The ''Chicago Metro News'' was a weekly

African American newspaper African-American newspapers (also known as the Black press or Black newspapers) are news publications in the United States serving African-American communities. Samuel Cornish and John Brown Russwurm started the first African-American periodi ...

serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Published in

Harvey Harvey, Harveys or Harvey's may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Harvey'' (play), a 1944 play by Mary Chase about a man befriended by an invisible anthropomorphic rabbit * Harvey Awards ("Harveys"), one of the most important awards ...

, it was known initially as the ''South Suburban News'', then from 1968 to 1972 as the ''Chicago-South Suburban News'', and thereafter as the ''Chicago Metro News''. In the 1980s the paper claimed an audited circulation of 79,000. It billed itself as the "Largest Black Oriented Weekly Circulated in Chicago Area." The founder and original publisher of the ''Metro News'' was Charles B. Armstrong, Sr., a political activist, educator, and former advertising manager for the Chicago affiliate of the ''

Pittsburgh Courier The ''Pittsburgh Courier'' was an African-American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1907 until October 22, 1966. By the 1930s, the ''Courier'' was one of the leading black newspapers in the United States. It was acqu ...

''. Armstrong published the first issue of twelve pages In Harvey on November 13, 1965. In November 1972 he moved the paper from Harvey to the Prairie Place Professional Building at 2600 S. Michigan, and changed the name from ''Chicago South Suburban News'' to ''Chicago Metro News''. Armstrong was aligned with the Republican Party, and served as a regional director of Nixon's Committee to Re-Elect the President in 1972. He supported Cecil Partee for attorney general in 1976 and was a strong backer of

Harold Washington Harold Lee Washington (April 15, 1922 – November 25, 1987) was an American lawyer and politician who was the 51st Mayor of Chicago. Washington became the first African American to be elected as the city's mayor in April 1983. He served as ma ...

's mayoral campaign. He clashed with

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...

, criticizing his boycott of

Anheuser Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple glo ...

and accusing him of attempting to shake down Black organizations. However, Armstrong declined to endorse Ronald Reagan for a second term in 1984 and endorsed Jackson's presidential campaign instead. In March 1985, Armstrong was fatally shot at the newspaper office by a former boyfriend of Armstrong's daughter. The ''Chicago Metro News'' shut down in May 1991, having not produced an issue since December 1990.

References

{{African American press 1965 establishments in Illinois 1991 disestablishments in Illinois African-American history in Chicago Defunct African-American newspapers

Metro News Metro International is a Swedish global media company based in Luxembourg that publishes the ''Metro'' newspapers. Metro International's advertising sales have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 41 percent since launch of the first news ...

Newspapers established in 1965 Publications disestablished in 1991