Rumors of the Milwaukee Sentinel’s imminent demise have been so rampant this week that Editor Keith Spore felt the need to address them in Thursday’s editions.
“There has been no decision to close the Sentinel,” said Spore, who called the talk “irresponsible and inaccurate.”
But a memo posted later Thursday on company bulletin boards indicates a decision of some kind is pending for the 157-year-old newspaper.
In the memo, Journal/Sentinel Inc. President Jim Currow said the company has been searching for a strategy to deal with the millions in additional expenses expected from rising newsprint costs, which might increase as much as 30 percent this year. The company owns the morning Sentinel and the afternoon Milwaukee Journal.
“No decision has been reached,” he wrote. “These are difficult questions that require considerable analysis.”
At 175,000 circulation, the Sentinel is the smaller of the two dailies, although the Journal (circulation 215,000 daily, 489,000 Sundays) has experienced greater circulation losses in recent years.
While the two papers are jointly owned, their editorial departments are independent and competitive. They occupy separate newsrooms in separate buildings connected by a walkway.
Because the advertising and circulation departments of the two newspapers are already merged, the most likely area of cost savings would be in combining the news operations of the two newspapers.
![Four years into cannabis legalization in Illinois, celebrations of the April 20 informal weed holiday known as 420 are getting bigger and more widespread. Named for the time of day a group of friends met to get high, 420 has become a chance for marijuana users to publicly share a previously illegal drug and the counter-cultural atmosphere surrounding it. The main event in downtown Chicago likely will be the second annual 420 Sesh Fest, at Green Rose Dispensary. The party will include live music, a magic show, carnival games, food trucks, pop ups, and product discounts. It also will feature Grammy-nominated […]](https://www.chicagotribune.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/ctc-l-Illinois-marijuana_175925141.jpg?w=546 "Four years into cannabis legalization in Illinois, celebrations of the April 20 informal weed holiday known as 420 are getting bigger and more widespread. Named for the time of day a group of friends met to get high, 420 has become a chance for marijuana users to publicly share a previously illegal drug and the counter-cultural atmosphere surrounding it. The main event in downtown Chicago likely will be the second annual 420 Sesh Fest, at Green Rose Dispensary. The party will include live music, a magic show, carnival games, food trucks, pop ups, and product discounts. It also will feature Grammy-nominated […]")