By: Jennifer Saba When John Cruickshank, publisher of the Chicago Sun-Times, was looking to raise the price of the newspaper, he noticed some fishy things going on in the circulation department. "I knew there was a problem and I was uneasy about what I was hearing," Cruickshank told E&P on Friday. "In early April when I wanted to [implement] a price increase, I found out."
Cruickshank, who replaced Conrad Black confidant David Radler as publisher in November, started doing his own investigation, eventually unearthing that the circ numbers had been inflated. The Chicago Tribune reported that the numbers were off by 25%, though Cruickshank refutes that high a figure.
Executives are at the starting point of their internal investigation and details will not be available until the review has been completed. Cruickshank did say, however, that the circ problems have been going on for several years.
Cruickshank, who was editor of the Sun-Times before becoming publisher, denied knowing what was going on in the circulation department while he was on the editorial side of the house.
"We're going to work through this review," he said, adding that he was getting full support from owner Hollinger International. "When things get tough all we can do is communicate, communicate, communicate."
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