Daily Herald deal could reshape local Chicago news

The Chicago Tribune's push to buy the Daily Herald could reshape suburban news coverage across Chicagoland.

Why it matters: The deal would put one of the region's largest suburban newspapers under the control of the cost-cutting investment firm that owns the Tribune.

The latest: Tribune Publishing, owned by Alden Global Capital, outbid Shaw Media to acquire the 150-year-old, employee-owned newspaper that serves much of suburban Chicagoland.

What they're saying: "This is an earthquake in the local news ecosystem in Chicago," Northwestern Medill School of Journalism's Tim Franklin tells Axios.

• "It's hard to overstate the significance of this acquisition for news consumers in the Chicago area, for communities themselves that rely on local news and information to make important decisions for their families and their local schools and for their local governments."

By the numbers: While the financial details are still being finalized, the Daily Herald says it reaches more than 1.1 million readers each month.

• It employs around 40 full-time newsroom staff and over 200 employees.

The intrigue: Questions remain about whether the Tribune's newsroom will merge with the Daily Herald's staff and whether the paper's name will stay the same.

• It could be similar to the deal that the South Suburban Daily Southtown has in place. The paper's name has stayed intact, but the Tribune manages its staff.

Flashback: The Daily Herald and the Chicago Tribune used to be rivals, fighting for readers and advertisers in big suburbs like Schaumburg, Naperville and Libertyville.

• The Tribune lost that competition years ago, pulling back from its suburban bureaus and editions as economic conditions and shifts in management strategy unfolded.
• When the Tribune sold its printing press in the Freedom Center in 2024, it took over a press in Schaumburg, where it prints its paper and the Daily Herald.

Zoom out: If the purchase goes through, this would be another major addition to Alden's newspaper portfolio. They will own more than three dozen newspapers in the Chicago area alone.

• Alden has a reputation, including for managing the Tribune, of draining resources from local newspapers and laying off reporters to improve the bottom line for investors.
• "Some will say that this move could save the Daily Herald by providing financial resources to the paper," Franklin adds. "Others may say that Alden will justify the acquisition by cutting costs and reducing coverage, which will mean less coverage for news consumers in Chicago."

Of note: This deal must be approved by the employees of the Daily Herald.

The bottom line: The acquisition could reshape how suburban Chicago gets its local news for years — either stabilizing a legacy newspaper or accelerating consolidation in a region already hit hard by newsroom cuts.