City Pages

City Pages was an alternative newspaper serving the Minneapolis–St. Paul metropolitan area. It featured news, film, theatre and restaurant reviews and music criticism, available free every Wednesday. It ceased publication in 2020 due to a decline in ads and revenue related to the COVID-19 pandemic.[1][2]

City Pages
June 27, 2007 front page of City Pages
TypeAlternative weekly
FormatTabloid
Owner(s)The Star Tribune Company
PublisherMary Erickson
EditorEmily Cassel
Founded1979
Ceased publication2020
Headquarters650 Third Ave. S. Suite 1300
Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402
United States
ISSN0744-0456
Websitecitypages.com

History

On August 1, 1979, publishers Tom Bartel and Kristin Henning debuted Sweet Potato, a monthly newspaper focused on the Twin Cities music scene. The first issue featured pop band The Cars on the cover. In October 1980, Sweet Potato went biweekly. On December 3, 1981, the newspaper went weekly and was renamed City Pages. City Pages competed for readership with the Twin Cities Reader until 1997, when Stern Publishing purchased City Pages in March and the Twin Cities Reader the following day, shuttering it immediately. Bartel and Henning left City Pages in the fall of 1997. Tom Bartel's brother Mark was named publisher after Bartel and Henning's departure. City Pages was one of seven alternative weeklies owned by Stern, including the Village Voice. On October 24, 2005, New Times Media announced a deal to acquire Village Voice Media, creating a chain of 17 (now 16) free weekly newspapers around the country with a combined circulation of 1.8 million and controlling a quarter of the weekly circulation of alternative weekly newspapers in North America. After the deal's completion, New Times took the Village Voice Media name. In September 2012, Village Voice Media executives Scott Tobias, Christine Brennan and Jeff Mars bought Village Voice Media's papers and associated web properties from its founders and formed Voice Media Group.[3]

Web editor Jeff Shaw, food columnist Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl, staff writers Jonathan Kaminsky and Jeff Severns Guntzel, among others, left in 2008.[4] On May 6, 2015, City Pages was sold to Star Tribune Media Co., publisher of the Minneapolis daily newspaper of the same name. Following the sale, Star Tribune Media Co. ceased publication of its competing publication, Vita.mn.[5]

On October 28, 2020, owner Star Tribune Media Co. said it would cease publication of City Pages immediately. The company said it could no longer sustain the newspaper after the coronavirus outbreak forced closings and downsizings of the events, nightclubs, bars and restaurants that were its chief advertisers and financial base.[1]

Notable alumni

Criticism

The publication has been criticized by Minneapolis City Council member Alondra Cano, who called a story about her "racist" and "sexist."[10] In her 2015 memoir, musician Carrie Brownstein asserted sexism in the paper's music coverage in the '90s, citing City Pages among "a representative sample of journalism about Sleater-Kinney. Most of these articles are actually trying to be complementary — the authors just fell into common traps and assumptions."[11] In a 2016 interview with Vice, musician Har Mar Superstar criticized the paper for "trivializing my art by mentioning that I'm overweight and bald for no reason," saying the paper exhibited "really horrible writing and I guess bitter people."[12]

See also

References
  1. Ramstad, Evan. "City Pages is closing, ending the era of alternative weeklies in Twin Cities". Star Tribune. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  2. "City Pages to permanently end operations". kare11.com. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  3. "Village Voice Media Execs Acquire The Company's Famed Alt Weeklies, Form New Holding Company". Tech Crunch. 24 September 2012. Retrieved 27 September 2012.
  4. Schmelzer, Paul (September 10, 2008). "More altweekly exits: Shaw, Kaminsky to depart from City Pages". The Minnesota Independent. Retrieved 2008-09-10.
  5. "Star Tribune makes deal to buy alt-weekly City Pages". Star Tribune.
  6. Smith, Matt. "Running with Diablo - City Pages". City Pages.
  7. Thompson, Erik. "Will Hermes in Minneapolis to read from 'Love Goes To Buildings On Fire' - City Pages". City Pages.
  8. "Jessica Hopper is the new editor of Pitchfork's print magazine". Poynter. 22 October 2014.
  9. Summers, Joy. "Dara Moskowitz Grumdahl adds a new gig - City Pages". City Pages.
  10. Mullen, Mike. "Alondra Cano responds to 'racist, sexist' City Pages story | City Pages". City Pages. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  11. Boller, Jay. "New Carrie Brownstein memoir cites City Pages' sexist writing | City Pages". City Pages. Retrieved 2016-09-09.
  12. "Har Mar Superstar: "It Amazes Me How Much People Expect Musicians to be Waifs" | NOISEY". Retrieved 2016-09-09.
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