Richard Roeper leaving Chicago Sun-Times

Why it matters: CPM, which owns the Sun-Times and WBEZ-FM, announced they accepted 35 buyouts and hit their goal to save $3-5 million in an effort to stave off expected budget trouble.

Zoom in: In an email to members, CPM CEO Melissa Bell said she is "grateful to share with you now that we reached our cost reduction targets through voluntary departures."

The latest: The Sun-Times guild confirmed that 15 of its members took the buyout.

Yes, but: Other editorial staff outside the guild have departed, including editorial page editor Lorraine Forte.

What they're saying: "This is the biggest hit our newsroom has taken in 12 years," a guild spokesperson tells Axios.

• "We are losing mentors, we're losing friends, and we have serious questions about what the future might hold."

Context: Roeper joined forces with Roger Ebert as the co-host of the syndicated television show "At the Movies" from 2000-2008 and later took over for Ebert as the premiere film critic at the Sun-Times.

• Roeper also hosted radio shows at WLUP-FM and WLS-AM, the latter of which saw him and co-host Roe Conn snag huge ratings.

• "I have had more than 16,000 bylines in the Sun-Times," Roeper said on X. "Proud of what I accomplished there."

Zoom out: Other prominent names leaving the paper include sports columnist Rick Morrissey, advice columnist Ismael Pérez, entertainment editor and writer Darel Jevens and White Sox beat writer Daryl Van Schouwen.

What's next: Bell has signaled that merging the company's two newsrooms is paramount and in the member email, she said she wants to double the current paid members at CPM over the next five years.