Chicago Tribune

"The Trib" redirects here. For other newspapers with similar names, see Tribune (disambiguation).

Chicago Tribune
The March 27, 2024 front page
of the Chicago Tribune
TypeDaily newspaper
FormatBroadsheet
Owner(s)Tribune Publishing
Founder(s)
Editor-in-chiefMitch Pugh
General managerPar Ridder
Opinion editorChris Jones
Sports editorAmanda Kaschube
Photo editorTodd Panagopoulos
FoundedJune 10, 1847; 177 years ago (1847-06-10)
LanguageEnglish
HeadquartersFreedom Center (Chicago)
CountryUnited States
Circulation73,000 Average print circulation[1]
ISSN1085-6706 (print)
2165-171X (web)
OCLC number7960243
Websitechicagotribune.com

The Chicago Tribune is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper",[2][3] a slogan from which its once integrated WGN radio and WGN television received their call letters. As of 2023, it is the most-read daily newspaper in the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and the ninth-largest newspaper by print circulation in the United States.[4]

In the 1850s, under Joseph Medill, the Chicago Tribune became closely associated with the Illinois politician Abraham Lincoln, and the then new Republican Party's progressive wing. In the 20th century, under Medill's grandson 'Colonel' Robert R. McCormick, its reputation was that of a crusading newspaper with an outlook that promoted American conservatism and opposed the New Deal. Its reporting and commentary reached markets outside Chicago through family and corporate relationships at the New York Daily News and the Washington Times-Herald. Through much of the 20th century into the early 21st, it employed a network of overseas news bureaus and foreign correspondents. In the 1960s, its corporate parent owner, Tribune Company began expanding into new markets buying additional daily papers. For the first time in its over-a-century-and-a-half history, in 2008, its editorial page endorsed a Democrat, Barack Obama, a U.S. Senator from Illinois, for U.S. president.[5]

Originally published solely as a broadsheet, the Tribune announced on January 13, 2009, that it would continue publishing as a broadsheet for home delivery, but would publish in tabloid format for newsstand, news box, and commuter station sales.[6] The change, however, proved unpopular with readers; in August 2011, the Tribune discontinued the tabloid edition, returning to its established broadsheet format through all distribution channels.[7]

The Tribune was owned by parent company Tribune Publishing. In May 2021, Tribune Publishing was acquired by Alden Global Capital, which operates its media properties through Digital First Media; since then, the newspaper's coverage has evolved away from national and international news and toward coverage of Illinois and especially Chicago-area news.

  1. ^ Majid, Aisha (June 24, 2022). "Top 25 US newspaper circulations: Print circulations of largest titles fall 14% in year to September 2023". Press Gazette. Retrieved March 8, 2024.
  2. ^ "Chicago Tribune".
  3. ^ "Relationship to Tribune Publishing". Studio1847.io. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  4. ^ Turvill, William (June 24, 2022). "Top 25 US newspaper circulations: Print sales fall another 12% in 2022". Press Gazette. Retrieved June 28, 2022.
  5. ^ Editorial. "Tribune 2008 presidential endorsement". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  6. ^ "Tribune to launch tabloid for newsstands". Chicago Tribune. January 13, 2009. Retrieved June 19, 2020.
  7. ^ "Chicago Tribune drops tabloid edition of paper". Chicago Tribune. August 31, 2011. Retrieved April 7, 2015.