Zach Finken

Zach Finken, a 20-year Chicago newspaperman who ran the copy desk and layout desk for the Sun-Times, has been hired as associate editor of Tribune Content Agency, the syndication and licensing arm of Tribune Publishing.

No word yet on Finken’s replacement as assistant managing editor for news at the Sun-Times, where he had worked since 2001.

Confirmation of Finken’s move Thursday followed the announcement that Tribune Publishing had acquired McClatchy Company’s 50 percent ownership stake in McClatchy-Tribune Information Services, which will be added to the products of Tribune Content Agency. With the addition of the wire service, the newly expanded Tribune Content Agency will provide content to 1,200 media clients and digital entities worldwide.

Finken will report to John Barron, the former Sun-Times editor and publisher, who was named editor of Tribune Content Agency last October.

“I’m excited to have Zach on board as the first addition to our newly configured business,” Barron told me. “As a longtime colleague, I know him to be a great, smart and calm editor who knows what readers want. And he's as good with breaking news as he is with taking the longer view on creative, content strategies.”

In Finken’s new role as associate editor, Barron said, he will help lead and manage Tribune Content Agency’s expanding team in Chicago and work with both the TCA News Service as it transitions editorial operations from Washington, D.C., to Chicago and with TCA's syndicated content portfolio.

A graduate of Glenwood High School and Northwestern University, Finken joined the Sun-Times after seven years as a copy editor at the Daily Herald.