Tarting Up the Sun-Times: What Do You Think?

What do you think of the new-look, new-attitude Chicago Sun-Times?

South Siders and south suburban residents have long been loyal to the feisty city paper for its City Hall and politics coverage, columnists and pro sports report. For decades, it's been a part of our reading habit.

Last week, new ownership took the beleaguered paper — which has suffered through criminal owners, layoffs, bankruptcy, layoffs, mismanagement, layoffs, outsourcing and layoffs — in a new direction. Media-scene observers say its bid to tart itself up and go "downmarket" as a sensationalist tabloid is taking the paper right into the gutter with "if it bleeds, it leads" headlines and an overdose of celebrity fluff.

Says Sun-Times alum Robert Feder in his Time Out Chicago blog:

The paper of Roger Ebert and five other Pulitzer Prize winners is morphing into a garish, down-market tabloid that seems to be edited for people with teeny-tiny attention spans who prefer headlines to be written IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS.

On the flip side, others see the new owners as saviors. Their new New York-style tabloid look and focus debuted last week.

What do you think? Do you like where the paper is headed? Do you think it's fresh, lively and something work talking about? Or is it so distasteful you wouldn't even let your dog wet on it? Let's talk about this. Vote and post a comment.