CHICAGO, IL \u2013 Chicago Public Media (CPM), the parent organization of WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Chicago Reader are launching a six-month pilot partnership designed to test new models of collaboration across advertising and sponsorship support. The initiative combines the Reader\u2019s deep expertise in arts and culture with CPM\u2019s infrastructure and reach, creating new pathways for financial sustainability and revenue growth.<\/p>\n
The partnership will feature a joint advertising and sponsorship approach, where teams from both organizations will collaborate to create premium packages that can bundle placements across the Reader, WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times. A revenue-sharing model will allow both organizations to benefit from increased sales and gain deeper insights into local sales strategies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis collaboration represents a forward-thinking approach to sustaining local media,\u201d said Amber Nettles, director of advertising and revenue products at the Chicago Reader. \u201cIndependent outlets like the Reader and Chicago Public Media each bring distinct strengths, and by aligning our efforts, we can create more value for advertisers, deepen audience engagement, and build a more resilient foundation for community-focused journalism in Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is about building something together,\u201d said Will Weibert, senior director of advertising at the Chicago Sun-Times. \u201cAdvertisers are looking for authentic ways to show up for Chicago, and by teaming up, we can make that easier and more effective.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pilot is designed to evaluate the benefits of a deeper long-term partnership. If successful, both organizations could continue to collaborate in ways that preserve editorial independence while driving efficiency, growth and mission alignment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe moment is now for local journalism to forge a path of collaboration over competition,\u201d said Tracy Brown, chief partnership officer at Chicago Public Media. \u201cThe Reader and Chicago Public Media are joining forces to benefit Chicago as a whole. We\u2019re building on the momentum of previous editorial collaborations and bringing the business side of media to the forefront.\u201d<\/p>\n
Together, this pilot represents a meaningful step toward independent media organizations in Chicago working in partnership to ensure a more sustainable, resilient, and vibrant future for local journalism.<\/p>\n
About Chicago Public Media:<\/strong> About the Chicago Reader:<\/strong>
Chicago Public Media is one of the largest local nonprofit news organizations in the country, dedicated to strengthening the well-being of Chicago area communities with accessible and trusted news, information and programming. Home to WBEZ 91.5 FM, the Chicago Sun-Times and Vocalo, CPM serves more than 4.1 million people weekly across broadcast, print and digital platforms.<\/p>\n
The Chicago Reader is a community-supported, fearless, innovative and nationally respected media voice covering Chicago arts and culture for more than 50 years. In print every week and daily online, the Reader is made up of tastemakers, incisive critics and agenda-setters. The community looks to them for what\u2019s new, what\u2019s now, what\u2019s next \u2013 and depends on them to hold local government and other public authorities accountable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHICAGO, IL \u2013 Chicago Public Media (CPM), the parent organization of WBEZ and the Chicago Sun-Times, and the…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":287511,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,147879,5386,1818,147880],"class_list":{"0":"post-287510","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-chicago-reader","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-illinois","12":"tag-reader-updates"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115340661628556131","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287510","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287510"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287510\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287510"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287510"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287510"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}