Chicago Sun-Times Hires Marketing President

Drew Grant — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:15:00 +0000

Out of all the positions in the newspaper industry to freeze during a recession, it’s sad that the people who write and edit the actual copy are the ones who have to find work in a different field. Meanwhile, advertising and marketing staffs continue to grow in many sectors, because media execs are still looking for ways to market and sell their products during this new digital age.

We can’t blame them: so many advertisers have pulled print ads in 2009 that it seems like it can only go up from here. But in places like Chicago, where The Chicago Tribune has been shattered by bankruptcy and editorial staffers have defected over to a non-profit consortium that’s providing content for The New York Times‘ new Chicago-centric edition, you’d think that the newspapers still in existence would focus more on punching up their copy rather than hiring another marketing person to tell them they need to get on Twitter.

Yet Sun-Times Media has hired Matthew A. Saleski, formerly of Yahoo! and Kraft Foods, to do exactly that. Saleski has already worked a five-year stint at The Tribune Co., which makes him the perfect person to figure out the competition’s plans before they happen. Which, unfortunately in this case, just includes “not folding.”

Full press release below.

Previously: Tribune Co.’s No Good, Very Bad Week, More Tribune Employees Join Chicago News Cooperative

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Chicago Sun-Times Hires Marketing President