In Chicago, 'Fluff' Courts Young Set

By: Jennifer Saba The elusive young adult: You can't blame the Chicago Sun-Times for trying to capture this fickle and decidedly no-newsprint-for-me audience with its Sunday supplement Fluff. Try as the Sun-Times might, though, Fluff is still light, and not just the content: Since the magazine's launch at the end of July, so far it's had only a couple of ads. But not everything is judged by ad count.

A recap: To boost its Sunday circulation and content, the Sun-Times launched its own version of Us Weekly along with a more serious broadsheet standalone called Controversy. Sun-Times Editor in Chief John Barron sums the products up as "the alpha and the omega of journalism ? from the sublime to the ridiculous." Fluff (the ridiculous) is heavy on celeb photography with short, mouthy copy. Controversy (the sublime) is the Sun-Times analysis section, which houses Op-Ed and book reviews. "It's meant to be pure added content," Barron says of the two products. In other words, their fate is not determined by ad count ? though ads are nice: "We're real happy. They are a terrific one-two punch."

Fluff Editor Deborah Douglas is thrilled to be working on a publication that's not advertising-driven, a rare occurrence these days. "It's the best thing to happen to an editor," she says. "A product that's built for reader service."