Sun-Times Media cuts 11 weeklies

Chicago-based Sun-Times Media Holdings LLC will close 11 free weekly Sun newspapers, mostly in the Western Suburbs, by late December, the company's CEO Jeremy Halbreich said Thursday.

The affected papers are in Bolingbrook, Geneva, Homer Glen, Lisle, Glen Ellyn, Plainfield, Wheaton, Downers Grove, Batavia, Fox Valley and the Lincoln-Way area. The Naperville Sun will continue to operate.

Halbreich refused to say how many employees are affected, but he added that many would transfer to other newspapers in the group, including the Chicago Sun-Times.

Up to five workers could be laid off after the restructuring, but he couldn't say what positions that would involve.

Sun-Times Media has reorganized editorial into a content management system, which is on one platform, allowing stories to be shared among publications. Also, photographers who had been originally assigned to work at specific newspapers now are organized under one umbrella group, he said.

“We're network oriented,” Halbreich said.

He would not say how much money the company will save annually by eliminating the weeklies. He also declined to discuss the future of the company's remaining newspapers, including the Beacon-News (Aurora), The Courier-News (Elgin), The Herald-News (Joliet), Lake County News-Sun, Post-Tribune (Merrillville, Ind.) and the SouthtownStar (Tinley Park).

“We're no longer a public company,” Halbreich said. “I'm not sharing that information.”