• by Ray Schultz , May 5, 2024

The Chicago Reader, an alternative nonprofit newspaper, is returning to weekly print production. The first weekly issue will be on June 5. 

The paper had reverted to a bi-weekly schedule in June 2020.  

The increased schedule reflects several imperatives. For one, “Chicago’s creative, civic, and cultural concerns don’t reproduce on a biweekly basis, nor do they circulate equitably from behind an online paywall,” writes Solomon Lieberman, CEO & Publisher of the Reader Institute for Community Journalism, which publishes the Reader.

Lieberman adds, “There is still great joy in picking up a paper. It packages the week in a way that a website can’t. We believe printed words and art remain a worthy public service that still have a role to play in the great American experiment that is diverse democracy." 

In addition, “there’s more money to be made,” Lieberman continues. “By publishing weekly we will become a 'paper of record' again, allowing us to accept public notices, a consistent stream of dollars that could alone cover the increased printing costs.” 

Finally, “several advertising partners – current, lapsed, and new – agree that a weekly cadence, combined with an upgraded digital program, better serves their needs,” Lieberman writes. 

Advertising will account for roughly half of the paper's $4.5 million budget, “not enough to run the Reader, but it doesn’t have to be,” Lieberman explains. “The other half comes from the tax-deductible donations we can now accept as a nonprofit.”