Among hundreds of Chicago non-traditional news sites, Windy City Media Group ( WCMG ) was ranked second according to a Chicago Community Trust report issued in June. WCMG was the top-ranked LGBT news site, and the only one in the 60 top sites ranked. WCMG is publisher of Windy City Times and Nightspots, and also produces WindyCityQueercast.com and QueerTVNetwork.com
The report, commissioned by The Chicago Community Trust, surveyed media professionals and users across the Chicago area, and used a complex rating system based on several self-reported statistics, third-party rankings, and a qualitative assessment by Community Media Workshop ( CMW ) .
Several mainstream media sites, for example the Tribune, Sun-Times and TV sites, were not included, but Web sites for NPR, the Chicago Reader and other independent and online-only media were included.
The following is how CMW ranked the top 20:
—1: Chi-Town Daily News
—2: Windy City Media Group
—3: Gapers Block
—4: Progress Illinois
—5: Windy Citizen
—6: WBEZ Chicago Public Radio
—7: Chicago Parent
—8: Catalyst Chicago
—9: Chicagoist
—10: Midwest Business
—11: CTA Tattler
—12: The Beachwood Reporter
—13: Newcity
—14: The Chicago Defender
—15: District 299
—16: The Chicago Reporter
—17: The Urbanaphile
—18: Chicago Carless
—19: 600 Words by Esther J. Cepeda
—20: Marathon Pundit
This announcement comes just weeks after The Chicago Reader named Windy City Times the "Best GLBT news source in Chicago" and days after the completion of WCMG's 7th annual Windy City Gay Idol promotion with over 1,000 attending semifinals and finals competitions.
Windy City Times is online at www.windycitymediagroup.com . See www.communitymediaworkshop.org or www.newstips.org .