Paddock Publications says it has agreed to sell the Daily Herald to the Chicago Tribune, a decision tied to the long decline in newspaper profits and the industry’s future. The sale is expected to close June 22, with no deal terms disclosed.
On the same day the newsroom learned of a planned change of ownership, a memo circulating among Daily Herald employees made one thing clear: the sale was not being treated as routine.
Paddock Publications’ board of directors announced Thursday that the company would sell the Daily Herald to the Chicago Tribune. In the memo addressed to employees from the Paddock Publications board of directors. the board said it considered many factors before approving the move—chief among them the ongoing secular decline in the newspaper business. the need for future cost-cutting. and overall future trends in the industry.
The deal is expected to close June 22. The terms of the agreement were not disclosed.
For readers in the suburbs of Chicago, the change lands on a paper with deep roots. The Daily Herald has a 154-year history covering Chicago’s suburbs. The paper began in 1872 and was independently owned and run by four generations of the Paddock family.
That family’s role shifted in 2018, when Paddock family members sold their interest in the company to its employees and reorganized into an employee stock ownership plan.
In the end, the memo said the board determined that selling the Daily Herald to the Tribune was in the best interest of the participants in that employee stock ownership plan. The board vote approving the sale was unanimous.
Chicago Tribune Daily Herald Paddock Publications newspaper sale employee stock ownership plan newsroom suburban Chicago
Wait so the Daily Herald is just getting swallowed up??
This is why I don’t trust any of these newspapers anymore. They say “future cost cutting” like it’s normal… then boom, ownership changes and suddenly it’s all ads.
Honestly I thought the Daily Herald was already part of the Tribune?? Like weren’t they doing the same stuff together forever? The article says “no deal terms disclosed” but then it’s like we’re supposed to just assume they’re firing everyone soon. Also “June 22” like that’s not super soon.
154 years and it ends like this? Kinda crazy. They mention an employee stock ownership plan and “best interest of the participants” which sounds nice but I feel like it usually ends with layoffs. Paddock board unanimously approved it… sure, because who’s gonna say no when profits are dying? Anyway, RIP suburbs news.