The Chicago Tribune is the 11th-largest daily newspaper in the country and the flagship publication of Tribune Publishing.

The paper has been under the ownership of the Tribune Company and Tribune Publishing since its founding in 1847. In 2007 the paper, along with other Tribune Company properties including the Los Angeles Times and Baltimore Sun, were bought by real estate magnate Sam Zell in a deal valued at $8.2 billion. The Tribune Company spun off its newspaper properties, led by the Chicago Tribune, into a separate company called Tribune Publishing in 2014.

The paper has undergone significant restructuring in recent years, some as a result of the Tribune Company’s bankruptcy filing in 2008. The paper has seen a number of staff layoffs and buyouts, including newsroom staff. In 2008 the company was considering a sale of Tribune Tower, the iconic headquarters for the paper and other Tribune properties, but the plan was later scrapped. In 2009, the Tribune announced it would publish a tabloid edition for newsstand and box sales, while home delivery copies would retain the broadsheet format.

The paper began charging for online access in 2012, allowing five free “premium” stories per month before charging $14.99 per month, though the site remains free for print subscribers. Subscriptions were also reported to include some access to content from Forbes and The Economist through NewsCred.

The Tribune dropped its subscription to the Associated Press, along with six other Tribune Co. papers, in January 2013.

Niche products

The Tribune Media Group, which publishes the Tribune, has branched out to specialized print and online products designed to reach new audiences, including RedEye, a free tabloid introduced in 2002 to target young readers. In 2007, the paper launched TribLocal, a network of community news sites that combines staff written news with reader contributed content. In addition, TribLocal is printed as a weekly newspaper in communities in the greater Chicago area, with 335,000 copies distributed to Tribune subscribers and 900,000 to non-subscribers, as of 2012.

TribLocal was outsourced to the Chicago-based content provider Journatic in 2012, and about half of its 40 staffers were laid off. It was reported to be profitable at that point. Three months later, it took back control of TribLocal and suspended its relationship with Journatic, in whom it was an investor, in the wake of a fake-byline scandal, though it maintained its relationship with the company and resumed limited use of its content later that year. (Journatic was renamed LocalLabs in 2014.) The paper cut its number of local editions by about half later that year.

In 2009, the Tribune launched ChicagoNow, a network of local arts, sports, news, and culture blogs that grew quickly in its first six months. Soon afterward, it launched 435 Digital, which does web, SEO, and social media consulting for businesses.