Sun-Times owner: ‘Great time to be a journalist’

Michael Ferro

Michael Ferro

The man responsible for gutting the Sun-Times and eliminating the jobs of dozens of reporters, photographers and editors in Chicago thinks it's “a great time to be a journalist.”

Michael Ferro, chairman of Sun-Times Media parent company Wrapports LLC, made the upbeat declaration in an interview Friday on “Bloomberg Markets.”

“By the way, journalism has never been bigger in the world,” Ferro said. “There’s more journalists than there’s ever been. There’s more content than there’s ever been. And there’s still people wanting content. . . . So we think this is a great time to be a journalist, it’s a great time to be in media, and there’s a huge growth trajectory.”

Since Ferro’s investment group acquired the Sun-Times in December 2011, the paper has cut more than half its editorial staff through multiple rounds of layoffs, buyouts and cutbacks. Under Wrapports the paper's digital operation has become a national embarrassment.

Asked whether he'd put more money into the Sun-Times, Ferro said: “We put whatever it takes. The Sun-Times is a great organization. We use the Sun-Times to test products.

“So I would definitely say when I look at old media, I look at it as a big distribution platform. There’s not a lot of great old media properties out there that are valued quite fairly right now. But if one has new digital products, which they can distribute and advertise through those distribution channels, I do think there can be some good buys in the future for us.”