The Nose, of Portland, OR’s Willamette Week, notes that alternative weeklies are “running scared,” based upon his experiences at this year’s Association of Alternative Newsweeklies meeting in Madison, WI. Ad revenue is down and the pressure to mainstream and corporatize is strong.
In a related note, Dayton, OH’s alternative weekly, the Impact Weekly, might be on its last legs. According to the Dayton Daily News, staffers at the paper haven’t been paid since May 1, and this week’s issue may be its last. The Impact’s owner, Yesse Communications, used to own Champaign-Urbana’s weekly, formerly known as the Octopus. Yesse has also shut down weeklies in Iowa City and Bloomington, IA — two other small midwestern university cities.
I say the alternative weeklies are–with a few exceptions–becoming less… alternative. And still many aren’t surviving. Is it just the downturn in ad revenue, or is there something deeper at work?
(both links via Romenesko’s Media News)
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