The greater problem is that the Web has expanded the Sun-Times‘s competition from a few sources to millions. Not just in terms of indirect competition–in the past, a Chicagoan like me wouldn’t be choosing to devote five minutes of my time between QT and if charlie parker was a gunslinger, there’d be a whole lot of dead copycats–but also in terms of direct competition. Not only do Jay Mariotti and Rick Telander have to compete against Sam Smith and Rick Morrissey, they have to compete against Deadspin, Free Darko, Chauncey Billups (well, not anymore, unfortunately), John Hollinger, and others. Lynn Sweet, who Rhodes calls “a one-woman Washington bureau,” has to not only compete against the papers that a Chicagoan might have otherwise plausibly subscribed to (WSJ, WaPo, NYT), she has to compete against the Politico, Talking Points Memo, and thousands of other sources. I agree with Rhodes in that she’s very good, but that’s a tall order.
