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
Ads From the Past: December 6, 1974
What happens when an activist accuses a Tribune reporter of being a police spy “Peter Nickeas is a Tribune reporter recently accused of informing on protesters to the police. Monica Trinidad is the activist who publicly accused him. Jerry Boyle is the Chicago attorney who put the idea in her head. And I’m the media … Read more
Before #BlackLivesMatter, there was Gordon Parks and Ralph Ellison
This week’s cover story: Profiles Theatre actors and crew members break their two-decade-long silence about mistreatment at the acclaimed storefront theater, in the hopes of protecting workers in non-Equity theaters nationwide.
Liz Phair, Steve Albini & Me: The True Story of 1993, the Greatest Goddamn Year in Chicago Rock History Bill Wyman on the context of the “three pandering sluts” Steve Albini letter controversy in the Chicago Reader