Congrats!!
I know I am somewhat late on this one, but it is still worth the mention.
‘Chicago Defender’ Say It’s Profitable for First Time in Two Decades
By Mark Fitzgerald
CHICAGO Despite a tumultuous year in which an editor quit after just two months, the newsroom operated without a general assignment reporter for a brief period, the daily cut its frequency from five days a week to four, and an African American activist group declared a boycott of the black-owned paper, the Chicago Defender cleared a profit in 2005, Executive Editor Roland S. Martin says.
“We had a very good 2005,” he said in an interview. “Frankly, it’s the first time the Chicago Defender has shown a profit since 1984.” Martin did not offer any specific financial results for the black-oriented paper, which is owned by the privately held firm Real Times LLC.
Martin made the remarks a day after announcing the hiring of two new general assignment reporters, a gain of one position for the skeleton newsroom crew producing the tabloid.
Martin said that the paper’s budget projects hiring one more full-time journalist, and a part-time newsroom employee at the end of the first quarter of this year. “As we build revenue, we will add a city editor by June,” he added. (more…)
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When I first received news that Martin was taking over the helm at the Chicago Defender, I had a good feeling about the future of that paper. I’m glad to see that I wasn’t wrong.
Among the changes he has made at the Defender was to introduce Podcasting as part of the news service offered on their website. This is exactly the kind of fresh vision black newspapers need for the future if they expect to be taken seriously by the general public.
(hat tip: politopics.com)
