We make a point of focusing our attention, and yours, on just how local we can make the newspaper you’re reading. To us, staying intently focused on your neighborhood is the reason we exist and survive in a muddled media world.
So it wouldn’t be a surprise if you’re a regular reader of our paper in Riverside (The Landmark) and don’t know we also publish a dandy paper in Lincoln Park (Skyline), another in Oak Park (Wednesday Journal) and yet another in Rogers Park (News-Star).
Altogether, we now publish nine weekly papers-three in near-west suburbs and six in the city-in addition to a great monthly magazine called Chicago Parent, which covers the entire metro area.
By design, and because we suffer from a debilitating corporate shyness, we sort of hide our light under a bushel, as they used to say back when people knew what a bushel was.
There are two things, though, which have happened recently that make us proud. So we’re speaking up, because we think you ought to know what we’re about.
In July, Editor & Publisher magazine, the bible of our industry, ran its annual “10 That Do It Right” list. Lo and behold, one of those 10 was our Chicago Journal, a weekly we started eight years ago in the South Loop, West Loop and Little Italy.
It’s always nice to be recognized by your peers, but this was especially sweet because Editor & Publisher really grasped what we were trying to do when we launched Chicago Journal. Reporter Mark Fitzgerald wrote, “Chicago Journal is a feisty tabloid that provides sharp writing and reporting on neighborhoods overflowing with all the issues that accompany urban pioneers.”
Bingo. We set out to make a paper that reflected and shaped what it meant to be part of city neighborhoods that, in some ways, hadn’t existed five, 10 years earlier.
Thanks to Editor & Publisher for appreciating what we’ve been working hard to create.
Also last month, our Chicago Parent magazine launched its own new offspring: Chicago Special Parent. This is a twice-annual magazine and Web site created for parents of kids across Chicagoland with special needs. The first issue is a big success, with readers eager for information and acknowledgment.
That’s it. Now we’re back to reporting on Austin and Uptown, Forest Park and Wicker Park. Thanks for being one of our readers. And, as always, call or write with questions or concerns. Compliments make us blush. My e-mail is dhaley@wjinc.com. My direct line is 708-613-3301.
Find Chicago Special Parent at www.chicagoparent.com and at library branches in the city and throughout the suburbs.
