austin Weekly News :...
, another Chicago-area weekly group.
In March 2009, the Wednesday Journal announced that it was dropping the News-Star and the Booster, along with the Bucktown/Wicker Park edition of the Chicago Journal (into which a Booster edition had been merged). Although reduced to operating from his home, Ron Roenigk, the publisher of Inside Publications, said he would be buying the two former Lerner nameplates, largely to get their legal advertising.
Booster
Leo Lerner launched his empire with the 1926 purchase of the Lincoln-Belmont Booster. In 2005, Pioneer Press sold The Booster to the Wednesday Journal, which resold it in 2008 to Inside Publications.The Booster covered various North Side neighborhoods, including Avondale
Avondale, Chicago
Avondale is one of 77 officially designated Chicago, Illinois community areas. It is located on the Northwest Side of Chicago. Its main borders are the North Branch of the Chicago River, Diversey Avenue, Addison Street, Pulaski Road and the Union Pacific/Northwest rail line; bisecting the community...
, Irving Park
Irving Park, Chicago
Irving Park is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community area located on the Northwest Side. It is bounded by the Chicago River on the east, the Milwaukee Road railroad tracks on the west, Addison Street on the south and Montrose Avenue on the north, west of Pulaski Road stretching to...
, Lake View
Lakeview, Chicago
Lake View, or Lakeview, is one of the 77 community area of the Chicago, Illinois, located in the city's North Side. It is bordered by West Diversey Parkway on the south, West Irving Park Road on the north, North Ravenswood Avenue on the west, and the shore of Lake Michigan on the east...
, Lincoln-Belmont, Lincoln Park
Lincoln Park, Chicago
Lincoln Park, is one of the 77 community areas on Chicago, Illinois North Side, USA. Named after Lincoln Park, a vast park bordering Lake Michigan, the community area is anchored by the Lincoln Park Zoo and DePaul University...
, Logan-Armitage, North Center
North Center, Chicago
North Center is one of the 77 community area of the Chicago, Illinois, located in the city's North Side. North Center is bordered on the north by Montrose Avenue, on the south by Diversey Parkway, on the west by the Chicago River and on the east by Ravenswood Avenue; it includes the neighborhoods...
, Roscoe Village and Sheridan Center. The Wednesday Journal-published editions covered Lake View, North Center and Roscoe Village.
Royko had his start at the Lincoln-Belmont Booster.
Citizen
Founded as the Ravenswood Citizen, and dating back until at least 1905, the Citizen was acquired by Lerner in the late 1920s and folded into other editions in 1930.Life
The Life newspapers ran from the 1920s through 2005, beginning with a Rogers ParkRogers Park, Chicago
Rogers Park is one of the 77 Chicago community areas on the far north side of Chicago, Illinois, and is also the name of the Chicago neighborhood that constitutes most of the community area...
edition, and later expanding into covering Chicago's northern suburbs, including, at various times, Buffalo Grove
Buffalo Grove, Illinois
Buffalo Grove is an affluent village located in the northern suburbs of Chicago, and in Cook and Lake counties in Illinois, United States. The town was named for Buffalo Creek, which was itself named for bison bones found in the area....
, Deerfield
Deerfield, Illinois
Deerfield is a village in Lake County, Illinois, United States and is located approximately 25 miles north of Chicago, Illinois. A portion of the village is in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
, Des Plaines
Des Plaines, Illinois
Des Plaines is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States. It has adopted the official nickname of "City of Destiny." As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 58,720. It is a suburb of Chicago, and is next to O'Hare International Airport...
, Evanston
Evanston, Illinois
Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...
, Ft. Sheridan
Fort Sheridan, Illinois
Fort Sheridan is a residential neighborhood spread among Lake Forest, Highwood, and Highland Park in Lake County, Illinois, United States. It was originally established as a United States Army Post named after Civil War Cavalry General Philip Sheridan, to honor his services to Chicago...
, 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...
, 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...
, Highwood
Highwood, Illinois
Highwood is a city in the Moraine Township of Lake County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,143 at the 2000 census. Highwood is a neighbor to Highland Park and the two share a weekly newspaper and school district. An attempt was made in 2005 to convert Highwood to a home rule city, but...
, Lake County, 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...
, Lincolnwood
Lincolnwood, Illinois
Lincolnwood is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 12,359 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Lincolnwood is located at ....
, Morton Grove
Morton Grove, Illinois
Morton Grove is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 22,451 at the 2000 census.The Village President of Morton Grove since April 27, 2009, is Daniel J...
, Niles
Niles, Illinois
Niles is a village in Maine and Niles Townships, Cook County, Illinois, United States. The 2010 population from the U.S. Census Bureau is 29,803.The current mayor of Niles is Robert M. Callero.-History:Niles was first settled in 1827....
, Niles Township
Niles Township, Cook County, Illinois
Niles Township is one of thirty townships in Cook County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 102,638.-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, Niles Township covers an area of .-Cities, towns, villages:* Glenview...
, Northbrook
Northbrook, Illinois
Northbrook is a village located at the northern edge of Cook County, Illinois, which is also a North Shore suburb of Chicago. The population was 33,170 at the 2010 census....
, Skokie
Skokie, Illinois
Skokie is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Its name comes from a Native American word for "fire". A Chicago suburb, for many years Skokie promoted itself as "The World's Largest Village". Its population, per the 2000 census, was 63,348...
and Wheeling
Wheeling, Illinois
Wheeling is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and a suburb of Chicago. The population was 34,496 at the 2000 census, and 38,555 at the 2006 special village census.-Geography:Wheeling is located at ....
.
Pulitzer shut down most of the Life editions in the 1980s. When Pioneer Press folded the papers in 2005, editions covered Lincolnwood, Morton Grove, Niles and Skokie.
News-Star
Beginning as separate News and Star editions, later combined, the News-Star (also called the News and Star Budget) covered the Far North Side. In 2005, Pioneer Press sold the nameplate to the Wednesday Journal, which resold it in 2008 to Inside Publications.Communities covered by the various versions included Albany Park
Albany Park, Chicago
Albany Park is one of 77 well-defined Chicago, Illinois, community areas on the Northwest Side of the City of Chicago. It includes the Albany Park neighborhood, one of the most ethnically diverse in the United States...
, Edgewater
Edgewater, Chicago
Edgewater is a lakefront community area in the North Side of the city of Chicago, Illinois seven miles north of the Loop. As one of Chicago’s 77 official community areas, Edgewater is bounded by Foster Avenue on the south, Devon Avenue on the north, Ravenswood Avenue on the west, and Lake Michigan...
, Lake View, Lincoln Square
Lincoln Square, Chicago
Lincoln Square, located on the North Side of the city of Chicago, Illinois, is one of 77 well-defined Chicago community areas. Greater Lincoln Square encompasses the smaller neighborhoods of Ravenswood Manor, Ravenswood Gardens, Ravenswood, Bowmanville, Budlong Woods and Lincoln Square...
, North Park
North Park, Chicago
North Park is one of 77 well-defined community areas of the City of Chicago. It is bordered by the North Shore Channel on the east, the Chicago River's North Branch and Foster Avenue on the south, Cicero Avenue on the west and Devon Avenue on the...
, North Town
West Ridge, Chicago
West Ridge is one of 77 Chicago community areas. It is a middle class neighborhood located on the far North Side of the City of Chicago. It is located in the 50th Ward...
, Ravenswood
Ravenswood, Chicago
Ravenswood is a neighborhood located in the north side of the city of Chicago, Illinois in the Lincoln Square Community Area . According to the Realtors Association, Ravenswood's approximate area is bordered by the north at Foster Avenue, Montrose Avenue on the south, by the west at the Chicago...
, Rogers Park, Sauganash and Uptown
Uptown, Chicago
Uptown is one of Chicago’s 77 community areas. Uptown has well defined boundaries. They are: Foster on the north; Lake Michigan on the east; Montrose , and Irving Park on the south; Ravenswood , and Clark on the west. Uptown borders three community areas and Lake Michigan...
. The Wednesday Journal-published editions covered Edgewater, Ravenswood, Rogers Park and Uptown.
Lesley Sussman, now an author and journalist in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, was for many years editor of the Uptown and Edgewater News.
Skyline
Launched by Lerner in the 1960s, the Skyline covered the Gold CoastGold Coast Historic District (Chicago, Illinois)
The Gold Coast Historic District is a historic district in Chicago, Illinois. Part of Chicago's Near North Side community area, it is roughly bounded by North Avenue, Lake Shore Drive, Oak Street, and Clark Street....
, Lincoln Park, the Loop
Chicago Loop
The Loop or Chicago Loop is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas located in the City of Chicago, Illinois. It is the historic commercial center of downtown Chicago...
and the Near North Side
Near North Side, Chicago
The Near North Side is one of 77 well-defined community areas of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is located north and east of the Chicago River, just north of the central business district . To its east is Lake Michigan and its northern boundary is the 19th-century city limit of Chicago,...
, with an emphasis on society gossip. The Skyline was the only Lerner paper not to cover school sports. In 2005, Pioneer Press sold the nameplate to the Wednesday Journal, which continues to publish it, covering the Gold Coast, Lincoln Park, Old Town
Old Town, Chicago
Old Town is a neighborhood in Chicago, Illinois, bounded by the Ogden Ave. right-of-way on the northwest, Larrabee Street on the west, Clybourn Avenue on the southwest and Division Street on the south and Clark Street on the east and northeast. It spans across eastern parts of the community areas...
and River North.
Queer Eye's Allen was a Skyline reporter.
Times
Acquired in the 1950s, and also called the New Times and the Times Home Newspapers, the Times editions covered the Northwest Side and near-west suburbs, including the city neighborhoods Albany ParkAlbany Park, Chicago
Albany Park is one of 77 well-defined Chicago, Illinois, community areas on the Northwest Side of the City of Chicago. It includes the Albany Park neighborhood, one of the most ethnically diverse in the United States...
, Belmont-Cragin, Dunning
Dunning, Chicago
Dunning is one of 77 officially designated community areas of the city of Chicago, Illinois. Dunning also is a neighborhood located on the Northwest Side of the city.The neighborhood is home to the Eli's Cheesecake factory....
, Edison Park
Edison Park, Chicago
Edison Park is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, Illinois. It consists mostly of the Edison Park neighborhood. It is named after Thomas Alva Edison. According to the 2000 Census, its population is 11,259. The neighborhood stages an annual Edison Park Fest, which features food from all...
, Edgebrook, Harlem-Foster, Harlem-Irving, Higgins-Oriole, Jefferson Park
Jefferson Park, Chicago
Jefferson Park is one of Chicago's 77 well-defined community areas located on the city's Northwest Side. The neighborhood of Jefferson Park occupies a larger swath of territory than the community area by including within it land of adjacent community areas...
, Logan Square
Logan Square, Chicago
Logan Square is one of the 77 city-designated community areas located on the near northwest side of the City of Chicago. The name, used here to describe the community area defined by U.S. census tracts, also applies to one of a number of smaller, more loosely defined residential neighborhoods...
, Mayfair
Albany Park, Chicago
Albany Park is one of 77 well-defined Chicago, Illinois, community areas on the Northwest Side of the City of Chicago. It includes the Albany Park neighborhood, one of the most ethnically diverse in the United States...
, Montrose, O'Hare
O'Hare, Chicago
O'Hare, located on the far northwest side of Chicago, Illinois, is one of the city's 77 official community areas. O'Hare International Airport is located within the boundaries of this community area...
, Norwood Park
Norwood Park, Chicago
Norwood Park is one of 77 well-defined Chicago, Illinois community areas. It encompasses the smaller neighborhoods of Big Oaks, Norwood Park East, Norwood Park West, Old Norwood Park, Oriole Park, and Union Ridge....
and Portage Park
Portage Park, Chicago
Portage Park is located on the northwest side of the City of Chicago, Illinois and is one of 77 officially designated Chicago community areas. Portage Park is bordered by the community areas of Jefferson Park and Forest Glen to the north, Dunning and the suburb of Harwood Heights to the west,...
and suburban areas including Elmwood Park
Elmwood Park, Illinois
Elmwood Park is a village bordering the northwest side of the City of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 25,405 at the 2000 census. The community has long maintained a large Italian-American population, with a more recent influx of Polish-American and Hispanic...
, Franklin Park
Franklin Park, Illinois
Franklin Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 19,800 at the 2004 census.-Geography:Franklin Park is located at ....
, Harwood Heights
Harwood Heights, Illinois
Harwood Heights is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 8,297 at the 2000 census. The current Mayor is Arlene Jezierny...
, Norridge
Norridge, Illinois
Norridge is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 14,582 at the 2000 census. The current Mayor of Norridge is Ronald A. Oppedisano.The village is completely surrounded by Chicago and Harwood Heights.-Name origin:...
, Northlake
Northlake, Illinois
Northlake is a city in suburban Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 11,878 at the 2000 census. The city's moniker is "The City of Friendly People".-Geography:...
, River Grove
River Grove, Illinois
River Grove is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 10,668 at the 2000 census.-Geography:River Grove is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of ....
, Schiller Park
Schiller Park, Illinois
Schiller Park is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 11,850 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Schiller Park is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all of it land....
and Leyden
Leyden Township, Cook County, Illinois
Leyden Township is one of thirty townships in Cook County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 94,685.-Geography:Leyden Township is located just northwest of the city of Chicago, an edge of which lies within the township but as a separate entity...
and Proviso
Proviso Township, Cook County, Illinois
Proviso Township is one of thirty townships in Cook County, Illinois, USA. As of the 2000 census, its population was 155,831. It was organized in 1850 and originally named Taylor, but shortly afterward its name was changed to make reference to the Wilmot Proviso, a contemporary piece of...
townships.
At the time Pioneer Press took over and folded the papers in 2005, the Times covered Edison Park, Jefferson Park, Norwood Park and Portage Park in the city and the suburban communities of Elmwood Park, Harwood Heights, Norridge and River Grove.
Voice
Sometimes called the Voice and Advisor Register, the original Voice editions covered Chicago's northwest suburbs, including AddisonAddison, Illinois
Addison is a village located west of the Chicago Metropolitan Area, in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 35,914 at the 2000 census. The estimated population was 36,378 as of 2002.The Village of Addison lies on Salt Creek...
, Bartlett
Bartlett, Illinois
Bartlett is a village located in both Cook County and DuPage County, Illinois. A small parcel on the western border is in Kane County. The population was 36,706 at the 2000 census. A 2002 recount gave the village a population of 37,304. In 2007 another recount gives the village a population of 41,500...
, Bensenville
Bensenville, Illinois
Bensenville is a village located primarily in DuPage County, Illinois, with a small section near O'Hare International Airport in Cook County, Illinois, overlapping into the city of Chicago. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 20,703. Bensenville is home to the Edge Ice Arena, home of...
, Bloomingdale
Bloomingdale, Illinois
Bloomingdale is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States, approximately 25 miles west of Chicago. The population was 21,675 at the 2000 census.-History:...
, DuPage County, Elk Grove Village
Elk Grove Village, Illinois
Elk Grove Village is a municipality located in northeastern Illinois adjacent to O'Hare International Airport and the City of Chicago. Elk Grove Village encompasses in land area with located in Cook County and located in DuPage County, Illinois. The population was 32,745 at the 2010 census...
, Glendale Heights
Glendale Heights, Illinois
Glendale Heights is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 31,765 at the 2000 census.-History:Glendale Heights was a small farming area served by the Glen Ellyn post office up until the 1950s, with a population of just 104 in 1959. Midland Enterprises ran by Charles...
, Hanover Park
Hanover Park, Illinois
Hanover Park is a village in Cook and DuPage counties in the U.S. state of Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The population was 38,278 at the 2000 census...
, Hoffman Estates
Hoffman Estates, Illinois
Hoffman Estates is a northwestern suburb of Chicago in Illinois. The village is located primarily in Cook County with a small section in Kane County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the village population was 49,495 and estimated to be 52,520 in 2003...
, Itasca
Itasca, Illinois
Itasca is a village in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 8,302 at the 2000 census.In 2009, BusinessWeek rated Itasca as the 'Best Affordable Suburb' in the state of Illinois...
, Medinah
Medinah, Illinois
Medinah is an unincorporated community in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Illinois and is a suburb of Chicago. Medinah, largely located in DuPage County, is situated between the villages of Roselle, Itasca, Bloomingdale, and Addison...
, Roselle
Roselle, Illinois
Roselle is a city located in DuPage County and a small portion in Cook County Illinois in northeastern Illinois. It was first incorporated in 1922 and can correctly be relegated to a bedroom community — that is, a community that largely consists of residential zoning in both income streams...
, Rosemont
Rosemont, Illinois
Rosemont is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States located immediately northwest of Chicago. The village was incorporated in 1956, though it had been settled long before that...
, Schaumburg
Schaumburg, Illinois
Schaumburg is a city located in Cook County in northeastern Illinois. A common misspelling of the city name is Schaumberg, a spelling which persists on some modern maps. Schaumburg is located just under northwest of downtown Chicago and approximately northwest of O'Hare International Airport. As...
, Streamwood
Streamwood, Illinois
Streamwood is a village of Cook County, Illinois, United States. The population was 39,497 at the 2006 census. It is a suburb of Chicago.Streamwood, along with Bartlett and Hanover Park, is one of the three communities that make up the so called "Tri Village" area...
and Wood Dale
Wood Dale, Illinois
Wood Dale is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 13,535 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Wood Dale is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land.-Demographics:...
.
Pulitzer shut the original Voice down in 1990.
In the mid-1990s, Sunstates reused the Voice name for a small, short-lived group of north suburban tabloids, launched as shoppers, and then expanded into regular editions covering community news and features, with longtime Chicago journalist Leah A. Zeldes as managing editor
Managing editor
A managing editor is a senior member of a publication's management team.In the United States, a managing editor oversees and coordinates the publication's editorial activities...
. The tabloids covered Glenview, Northbrook 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...
.
Journalists
Prominent journalists who worked for Lerner Newspapers include:- Ann BarzelAnn BarzelAnn Barzel was an American writer, critic and lecturer on dance.In 1920, Barzel moved to Chicago. Her first Chicago dance teachers were Mark Turbyfill and Adolph Bolm. From about 1931 to 1943, Barzel performed as a dancer...
- Al BernsteinAl BernsteinAl Michael Bernstein is an American sportscaster, writer, stage performer, recording artist, and speaker.-1970s:In the 1970s, he was a newspaperman, working at Lerner Newspapers in Chicago. He eventually became a managing editor at that newspaper....
- Lawrence Bommer
- Jack Bess
- Bill Brashler
- Jim Braun
- Patrick Butler
- Angela Caputo
- George Castle
- Dan Cotter
- Steve Dale
- Sue Markgraf
- Ted AllenTed AllenTed Allen is an American writer and television personality. He was the food and wine connoisseur on the American Bravo network's Emmy-winning television program Queer Eye. He now is the host of the prime-time series on Food Network Chopped, a culinary competition in which four chefs per episode...
- Diana DiamondDiana DiamondDiana Diamond is an American journalist who has edited a number of newspapers including the Palo Alto Daily News, and was a columnist at the Palo Alto Weekly. At the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, she was editor of their magazine, Valley Life Quarterly, and a columnist and editorial...
- Leonard Dubkin
- Ava Ehrlich
- Robert FederRobert FederRobert Feder is a noted Chicago media blogger who was the TV and radio columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times from 1980 until 2008 and a blogger for Vocalo.org from 2009 until 2010...
- Ruth Duskin Feldman
- Ann Gerber
- Michael C. Glab
- Richard Greb
- Leigh Hanlon
- Greg Hinz
- Audrey Howard
- James Clifford Hughes
- William Hugh Jones
- Robert C. Koehler
- Leo LernerLeo LernerLeo A. Lerner was an American newspaper editor and publisher, who founded Lerner Newspapers in Chicago, Illinois, at one time the largest chain of weekly newspapers in the world....
- Louis A. Lerner
- Richard C. Lindberg
- Cynthia Linton
- Sheila Malkind
- Matt McGuire
- Dan Mitchell
- Kim Okabe
- Matt Rosenberg
- Morris Rotman
- Mike RoykoMike RoykoMichael "Mike" Royko was a newspaper columnist in Chicago, who won the 1972 Pulitzer Prize for commentary...
- Brenda Schory
- "Chicago Ed" SchwartzEd SchwartzEd Schwartz was a Chicago media personality who hosted local late-night radio programs from the mid-1970s to the mid-1990s. He was nicknamed "Chicago Ed."-Early life and education:...
- Emily Soloff
- Will SullivanWill SullivanWill Sullivan is a leading tech and journalism blogger, award-winning multimedia journalist and an educator.-Early life and education:...
- Lesley Sussman
- Lorraine Swanson
- Lily VensonLily VensonLily Venson is an American journalist.She attended Wilbur Wright College and Columbia College Chicago. She began writing for Lerner Newspapers at the Rogers Park office in 1962, and left the paper in 1973 to work as head of public relations for Cook County Hospitals...
- Carolyn Walkup
- Bruce WolfBruce WolfBruce Wolf is a veteran Chicago broadcaster and sports anchor who has been on both TV and radio for more than 20 years. He currently hosts a politics-themed talk show every weekday morning on WLS radio in Chicago and also fills in as a sportscaster on WMAQ-TV in Chicago...
- Leah A. Zeldes
- Bill Zwecker