RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Joe Ricketts, the owner of DNAInfo and Gothamist, recently acted to close the news sites after the New York newsroom voted to unionize; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of this event by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, DNAInfo was founded in New York in 2010 and opened a second newsroom in Chicago in 2012; and
WHEREAS, DNAInfo's Chicago newsroom reported on crime, politics and business as well as quirky stories; and
WHEREAS, The hyper neighborhood-focused news organization later expanded to bureaus in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.; and
WHEREAS, Joe Rickets shuttered the website Chicagoist which DNAInfo purchased as part of its acquisition of Gothamist; and
WHEREAS, In announcing the closures, Joe Ricketts wrote in a memo that "businesses need to be economically successful if they are to endure" and he refused to publically disclose financial results from the private company; and
WHEREAS, The sweeping and sudden closures laid off 115 employees nationwide while sparking controversy in the journalism community; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago Headline Club, the City's largest journalism association, said in a statement that it was "heartbroken to learn that DNAInfo Chicago and Chicagoist have shut down," calling their departure "terrible news for journalism, Chicago and democracy at large"; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members of the Chicago City Council, assembled this fifteenth day of November, 2017, do hereby express our deep regret on the closure of these news sites and do hereby applaud the hard work and dedication demonstrated by the reporters and editors at DNAInfo Chicago, Gothamist and Chicagoist; and