19-03-2025
Richard Roeper leaving Chicago Sun-Times
Longtime Chicago film critic Richard Roeper is leaving the Sun-Times after almost 40 years at the paper.
The big picture: Roeper, one of the biggest names in Chicago journalism, took a voluntary buyout offered by the paper's parent company, Chicago Public Media.
Why it matters: CPM, which owns the Sun-Times and WBEZ-FM, announced they accepted 35 buyouts and hit their goal to save $3-5 million in an effort to stave off expected budget trouble.
Zoom in: In an email to members, CPM CEO Melissa Bell said she is "grateful to share with you now that we reached our cost reduction targets through voluntary departures."
The latest: The Sun-Times guild confirmed that 15 of its members took the buyout.
Yes, but: Other editorial staff outside the guild have departed, including editorial page editor Lorraine Forte.
What they're saying:"This is the biggest hit our newsroom has taken in 12 years," a guild spokesperson tells Axios.
"We are losing mentors, we're losing friends, and we have serious questions about what the future might hold."
Context: Roeper joined forces with Roger Ebert as the co-host of the syndicated television show "At the Movies" from 2000-2008 and later took over for Ebert as the premiere film critic at the Sun-Times.
Roeper also hosted radio shows at WLUP-FM and WLS-AM, the latter of which saw him and co-host Roe Conn snag huge ratings.
"I have had more than 16,000 bylines in the Sun-Times," Roeper said on X. "Proud of what I accomplished there."
Zoom out: Other prominent names leaving the paper include sports columnist Rick Morrissey, advice columnist Ismael Pérez, entertainment editor and writer Darel Jevens and White Sox beat writer Daryl Van Schouwen.
