Mass media in Chicago

The Chicago metropolitan area is an important place for media in the United States. It is the third-largest media market, after only New York City and Los Angeles, and the largest market that is not near the coast. All of the major U.S. television networks have branches in Chicago.

Harpo Studios, home of talk show host Oprah Winfrey

Chicago is home to many famous media companies. WGN-TV, owned by the Tribune Media Company, can be watched across the country on cable and satellite as "WGN America." The city also has Sun-Times Media Group and Tribune Publishing, two of the biggest owners of daily newspapers in the nation.

History

Many different people helped build Chicago into a famous city, including writers, scientists, business leaders, and athletes. Between 1890 and 1930, when the city was growing very fast, newspapers played a big role in how people saw Chicago.

Some writers, called local color columnists, shared stories about everyday life in Chicago. For example, George Ade wrote about life from the view of people moving to the city from small towns. Finley Peter Dunne created a character named Mr. Dooley, who shared stories about life in a neighborhood where many Irish people lived. Ring Lardner wrote funny stories about sports and city life. Other writers shared what life was like for African-Americans living on Chicago's South Side. These writers helped shape how people thought about Chicago and its culture.

Newspapers

Chicago has two big daily newspapers: the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times. The Chicago Tribune has more readers. There are also many other newspapers for different groups and interests, like the Daily Herald, SouthtownStar, Chicago Defender, RedEye, Third Coast Press, Hypertext Magazine, and the Chicago Reader.

There are many weekly and community newspapers too, such as Chicago Crusader, Chicago Defender, Chicago News, Chicago Reader, N'Digo, and Newcity. Some focus on specific neighborhoods like Austin Weekly News, Bridgeport News, Hyde Park Herald, and La Raza.

There are also special magazines and journals for business, law, entertainment, and more, including Chicago magazine, Chicago Daily Law Bulletin, Chicago Innerview, Chicago Journal of International Law, Chicago Life, Chicago Parent, The Chicago Reporter, Chicagoland Golf, Crain's Chicago Business, PerformInk, South Shore Parent, Third Coast Review, Time Out Chicago, and Windy City Times.

Some newspapers that used to be published but are no longer around include Chicago Conservator, Chicago Daily News, Chicago Inter Ocean, Chicago's American, Gay Chicago, Gay Chicago News, RedEye, Red Streak, Southeast Chicago Observer, and UR Chicago.

Broadcast radio

Chicago is the third-largest radio market in the United States. Many radio stations serve the Chicago area, including AM and FM stations.

AM stations

FM stations

Asterisk (*) indicates a non-commercial broadcast.

Television

The Chicago area is the third-largest place in the United States for watching TV, according to Nielsen Media Research. All of the big U.S. TV networks have stations that serve this region.

Chicago has many TV stations that you can watch, including:

Asterisk (*) shows a channel that is owned by the network.

Chicago also has several cable channels, such as:

Online

Here are some online news and media sources from Chicago:

Better (formerly Make It Better)
The Beachwood Reporter (no longer active)
Block Club Chicago
Chicago Daily Observer
City Bureau
Chicagoist (part of the Gothamist network – no longer active)
ChicagoNow (a community of blogs owned by the Chicago Tribune)
DNAinfo Chicago (no longer active)
Gapers Block
Huffington Post Chicago (Chicago's version of the Huffington Post)
Hypertext Magazine
Injustice Watch
Patch.com Chicago Network
South Side Weekly
Third Coast Review

Media corporations

Here are two big media companies in Chicago: