Tribune to sell advertisements on page one

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

CHICAGO (AP) - The Chicago Tribune will join others in the struggling newspaper industry in selling front-page advertisements, a spokesman for the daily said Monday.

The Tribune also will run the 1 1/2-inch strip ads on the front of its sports and Tempo sections as part of an effort to generate more revenue, spokesman Mike Dizon said.

He said the ads will be inobtrusive and emphasized that the news will continue to be edited and presented independent of the advertising.

It's not yet known when the ads will begin.

The move follows similar actions by other major newspapers - including Dow Jones and Co.'s Wall Street Journal, Gannet Co.'s USA Today and Pearson PLC's Financial Times - that already print ads on the front page.

The only larger Tribune Co. newspaper, the Los Angeles Times, told its employees last week that it, too, is considering selling front-page strip ads as a way to boost revenue. The Times began selling ads on the front pages of its business, calendar, sports and travel sections last fall. They sometime appear as a banner running along the bottom of the page.