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30-659: The Stranger is an alternative news and commentary publication in Seattle, Washington , U.S. It has a progressive orientation and was founded in 1991. The paper's principal competitor was the Seattle Weekly until the Weekly ceased print publication in 2019. Originally published weekly , The Stranger became biweekly in 2017 and suspended print publication during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, resuming publication of

60-492: A competitor to Village Voice Media's LA Weekly , and Village Voice Media ceased publishing Cleveland Free Times , a competitor to New Times Media's Cleveland Scene . The US Justice Department launched an antitrust investigation into the agreement. The case was settled out of court with the two companies agreeing to make available the publishing assets and titles of their defunct papers to potential competitors. The Cleveland Free Times recommenced publication in 2003 under

90-1131: A different business model than daily papers. Most alternative papers, such as The Stranger , the Houston Press , SF Weekly , the Village Voice , the New York Press , the Metro Times , the LA Weekly , the Boise Weekly and the Long Island Press , have been free, earning revenue through the sale of advertising space. They sometimes include ads for adult entertainment, such as adult bookstores and strip clubs , which are prohibited in many mainstream daily newspapers. They usually include comprehensive classified and personal ad sections and event listings as well. Many alternative papers feature an annual "best of" issue, profiling businesses that readers voted

120-522: A favorable review for a restaurant that hadn't yet opened, a bid for mayor, and a cover featuring him wearing women's underwear, dollops of whipped cream, and a hard hat. Shrill , a television series based on Seattle-based writer Lindy West ’s memoir and essay collection of the same name, was inspired by The Stranger and Portland Mercury and starred actress Aidy Bryant . The paper has also published articles and columns written by Chuck Palahniuk and Dan Savage . Portland Mercury' s print edition

150-617: A quarterly arts magazine in March 2023. It also publishes online content. The Stranger was founded in July 1991 by Tim Keck , who had previously co-founded the satirical newspaper The Onion , and cartoonist James Sturm . Its first issue was produced out of a home in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood and was released on September 23, 1991. The newspaper's title reflected the fact that Keck had almost no connection to Seattle prior to launching

180-552: A quarterly arts magazine, while regular editions remain suspended. In July 2024, the paper and the related Portland Mercury were sold by Index Media to Noisy Creek, a Seattle-headquartered media company founded by former Grist CEO and state legislator Brady Walkinshaw . Index Media retained a 20 percent stake in the newspaper, while Walkinshaw had the largest share of the "about 20" individual investors in Noisy Creek. Former Rolling Stone editor Hannah Murphy Winter

210-493: A wad of coupons redeemable at local businesses. Dan Savage was the Stranger 's editor-in-chief from April 4, 2001, to September 2007. Associated with the paper since its inception, he made a national reputation writing the paper's sarcastic and sometimes inflammatory sex advice column , " Savage Love ", which has since appeared in every issue of The Stranger . Savage became the paper's editorial director in 2007, and

240-620: Is a contingent of conservative and libertarian alt-weeklies. Styles vary sharply among alternative newspapers; some affect a satirical, ironic tone, while others embrace a more straightforward approach to reporting. Columns commonly syndicated to alternative weeklies include " The Straight Dope ", Dan Savage 's " Savage Love ", Rob Breszny's " Free Will Astrology ", and Ben Tausig 's crossword puzzle "Ink Well." Quirky, non-mainstream comics , such as Matt Groening 's Life in Hell , Lynda Barry 's Ernie Pook's Comeek , Ruben Bolling 's Tom

270-960: The Aquarian Weekly in North Jersey , the Colorado Springs Independent , the Good Times in Santa Cruz , California, New Times in San Luis Obispo and the Sun in Northern Santa Barbara County , California. Canadian examples of owner-operated, non-chain owned alternative papers include Vancouver's The Georgia Straight , Toronto's NOW Magazine , Edmonton's Vue Weekly and Halifax's The Coast . Examples outside

300-758: The Hartford Advocate and New Haven Advocate . Creative Loafing , originally only an Atlanta -based alternative weekly, grew into Creative Loafing, Inc. which owned papers in three other southern U.S. cities , as well as the Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper . Village Voice Media and New Times Media merged in 2006; before that, they were the two largest chains. The pre-merger Village Voice Media, an outgrowth of New York City's Village Voice , included LA Weekly , OC Weekly , Seattle Weekly , Minneapolis City Pages , and Nashville Scene . New Times Media included at

330-1169: The Pacific Sun , the Bohemian in California's Sonoma and Napa counties, the San Diego Reader , Isthmus in Madison, Wisconsin , Flagpole Magazine in Athens, Georgia , the Boulder Weekly , Willamette Week in Portland, Oregon , Independent Weekly , Yes! Weekly , Creative Loafing , and Triad City Beat in North Carolina , the Austin Chronicle in Texas , The Stranger in Seattle, Washington , Artvoice in Buffalo, New York ,

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360-408: The COVID-19 pandemic , on March 13, 2020, The Stranger announced that, due to a dramatic decrease in income from loss of advertising revenue, it would suspend its print edition. COVID-19 triggered The Stranger to lay off eighteen of its employees, which reduced its writing department. A successful online fundraiser was then organized to keep The Stranger afloat. Printing resumed in March 2023 with

390-629: The Weekly has had non-local ownership since 1997). By 2015, the influence of the paper's endorsements in local elections, which reflect a left-leaning perspective was being felt. The Stranger made the transition to a biweekly format with its September 27, 2017, issue. It was redesigned to include longer feature stories and printed on heavier paper stock similar to magazines. The paper was distributed to local businesses, newsstands, and newspaper boxes free of charge every other Wednesday. The offices of The Stranger moved from Capitol Hill to Seattle's Chinatown–International District in 2020. In response to

420-665: The Dancing Bug , and Ted Rall 's political cartoons are also common. The Village Voice , based in New York City , was one of the first and best-known examples of the form. Since the Voice's demise in 2018, Marin County 's Pacific Sun , founded in 1963, is now the longest-running alternative weekly. The Association of Alternative Newsmedia is the alternative weeklies' trade association. The Alternative Weekly Network and

450-559: The Moore Theater. Alternative newspaper Most metropolitan areas of the United States and Canada are home to at least one alternative paper. These papers are generally found in such urban areas, although a few publish in smaller cities, in rural areas or exurban areas where they may be referred to as an alt monthly due to the less frequent publication schedule. Alternative papers have usually operated under

480-542: The Ruxton Group are national advertising sales representatives for alternative weeklies. Some alternative newspapers are independent. However, due in part to increasing concentration of media ownership , many have been bought or launched by larger media conglomerates . The Tribune Company , a multibillion-dollar company that owns the Chicago Tribune , owns four New England alternative weeklies, including

510-639: The United States and Canada include Barcelona's BCN Mes . Portland Mercury Portland Mercury is an alternative bi-weekly newspaper and media company founded in 2000 in Portland, Oregon . It has a sibling publication in Seattle, Washington , called The Stranger . A prior version of The Mercury was published from 1869 and into the 1930s. The current Portland Mercury launched in June 2000. The paper describes their readership as "affluent urbanites in their 20s and 30s." Its long-running rivalry with Willamette Week began before its first issue

540-515: The best of their type in the area. Often these papers send out certificates that the businesses hang on their wall or window. This further cements the paper's ties to local businesses. Alternative newspapers represent the more commercialized and mainstream evolution of the underground press associated with the 1960s counterculture . Their focus remains on arts and entertainment and social and political reportage. Editorial positions at alternative weeklies are predominantly left -leaning, though there

570-728: The creation of the Portland Phoenix . From 1992 through 2005, PM/GC owned and operated the Worcester Phoenix in Worcester, Massachusetts , but PM/GC folded that branch because of Worcester's dwindling art scene. Nonetheless, a number of owner-operated, non-chain owned alternative papers survive, among them Metro Silicon Valley in San Jose , Pittsburgh City Paper in Pittsburgh , Salt Lake City Weekly ,

600-427: The documentary Zoo (2007). Erica C. Barnett , who was an early news editor for the paper, was named reporter of the year in 2007 by Seattle's Municipal League. On April 16, 2012, The Stranger won a Pulitzer Prize in the "feature writing" category, for "The Bravest Woman in Seattle", by Eli Sanders described as "a haunting story of a woman who survived a brutal attack that took the life of her partner, using

630-430: The filmmaker Lynn Shelton , the writer Sherman Alexie , the poet Heather McHugh , the actress Sarah Rudinoff , the experimental-theater collective Implied Violence , Strawberry Theatre Workshop , the artist Jeffry Mitchell , and the artist Wynne Greenwood . A party and rock show for the winners is held every fall; past Stranger Genius Award parties have been held at the downtown public library, Seattle Art Museum, and

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660-417: The paper. In 1993, The Stranger relocated to Seattle's Capitol Hill district, where its offices remained until 2020. The Stranger's tagline is "Seattle's Only Newspaper" (a characterization alluding to its local ownership). In its early days, The Stranger had a print run of 20,000, and focused on Seattle's University District . It was originally distributed as a single sheet of newsprint wrapped around

690-515: The publication group Kildysart LLC, while the assets of New Times LA were sold to Southland Publishing and relaunched as LA CityBeat . On October 24, 2005, New Times Media announced a deal to acquire Village Voice Media, creating a chain of 17 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. The deal

720-448: The time of the merger Cleveland Scene , Dallas Observer , Westword , East Bay Express , New Times Broward-Palm Beach , Houston Press , The Pitch , Miami New Times , Phoenix New Times , SF Weekly and Riverfront Times . In 2003, the two companies entered into a non-competition agreement which stated that the two would not publish in the same market. Because of this, New Times Media eliminated New Times LA ,

750-523: The woman's brave courtroom testimony and the details of the crime to construct a moving narrative". The feature appeared in the June 15, 2011, edition. In 2014, columnist Jen Graves was a Pulitzer finalist for her criticism columns. From at least 2013 until July 2024, The Stranger was owned by the Seattle-based Index Newspapers; it has been described as distinguishing itself from the Weekly by its continuous local ownership (as

780-655: Was approved by the Justice Department and, on January 31, 2006, the companies merged into one, taking the name Village Voice Media. Phoenix Media/Communications Group , owner of the popular Boston alternative weekly the Boston Phoenix , expanded to Providence, Rhode Island in 1988 with their purchase of NewPaper , which was renamed the Providence Phoenix . In 1999, PM/CG expanded further through New England to Portland, Maine with

810-552: Was even printed when Willamette Week publisher Richard Meeker asked a Portland law firm to pay $ 10 to register the Mercury name with Oregon's Corporation Division, thus preventing it from being used for 120 days. As of 2020, the newspaper's revenue was almost entirely dependent on advertising and sales of tickets for events and concerts with nearly 95% of its revenue coming from advertisements. Former managing editor Phil Busse's controversial tenure included charges of plagiarism,

840-425: Was named editor in chief. Since 2003, in association with the cigarette company Lucky Strike , and later the antismoking arts organization Art Patch, the newspaper has awarded the annual Stranger Genius Awards to four Seattle-area individuals and one Seattle-area arts organization. Besides the recognition, each winner receives a $ 5000 cash award and a cake. Winners of the award include the filmmaker James Longley ,

870-404: Was published weekly until fall 2018 when it changed to bi-weekly beginning with the issue released on September 13, 2018. Its name as displayed on the nameplate was shortened to just Mercury as well. On March 14, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic , the paper temporarily suspended print publication and switched to online only. In addition, it laid off 10 employees, which comprised half of

900-474: Was replaced as editor-in-chief by Christopher Frizzelle at that time. Journalist Charles Mudede , the current associate editor, had his weekly Police Beat column loosely adapted into a film of the same name , directed by its co-writer, Robinson Devor . It received mostly positive reviews, and was released in American cinemas in 2006. Mudede would continue collaborating with Devor on future projects, such as

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