Winds of change.

Competition sweeps through Chicago as the staff of one gay paper quits to form another

It was bitter, ugly, and public, but in the end the sudden exodus of 13 staffers from Chicago's Windy City Times to start a competing gay weekly could mean a stronger and more diverse Chicago gay media market.

That's the hope after the Windy City Times employees--citing a "consistent and stunning" lack of professionalism on the part of their editor and publisher, Jeffrey McCourt--offered their resignations August 3, leaving McCourt with no notice and virtually no staff.

The departure had secretly been in the works for months as staffers first contemplated ways to buy Windy City Times from McCourt but then opted to form a new gay weekly, the Chicago Free Press. McCourt calls the failure of his employees to give him notice "one of the saddest displays of unprofessionalism I've ever seen." But those who have left insist it was their only choice.

The former Windy City Times staffers concede that McCourt did pay them some of the highest gay-press salaries in the country, but they contend that he often paid late. "I know it looks bad to leave in that way," says Louis Weisberg, former metro news editor at the Windy City Times and now editor in chief at the Chicago Free Press. "But we knew that we wouldn't have been paid if we had given him two weeks.... We felt we had hit a creative and professional wall with Jeff, and we wanted to create a new, vibrant gay paper--one that Chicago could be proud of." (Weisberg and Chicago Free Press managing editor Lisa Neff have written for The Advocate.)

Two days after the exodus, McCourt issued a press release stating that "reports of Windy City Times' demise are greatly exaggerated." One day later he said he had filled ten of the 13 vacated positions.

"As sad and angry as I was by the actions of my former staff, in a way I feel rejuvenated and proud, and I've been overcome by the number of talented journalists who have recently decided to become a part of this team," he says. "The Windy City Times will continue to operate, and it will be better than ever."

The first issue of the Chicago Free Press was scheduled to hit stands August 25. Backed by local businessman Jerry Matustik of the Novus Publishing Group, the paper, editors say, will have an initial press run of 26,000 and will feature news, commentary, satire, entertainment, and a lively nightlife section.

Neff, former national news editor at the Windy City Times, says the paper will have "a broad perspective that tries to serve the needs of a diverse gay and lesbian community." Weisberg adds that they will target women, minorities, youth, and suburban readers, "not just upscale white males."

While McCourt and Weisberg each say they feel sorry for the past actions of the other, they both say they welcome the competition.

Denizet-Lewis is a features writer at the San Francisco Chronicle.