Judge Approves Sale Of Chicago Defender Newspaper

Jet, August 7, 2000

A Chicago judge ruled that the grandchildren of the Chicago Defender owner must sell the historic newspaper.

The order by Cook County Judge Bernetta Bush ends a three-year family struggle to retain control of the 95-year-old Black daily newspaper.

Judge Bush approved the commitment letter to sell the newspaper in excess of $14 million to PublicMedia Works, which is headed by Curt Cherry and David Milliner.

The sale includes the Defender's sister publications: the Michigan Chronicle, the Memphis Tri-State Defender and the Pittsburgh Courier.

Judge Bush said she was sensitive to the grandchildren's wish to be part of the Defender's future and suggested that PublicMedia Works allow the beneficiaries to have some equity position in the paper. However, the judge's suggestion was rejected, according to a front page story in the Chicago Defender written by Chinta Strausberg.

By October, the newspaper's new management should be in place, according to the Defender story.

Bobby Sengstacke, the son of the late owner, John H. H. Sengstacke, told the Defender: "It's a sad moment for me because it was never my desire to see the company lose the family ownership, Sengstacke Enterprise. I am not surprised at the ruling. For the last year, the efforts to keep it in the family were not adequate. It's not a joyous occasion. It is sad."

The owner's granddaughter, Myiti Sengstacke, made a gallant effort to retain family control of her grandfather's paper, said James H. Lowry, who had served as the court-appointed trustee in the matter.

Lowry told the newspaper of the family's desire to be a part of the paper's future. "It's unfortunate from the traditional point of view. It would have been great. They did allow a member of the family to serve on the board for a minimum of five years."

The Defender has been undergoing transition since the 1997 death of Frederick Sengstacke's brother, John H. H. Sengstacke, who assumed control of the Black daily newspaper following the 1940 death of founder Robert S. Abbott.