Getting by in Chicago: Publications

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• The Chicago Tribune (The Trib), www.chicagotribune.com. The Tribune is Chicago's oldest daily, recently converted into a tabloid format for newsstand purchases. New ownership has shed much of the Trib's former prestige with a debt-leveraged purchase and forced bankruptcy, widespread staff layoffs, and an ill-advised redesign.
• The Chicago Sun-Times, www.suntimes.com. The Sun-Times is Chicago's other "major" newspaper. It has a long-standing reputation for aggressive (some might say "sensationalist") investigative journalism. It has also been teetering on the verge of oblivion for some time, but at least it has Roger Ebert.
• The Redeye, www.redeyechicago.com. Redeye is a free weekdays-only newspaper produced by the Tribune. Although its covers appear to report from some parallel universe where topics like sandwiches and being tired at work are the top stories of the day, it does have basic news coverage inside along with entertainment gossip.
• The Chicago Defender, www.chicagodefender.com. The Defender is Chicago's biggest African-American daily, and it played a major role in the city's African-American history. Its distribution network today is comparatively small, though.
• Hola Hoy, www.hoyinternet.com/noticias/localidades/chicago. Hola Hoy produces a free Spanish-language newspaper with wide distribution.
• The Chicago Reader, www.chicagoreader.com. The Reader is a free weekly newspaper distributed throughout the city each Wednesday. It includes extensive listings of arts, music, and events. Nobody knows more about Chicago than the Reader, but it's definitely oriented toward locals.
• Crain's Chicago Business, www.chicagobusiness.com. Crain's is a long-standing weekly newspaper covering the Chicago area business community, with a dash of politics and lifestyle — definitely worth a look if you're in town on business.
• New City, www.newcitychicago.com/chicago. New City is a free weekly alternative arts and entertainment magazine, distributed every Wednesday. Event listings and local content are skimpy, but it is free.
• Time Out Chicago, www.timeoutchicago.com. Time Out produces a weekly magazine available at most newsstands and bookstores. Its listings for events, bars, and restaurants are by far the most comprehensive and easiest to use for visitors to the city.

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