What’s holding up sale of the Reader?

Chicago Reader

On June 15, Edwin Eisendrath stood before the Rainbow PUSH Convention at the Hyatt Regency Chicago and revealed the sale of the Chicago Reader to a group led by Dorothy Leavell, publisher of the Chicago Crusader.

"I'm here to say that the future of the Reader is in African-American ownership," announced Eisendrath, CEO of the Sun-Times, which has owned the Reader since 2012. "You're about to have a major publication in Chicago that is African-American owned." The news drew a standing ovation from the crowd.

Terms of the sale were not disclosed, but a story posted later that day on the Reader’s website said the Sun-Times would maintain a 15 percent stake in the alternative weekly, and that the deal was expected to close “in the next 30 days.”

That was 52 days ago and the deal still hasn’t closed.

Edwin Eisendrath

Despite rumors of a last-minute snafu, Eisendrath said he knows of “no outstanding issues” to have caused the delay. “We are somewhat understaffed in finance and did not produce docs as quickly as we had anticipated,” he told me Sunday. [We] expect to move forward quickly now.”

With questions about the Reader's ownership lingering, at least three key staffers have departed in recent weeks. They included Dave Newbart, who had been filling in as editor since February, as well as longtime film editor J.R. Jones and longtime music writer Peter Margasak.

The masthead currently lists acting deputy editor Kate Schmidt as the highest ranking editor at the Reader, while a job opening for executive editor directs candidates to apply to the Sun-Times.

"Sun-Times Media is seeking an Executive Editor to be the strategic and creative leader of Chicago’s storied Reader," the ad says. "The candidate should have a passion for editorial operations and should feel confident leading a team of editors and writers, ensuring that their content adheres to the Reader’s voice, standards and mission — digitally, as well as in print."

It's not clear what role Leavell will have in selecting the new editor. In an interview with Phil Ponce on “Chicago Tonight.” last month, Leavell said she hoped to retain the Reader's investigative reporting and coverage of culture and entertainment. “It’s going to be more diverse in its circulation especially. There are many of our communities — African-American communities — on the South Side and the West Side that you can’t get a Reader," she said. So we’re No. 1 going to be expanding its reach.”

Offices of the Reader are expected to move from the Sun-Times at 30 North Racine Avenue to the Near South Side after the sale is finalized, sources said.

Claiming a circulation of 85,000, the free weekly has been losing money for years. Staff reductions and budget cuts led editorial employees to vote unanimously to join the Chicago Newspaper Guild in 2015. After nearly two years of negotiations, a strike threat and a change of ownership, staffers ratified their first union contract in 2017.

Friday’s comment of the day: Mark Elliott: Robert, you missed the fact that Modern Luxury Media is owned by Lew and John Dickey and the Dickey family. You remember them from their days running Cumulus, owners of WLS et al. Did they have some sort of accounting problem due to the bankruptcy?