Sun-Times adds Doubek as columnist

Madeleine Doubek

Madeleine Doubek

Madeleine Doubek, the veteran Chicago journalist who was a mainstay of the Daily Herald for 27 years, soon will be turning up in the Sun-Times.

Starting April 15, Doubek will appear as a columnist twice a month on the Sun-Times editorial page and on Early & Often, the newspaper’s new digital platform covering government and politics.

Since 2012, Doubek has been chief operating officer of Reboot Illinois, a nonpartisan website and social media enterprise advocating citizen involvement in government reform. It’s led by hedge fund manager Anne Dias Griffin, who runs Aragon Global Management and is the wife of billionaire Kenneth Griffin.

Calling Doubek “a widely respected and great journalist,” Jim Kirk, publisher and editor-in-chief of the Sun-Times, said the nonexclusive arrangement with Reboot Illinois is a good fit for the paper and its new political website. “What’s appealing to us is that they’re so sharply focused on the fiscal issues down in Springfield,” Kirk said. “They’ve really done a nice job of covering that.”

A Chicago native and graduate of Eastern Illinois University, Doubek joined the Daily Herald as a reporter in 1985 and held a variety of editorial positions, including political editor, before she was named managing editor in 2007. She was promoted to executive editor and assistant vice president of the suburban daily in 2010.