Feb 11, 2009 3:05 pm US/Central
Sun-Times Editor-In-Chief Resigns
Newspaper Group Also Names New CEO
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Chicago Sun-Times editor-in-chief Michael Cooke has resigned effective at the end of the month, to become the top editor at the Toronto Star.
Cooke was editor-in-chief of the newspaper from 2000 to 2004, left and rejoined the paper in late 2005 as vice president of their editorial operations. He was named editor-in-chief of all Sun-Times News Group papers in 2006.
"I love the Chicago Sun-Times and this city. Both have been extraordinarily kind to me and my family," Cooke said in a news release. "However, the opportunity to edit Canada's biggest newspaper, the Toronto Star, is irresistible. The Toronto Star was my first newspaper job in North America when I left my native England some 30 years ago."
In an e-mail to the Sun-Times editorial staff Wednesday afternoon, Cooke alluded to possible financial help for the struggling newspaper from "some of Chicago's accomplished businessmen who privately express a strong interest in keeping the paper flourishing."
"The financial problems are no secret, and while I believe this year and next will be difficult and painful for the newsroom, there is a road to recovery," Cooke wrote. "This is not based on hope alone."
Cooke was brought to the paper by then publisherÂ
David Radler, who was sentenced in 2007 to two years in prison for his role in stealing millions of dollars from Hollinger International shareholders.
Radler andÂ
Hollinger head Conrad Black built the media empire from scratch, starting with a tiny, money-losing, English language paper in French-speaking Canada, the Sherbrooke Record. In time, the company became an international colossus.
Black, Radler and three co-defendants were charged with siphoning money out of the company through payments made by buyers of Hollinger International community papers in return for promises not to compete with the new owners. Prosecutors said such payments should go to shareholders.
Radler pleaded guilty and made his deal with prosecutors while Black and his other co-defendants, Canadian executives Peter Atkinson and Jack Boultbee and Chicago attorney Mark Kipnis, demanded a jury trial.
Also Wednesday, the Sun-Times Media Group Inc. has picked the former president and general manager of The Dallas Morning News as interim chief executive officer and chairman.
Jeremy Halbreich replaces Cyrus Freidheim, whose resignation is effective Feb. 28.
Halbreich says the company's current managers will stay in place to give them "the time and resources to charge ahead."
Officials on Wednesday also named the company's current general manager, John Barron, as publisher and Rick Surkamer as president and chief operating officer.
Sun-Times Media publishes the Chicago Sun-Times and area community papers.
The company has made cuts due to declining advertising revenue. Last month, it closed 12 weekly newspapers and asked union employees to take cuts in compensation.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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