Happy Birthday to the CST

By Lou Grant | Feb 02, 3:20 PM

Tomorrow is our birthday the letter from Michael Cooke states on page 3 of the Friday edition of the Chicago Sun-Times. "The headline on the front page of that first Chicago Daily Sun and Times was indicative of the kind of newspaper we would become: "Majczek tells of $5,000 'gift' to Ill. legislator.'

"It was the latest development in one of the most famous stories in newspaper history, the 'Call Northside 777' murder case…"

But times change. Perhaps a corporate tell-all will discuss the management of Lord Conrad Black and David Radler, the decline and fall of an international newspaper empire and the corporate culture John Ambrosia discusses with Michael Miner in his "Exit Interview." A style he describes as "I don't care what the facts show. I don't care what the numbers show."

It is a song heard before out of the Sun Times. KPMG LLP, the auditors, notes to the company's 2006 financial statements, the most recent available, back Ambrosia up. Four separate deficiencies were found and identified:

The (Sun-Times Media Group) lacked formal training programs… job descriptions… policy and procedures (about) management's and employees' roles and responsibilities…

There were inconsistencies in the… documentation… related to journal entries… and in some cases the supporting documentation was (in)sufficient…

There were no formal… policies and… an ineffective assignment of authority and responsibility for… transaction(s) in key areas… Compliance was not… monitored… Neither employees nor management demonstrated an understating of the purpose or importance of the controls.

The (Sun-Times Media Group) did not have formal code of conduct training programs or ethics training programs in place.

Ambrosia links the decline of the suburban chains to the lack of financial success. "We cut staff, we cut expenditures in circulation and marketing, and because of that we're hurting. Our circulation is down… Our advertising is down."

"If you have special memories of the paper, we'd like to hear them," Cooke finishes.

Okay, how about this one, Mr. Cooke. There was this feisty tabloid that fought the big corporate paper. The paper survived round after round of economic downturn but remained a cash cow for its owners. After suffering through a management scandal and the arrival of the Internet, it was blessed with unimaginative editorial leadership that could only look to the past. On it's 60^th birthday, its managing editor could only remark on a black and white film and a short-lived television series instead of giving the city a vision of the newspaper's future.

Tagged: Chicago Sun-Times, David Radler, Michael Miner, Conrad Black