Tribune Publishing names all editors as publishers, too

In this Monday, Oct. 5, 2015, file photo, pedestrians walk past the Los Angeles Times building in downtown Los Angeles. Tribune Publishing announced Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016, that the company is getting a $44.4 million cash boost from investor Michael W. Ferro Jr., chairman and CEO of Chicago’s Merrick Media, who will become the nonexecutive chairman of the company that owns the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel, File)

CHICAGO — A week after naming a new CEO, Tribune Publishing is shaking up its leadership structure by combining the role of editor-in-chief and publisher at its papers.

The Tribune also says that Chairman Michael W. Ferro has donated his stake in the Chicago Tribune’s rival, the Chicago Sun-Times, to a charitable trust. Tribune Publishing CFO Sandra Martin said that will “create a very clear separation of ownership and avoid perceived conflicts of interest.”

A spokesman for Sun-Times owner Wrapports said the company didn’t immediately have a comment.

Tribune Publishing Co. on Wednesday also said it will start offering print subscribers free unlimited access to digital content by April.

The dual publisher and editor positions are at the Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times, The Baltimore Sun and Tribune Publishing’s other newspapers. TVJ