The board of Chicago Public Media voted last week to explore the possibility of combining its local NPR affiliate, WBEZ-FM 91.5, and the struggling Chicago Sun-Times.
Media reporter Roger Feder said that while nothing has been finalized the two sides feel strongly that a deal would enhance the two newsrooms.
“This opportunity arrives at an urgent time for local journalism, as newsrooms across the country and in our own region are being diminished,” Matt Moog, CEO of Chicago Public Media, said in the release.
It’s unclear how the finished product would look from a staffing standpoint because both sides are unionized.
“The primary goal of every Sun-Times investor has been to strengthen and secure the future of the paper,” said Jorge Ramirez, Sun-Times board chair.
In March 2019, a new ownership group took over and took control of the Sun-Times from the previous union ownership. The group, Sun-Times Investment Holdings LLC, is backed by prominent Chicago investors Michael Sacks and Rocky Wirtz.
