Post-Tribune to close Gary office

Times of Northwest Indiana Staff

The Post-Tribune, a newspaper founded in Gary, announced Wednesday it will close its office there.

The announcement ends the relationship with its namesake community that spanned more than seven decades and follows previous disclosures it would sell its local buildings, raise its newsstand rates and reduce the size of its staff.

The closure of its Gary facility at 1338 Broadway is set to take effect Friday, according to the newspaper's Web site.

A call to Post-Tribune Publisher Lisa Tatina was not returned. Tatina became publisher of the Merrillville-based newspaper last month after publisher Murdoch Davis left the company.

The Sun-Times Media Group and its affiliates, including the Post-Tribune, have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in federal court. And earlier this year, the company listed Post-Tribune office buildings in Merrillville and Crown Point for sale.

It also previously reduced staff, outsourced delivery of the newspaper to the Chicago Tribune, outsourced printing of the newspaper to Chicago facilities and moved other work out of Northwest Indiana.

Post-Tribune management also told its readers this week the price of Monday through Saturday newsstand editions will increase to 75 cents from 50 cents. The Sunday Post-Tribune newsstand price will increase to $1.75.

Hollinger International, which changed its name to the Sun Times Media Group in July 2006, bought the Post-Tribune from Knight Ridder Inc. in early 1998.

The Sun Times Media Group includes the Chicago Sun-Times, Pioneer Press, SouthtownStar, Naperville Sun, Post-Tribune and newspapers in Joliet, Aurora, Elgin and Waukegan.

The parent company has said it is considering several cost-cutting measures, including reducing the publication days of its suburban papers, which include the Post-Tribune.