Sun-Times Media names Kirk senior VP, editor in chief
BY DAVID ROEDER Sun-Times Media April 23, 2012 3:14PM
Jim Kirk
Updated: May 25, 2012 8:12AM
The owners of the Chicago Sun-Times said Monday that they have hired Jim Kirk as the top editor for all their publications and web sites.
Kirk was hired from Crain’s Chicago Business, where he was chief of editorial operations. His titles with Sun-Times Media will be senior vice president and editor-in-chief.
Timothy Knight, chief executive of Sun-Times parent Wrapports LLC, announced Kirk’s appointment, saying, “Under Jim’s leadership, we will increase our focus on local news and information, while continuing to provide the best coverage of local professional and prep sports teams across all of our newspapers.”
John Barron, executive editor of the Sun-Times, will report to Kirk, who will have control over the company’s seven suburban dailies, the Pioneer Press chain of weeklies and related websites.
Earlier in his career, Kirk was a business reporter and columnist for the Sun-Times. He later was an editor at the Chicago Tribune and moved on to jobs at Bloomberg News and the Chicago News Cooperative.
“The Sun-Times is still a huge, great brand in Chicago with an enormous reach,” Kirk said. He said his tenure at Crain’s was relatively short — 14 months — but that it “was hard to say no” when Knight approached him.
Kirk said his main task will be to improve the sharing of content across the publications.
He is 46 and grew up in Dolton. Kirk has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from Illinois State University.
