As noted by Dave Diersen on GOP USA, Illinois Leader is dead. It has been on life support for a long time.
(Dave’s is a useful place if you want to read all of the articles about Republicans that Dave can find each morning. He’ll probably put you on his email list, if you ask him.)
Illinois Leader was launched by Dan Proft and Brian Timpone in mid-2002 while I was running for Governor as a Libertarian. It gave me fairer coverage than any other media source and had a vibrant discussion section.
The discussion section allowed anyone to start talking about a subject and, while requiring some policing, was “the” place to let other people know political gossip.
Having long ago run through its start-up money, it now owes tens of thousands of dollars.
It is doubtful that Proft ever earned any money directly from Illinois Leader, but he certainly became more respected among Chicago media types and, as a result, raised his public profile. He now is advising Steve Rauschenberger’s campaign for governor, Tony Peraica’s campaign for Cook County Board president, as well as being the approximately $90,000-a-year spokesman for Cicero
Capitol Fax Blog has now taken over the political gossip/news function. However, no one in cyberspace has so far stepped forward to replace the content on the conservative side of the political spectrum.