{"id":15149,"date":"2017-08-10T08:00:11","date_gmt":"2017-08-10T13:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=15149"},"modified":"2017-08-10T12:30:26","modified_gmt":"2017-08-10T17:30:26","slug":"eisendrath-sees-sun-times-punchier-paper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2017\/08\/10\/eisendrath-sees-sun-times-punchier-paper\/","title":{"rendered":"Eisendrath sees Sun-Times as \u2018punchier paper than it was\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

<\/a> Edwin Eisendrath<\/p><\/div>\n

To hear Edwin Eisendrath tell it, he\u2019s probably spent more time in the Sun-Times<\/a> newsroom than all of the newspaper\u2019s previous owners combined.<\/p>\n

In the four weeks since the group he headed took over<\/a> the paper, the former Chicago alderman has been getting a crash course on the challenges of the media business \u2014 with particular interest in the editorial side of the equation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have spent night and day getting to know what there is to know about this organization and spending time with every person who works here,\u201d he told me Wednesday. \u201cI don\u2019t spend a whole lot of time alone in my office. I\u2019m out there talking to people about what they do, how they do it, how they think about their job, and how they think about news in the society we live in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sun-Times insiders say it\u2019s unusual if not unprecedented for an owner to take such a hands-on approach with reporters and editors, but Eisendrath says he respects the independence of the journalists who work for him and he\u2019s careful not to cross the line.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not overstepping,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not telling anybody what to report on or how to report. But news decisions and who we are are<\/em> related \u2014 what we decide to cover, what stories we decide to own.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Chicago Sun-Times (August 10, 2017)<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cIf you put a Sun-Times story and a Tribune story side by side and read them like a literary scholar, you\u2019ll see a difference in point of view. I love that difference and want to make sure that doesn\u2019t go away. That is an important role for me because the whole brand of who we are is my responsibility. That goes to setting the tone and the context. How everybody carries that out, that\u2019s why they get hired. They know how to do their jobs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eisendrath said he still hasn\u2019t finalized an organizational structure for the company, which includes the Sun-Times, the free alternative weekly Chicago Reader,<\/a> and the media and digital production firm Answers Media. <\/a>By November all operations will be consolidated in the West Loop headquarters of Answers Media at 30 North Racine Avenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have teams in place that are currently working on the integration of Answers Media into all that happens here \u2014 from how we improve our editorial product to how we go to market to give more to our advertisers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

This week Eisendrath began interviewing candidates for the new position of senior vice president of advertising. \u201cOne of the most important things we need to do is change our relationship with our advertising partners and bring them all the new tools and techniques that come with our now-combined resources,\u201d he said. \u201cWhether it\u2019s an internal or external hire, we\u2019re going to get somebody who really understands how to use the Answers Media talents to bring more value to our clients not just in print but in digital and across all platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

So after one month on the job as CEO (and as the very public face<\/a> of the company), how does Eisendrath view the Sun-Times as a product today?<\/p>\n

\u201cI like it a little better,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that reflects that the people who work here \u2014 the writers, the editors and everybody \u2014 feel free to do what they\u2019ve always wanted to do. I think that shows. It\u2019s a punchier paper than it was. I like that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m doing my share, but everybody is stepping their game up, too. That\u2019s what this is about. We\u2019re all learning together how to do this, how to step up and amplify our voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not a secret that we have challenges we have to overcome. But we\u2019re knocking them off one at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

To hear Edwin Eisendrath tell it, he\u2019s probably spent more time in the Sun-Times newsroom than all of the newspaper\u2019s previous owners combined. In the four weeks since the group he headed took over the paper, the former Chicago alderman has been getting a crash course on the challenges of the media business \u2014 with... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15149"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15149"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15159,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15149\/revisions\/15159"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}