Sun-Times Breaks Story on Sun Times' Wrong DoingFollow

An eight-year scheme to inflate circulation at the Chicago Sun-Times overstated sales of the newspaper by as many as 50,000 copies per day, its parent company reported Tuesday.

Concluding a three-month probe of the newspaper's circulation practices under previous management, the parent company, Hollinger International, said it would set aside $27 million to compensate advertisers, some of whom have filed lawsuits against the paper. Hollinger also revealed sales inflation at three other papers it owns -- the Daily Southtown and the Star in suburban Chicago, and the Jerusalem Post in Israel.

You know, the Tribune is a superior newspaper

The probe's results slash the Sun-Times' audited daily circulation, or sales, to about 430,000 copies on weekdays, farther behind the Chicago Tribune's sales of about 615,000. The Sun-Times' circulation could be further lowered when the impact of an April price increase is fully known.


"It hurts, particularly in a competitive market," said newspaper analyst John Morton. "The lesser your position against your predominant competitor, the worse off you are."