Chicago Metro News
{{Short description|Newspaper in Illinois}}
{{Infobox newspaper
| name = Chicago Metro News
| image =
| caption =
| type = Weekly newspaper
| format =
| foundation = 1965
| price =
| owners =
| publisher = Charles B. Armstrong, Sr.; Ruth Armstrong
| editor = Nathaniel Clay; Ruth Armstrong
| language = English
| political = Republican Party
| circulation = 79,000
| circulation_date = 1985
| headquarters = 2600 S. Michigan Avenue, Chicago
| oclc = 10448791
| issn = 2638-9134
}}
The Chicago Metro News was a weekly African American newspaper serving the Chicago metropolitan area. Published in Harvey, it was known initially as the South Suburban News,{{cite web | url = https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84025896 | title = South Suburban News (Harvey, Ill.) 1966-1968 | publisher = Library of Congress | access-date = 2023-06-12}} then from 1968 to 1972 as the Chicago-South Suburban News,{{Cite web | url = https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84025897 | access-date = 2023-06-12 | title = Chicago-South Suburban News (Harvey, Ill.) 1968-1972 | publisher = Library of Congress}} and thereafter as the Chicago Metro News.{{Cite web | url = https://www.loc.gov/item/sn84024069 | publisher = Library of Congress | title = Chicago Metro News (Chicago, Ill.) 1972-Current | access-date = 2023-06-12}} In the 1980s the paper claimed an audited circulation of 79,000.{{Cite news | url = https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-03-28-8501170685-story.html | date = 1985-03-28 | title = Slain News Publisher Charles Armstrong Sr. | author-first = Kenan | author-last = Heise | access-date = 2023-06-11 }} It billed itself as the "Largest Black Oriented Weekly Circulated in Chicago Area."{{Cite book
|editor-last=Danky
|editor-first=James Philip
|editor2-last=Hady
|editor2-first=Maureen E.
|year=1998
|title=African-American newspapers and periodicals : a national bibliography
|publisher=Harvard University Press
|isbn=9780674007888
|url=https://archive.org/details/africanamericanne00dank
|page=147
}}
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. Armstrong published the first issue of twelve pages In Harvey on November 13, 1965.{{Cite news | via = GenealogyBank | newspaper = Chicago Metro News | title = Chicago Metro News -- 16 Years Strong | date = 1981-11-14 | page = 13 | url = https://www.genealogybank.com/newspaper-clippings//rlmbnwescnubmlijiawdwimxtkawicyv_wma-gateway006_1686550856700 }} 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{{Cite news | title = Metro News choices | newspaper = Chicago Tribune | date = 1976-10-22 | url = https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-metro-news-choices-chic/126266703/ | via = Newspapers.com }} and was a strong backer of Harold Washington's mayoral campaign. He clashed with Jesse Jackson, criticizing his boycott of Anheuser Busch and accusing him of attempting to shake down Black organizations.{{Cite news | title = Inc. | author-first = Aaron | author-last = Gold | author2-first = Michael | author2-last = Sneed | newspaper = Chicago Tribune | date = 1982-08-12 | url = https://www.newspapers.com/article/chicago-tribune-inc-aaron-gold-micha/126266617/ | via = Newspapers.com}} However, Armstrong declined to endorse Ronald Reagan for a second term in 1984 and endorsed Jackson's presidential campaign instead.{{Cite news | magazine = Black Enterprise | date = August 1984 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=u18EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA68 | page = 68 | title = Black Republicans: Do They Have The Inside Track to Political Power and Financial Success? | author-first = Victoria | author-last = Everett}}
In March 1985, Armstrong was fatally shot at the newspaper office by a former boyfriend of Armstrong's daughter.{{Cite news | magazine = Jet | date = 1985-04-08 | title = Chicago Publisher Fatally Shot, And His Son Wounded | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8rADAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA11 | page = 11}}
The Chicago Metro News shut down in May 1991, having not produced an issue since December 1990.{{Cite news | newspaper = The Chicago Reporter | title = Chicago Metro News Shuts Down After 25 Years | date = June 1991}}