For more than 75 years, the Sun-Times Editorial Board has been an important voice in Chicago, advocating for the well-being of our city, holding the powerful to account and helping readers understand and navigate the complexities of the news.
We are grateful to Lorraine Forte for serving as editorial page editor since 2021. Forte, along with longtime board member Tom Frisbie and editor/writer Marlen Garcia, have strengthened Chicago with their collective positions on some of our most pressing issues. All recently accepted voluntary buyouts.
As a nonprofit media company, this is an important opportunity for the people of Chicago to become the voice of Chicago. Beginning today, the Sun-Times will no longer offer editorials — pieces expressing a stance on news topics, written by our editorial board.
When the Chicago Sun-Times was acquired by Chicago Public Media, our new status as a nonprofit meant the editorial board could no longer make candidate endorsements, a major change to what is traditionally considered a core function of editorial boards. Editorials are traditionally unsigned, and when trust in journalism is so precarious, we believe it is essential for our readers to understand exactly who is speaking to them.
To that end, we will continue to publish Letters to the Editor, which we receive in abundance every week and run in print and online. We will also continue to publish opinion pieces and guest columns from community members, leaders and scholars.
In addition, we are committed to providing our own journalists, including Rummana Hussain, Neil Steinberg, Lee Bey and Alden Loury, space to write from their personal experiences, points of view and subject matter expertise. Natalie Moore’s monthly column will continue as well.
We will also continue to expand Chicago’s Next Voices, a monthly series featuring columns from a diversity of residents in metro Chicago. We recently launched the Teen Voices series as a way to further engage a younger generation that has a lot to say about what’s happening in the world today and their concerns about the future.
Our listening tours in communities throughout Chicago as part of our “We Hear You” listening sessions will remain as well. These sessions not only lead us to important stories and conversations, they also create awareness of people in metro communities who should have their voices elevated across our platforms.
We want to open more doors for the public to express itself. We are grateful to the service of those who made very personal decisions about their futures as well as those who have been an important voice in and for Chicago for decades.
This change does not mean we are retreating from public dialogue or silencing debate. Rather, we’re acknowledging that the voices we need to uplift in Chicago are the voices of the people.
Our readers come to us for a range of perspectives. We want to bring them the most insightful thinking in Chicago, wherever it originates. We want to inform, to listen, to elevate, to convene.
So, with the changes ahead, we remain committed to elevating the voice of Chicago — and that means you.
Interested in a submitting a letter to the editor? Go to letters@suntimes.com. For opinion pieces, visit opinions@suntimes.com.
Tracy Brown is the chief content officer of Chicago Public Media.
