Chicago Reader, my former colleagues, and I won the 2023 AAN Award for Special Section
First Place: Chicago Reader – “The People Issue (Volume 52, Number 3)”
Chicago Reader
The Chicago Reader, published since October 1971, has long been one of America’s preeminent alternative newspapers, having helped define the alt weekly format with its free cover price and thoughtful, often long-form, writing and literary journalism, as well as in-depth coverage of arts and culture, film, music, and food and drink supported by local advertising.
There have been electronic and digital companion products to the print Chicago Reader since 1995, beginning with the SpaceFinder faxback apartment classified ads, voice telephone Matches personal ads, and early website.
The Chicago Reader has been part of the nonprofit news organization the Reader Institute for Community Journalism since January 2023.
I worked at the Chicago Reader from October 1996 to early 2023, as Director of Digital from 2014.
Website: chicagoreader.com
Related tags: Chicago, newspapers, journalism websites, journalism, business models, John Dunlevy, Association of Alternative Newsmedia
WHPK funding crisis
J.R. Nelson and Leor Galil in yesterday’s “Gossip Wolf” column: In April, the student-run Program Coordinating Council, which allocates student government money every year, gave WHPK $20,600 for its next annual budget—about 35 percent of its $57,490 request. … This year the council covered only operating costs, so WHPK needs help—it wants the university to … Read more
From the archives: A roundup of old “Did you read” blog posts
I’ve gone back and gathered links to old Chicago Reader “Did You Read __________?” blog posts that I contributed items to from 2012 to 2016. These posts were all “authored” by “Reader staff” with attibution to the individual contributors appearing in the body text next to their contributed items. So like some other things with … Read more
The People Issue 2022 – Chicago Reader
The People Issue 2022 – Chicago Reader There’s a lot of great writing here in this, the return of The People Issue to the Chicago Reader after a break since the 2016 People Issue. I did a lot of work on the online formatting and navigation for this one—with a lot of trial and error … Read more
The resurgence of magic in Chicago is no illusion
The resurgence of magic in Chicago is no illusion chicago-reader: Once all but disappeared, magic is making a bewitching comeback in Chicago. Read about the glorious past and promising present of illusion in this week’s Magic Issue!