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84-581: Creative Loafing began as a family-owned business in 1972 by Deborah and Chick Eason, expanding to other cities in the Southern United States in the late 1980s and 1990s. In 2007 it doubled its circulation with the purchase of the Chicago Reader and Washington City Paper ; the $ 40 million debt it incurred, along with an economic recession , forced the company into bankruptcy one year later. The parent company, Creative Loafing, Inc.

168-461: A "tattooed, twenty-seven-year-old stripper" writing a late-night party column. "The feeling was the Reader had to be reinvented ... and change its character." After being owned by the same four founders since 1971, ownership of the Reader changed several times between 2007 and 2018. The precipitous decline in profits from 2004 to 2006 prompted owner-founder Tom Rehwaldt to file a lawsuit against

252-533: A bid of $ 2.3 million, and with the change in ownership, Ben Eason was removed as CEO. Over the next two years, 2010–2011, Atalaya sold Creative Loafing's remaining mid-market papers. The first to be sold was Creative Loafing Sarasota , which was shuttered in December 2010, with its brand sold for an undisclosed sum to The New York Times Company , then-publisher of the competing Sarasota Herald-Tribune . The Herald-Tribune published its own free weekly product under

336-474: A debilitating public dispute between publisher Tracy Baim and then-editor in chief Karen Hawkins on one side, and co-owner Leonard Goodman on the other, in 2021 and 2022. Goodman, who had submitted a semi-regular column for the Reader since he and Higginbottom acquired the newspaper, wrote one (edited by Hawkins) in November 2021 about his hesitancy to vaccinate his young daughter against COVID-19. After

420-588: A digital magazine with a focus on events, culture, local artists, bands, neighborhoods and local news. Chicago Reader The Chicago Reader , or Reader (stylized as ЯEADER ), is an American alternative newspaper in Chicago , Illinois, noted for its literary style of journalism and coverage of the arts, particularly film and theater. The Reader has been recognized as a pioneer among alternative weeklies for both its creative nonfiction and its commercial scheme. Richard Karpel, then-executive director of

504-402: A group from Ohio in 2018. In 2019, Creative Loafing contributed its archives to Georgia State University as part of a plan to digitize all the print editions going back its initial publication in 1972. In 2022, Creative Loafing published its last print edition - its 50th Anniversary edition. While the company has not ruled out doing special newspaper editions in the future, its commitment is to

588-631: A group of investors to purchase a controlling interest in the entire Creative Loafing chain, and subsequently brought the Planet papers into the fold. After a false start during which the May 31, 2006, edition of Tampa's Planet was prematurely published with a Creative Loafing banner, the Tampa paper officially reverted to its former name and the Sarasota paper became Creative Loafing Sarasota . Shortly after

672-760: A host of global businesses and brands serving auto dealers, manufacturers and financial institutions. Cox Media Group (CMG) is an integrated broadcasting, publishing, direct marketing and digital media company. In 2019, Cox Enterprises reached an agreement with Apollo Global Management to sell a majority interest in Cox Media Group's broadcast television stations, including the company's radio, newspaper, and TV properties in Ohio, and its local OTT advertising subsidiary – Gamut. Smart Media from Cox. based in New York. On February 10, 2020, Cox Enterprises bought back

756-762: A mini-empire with four papers in three states and purchased two heralded alt-weeklies— the Chicago Reader and the Washington City Paper —and The Straight Dope , a longtime Reader-syndicated column by Cecil Adams. Ben Eason, son of Deborah and Elton, purchased the Tampa paper from his parents in 1994 and changed its name to the Weekly Planet . In 1998 he expanded the paper and launched a second Weekly Planet in Sarasota, Florida. Two years later, in September 2000, he and his two sisters led

840-406: A new generation of young readers. "Alternative weeklies are expected to be eternally youthful", McClelland wrote. "The Reader is finding that a tough act to pull off as it approaches forty." He also suggested the Reader had grown complacent "because it was still raking in ad profits through the early 2000s" and its troubles were aggravated by a 2004 makeover that included "features on fashion" and

924-506: A print version. In February, 2017, Ben Eason re-purchased Creative Loafing in Atlanta and took the publication from a weekly to a monthly as part of a plan to take the company in a direction more compatible to the new digital publishing economy and bringing the content back to its roots publishing a comprehensive listing of Atlanta events. The Creative Loafing in Tampa, Florida , was sold to

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1008-537: A public high school basketball team for a full year. Published in two parts, a total of 40,000 words, it was reprinted in the anthology Best American Sportswriting 1993 . Contributor Lee Sandlin 's two-part 1997 essay, “Losing the War,” was later adapted for broadcast by the public radio show This American Life and it was anthologized in a 2007 collection, The New Kings of Nonfiction . The Reader has won 30 Alternative Newsweekly Awards since 1996. Another element of

1092-496: A robust page count, innovations in social media and reader engagement, and strong commitment from advertisers. " The Straight Dope ", by the pseudonymous Cecil Adams, was the Chicago Reader 's first weekly column and one of the first features to be widely syndicated in the alternative press, at one time appearing in 35 papers. It was started on 2 February 1973 by Michael Lenehan and later written by Dave Kehr. In 1978 it

1176-585: A short-lived TV series, produced by Andrew Rosen, on the A&;E Network; and a Web site , Straightdope.com, which was named one of PC Magazine 's Top 101 Web Sites and as of January 2010 was drawing nearly 1.2 million users per month. The Los Angeles Reader began publishing in 1978 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Chicago Reader, Inc. It was the first newspaper to publish Matt Groening 's comic strip Life in Hell and David Lynch 's strip The Angriest Dog in

1260-568: A single broadband network. Cox entered the automotive industry in 1965 with the purchase of Black Book . Three years later, Manheim was purchased by Cox as well. In the 1980s, Manheim acquired its first non-U.S. auction in Toronto, Canada , making Cox an international company. In 1997, Autotrader.com was founded revolutionizing the way people buy and sell used cars. In 2014, Cox Enterprises brought its automotive-related businesses (which by then included vAuto and NextGear Capital) together under

1344-415: A staff writer since the 1980s. Though the staff was much smaller than it was before the sale, many other key figures remained as of June 2010, including media critic Michael Miner, film critic J.R. Jones, arts reporter Deanna Isaacs, food writer Mike Sula, theater critic Albert Williams, and music writers Peter Margasak and Miles Raymer. In November 2009, James Warren , former managing editor for features at

1428-459: A total of $ 1.5 million, and the Cox Video unit has also acquired the rights to produce video adaptations of the magazines and exercise regulations of Joe Weider , which included Muscle & Fitness , Flex and Men's Fitness & Shape , and Peter Bieler acting as executive producer on tapes produced by Cox Video, which also served as executive vice president of the studio, and the company

1512-472: A trial run of a monthly magazine called P-s-s-t . . . A Guide to Creative Loafing in Atlanta , the Easons decided to launch a weekly free publication titled simply Creative Loafing. The four-person editorial staff operated out of the living and dining rooms of the Easons' Morningside home; the darkroom was in the basement. The print run of the first edition—all of eight pages—was 12,000 copies. Creative Loafing

1596-406: A weekly print schedule. The Reader was designed to serve young readers, mostly singles in their 20s, who in the early 1970s lived in distinct neighborhoods along Chicago's lakefront, such as Hyde Park , Lincoln Park , and Lake View . Later this demographic group moved west, to neighborhoods like Wicker Park , Bucktown , and Logan Square , and the Reader moved with them. The paper's appeal

1680-538: Is planning on to do regular releases that sometimes make use of the magazine's names and will be positioned as companions to Wieder's widely-distributed equipment, and the MHE comedies ranked at the $ 100,000 range and the Fox Hills tapes ranked at the $ 100,000 range. Over the ensuing decades, Cox made pioneering investments and became the first company to bundle telephone, highspeed internet and digital cable television over

1764-662: Is the name of the Publishing Company that owns Creative Loafing. Creative Loafing, LLC purchased the assets of Creative Loafing Atlanta from SouthComm in February 2017, which put the paper back into the Eason Family's hands. Other newspapers the company published over its 40-year history included: Deborah Eason, a photographer for Delta Air Lines, and Elton "Chick" Eason, a math professor at Georgia State University , founded Creative Loafing Atlanta in 1972 after

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1848-511: The Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago Reader from Wrapports, beating out Chicago-based publishing company Tronc for ownership. Effective October 1, 2018, Sun-Times Media sold the Reader to a private investment group, which formed an L3C to make the purchase. The major investors were Chicagoans Elzie Higginbottom and Leonard Goodman. Tracy Baim was named publisher and Anne Elizabeth Moore editor. Moore's tenure as editor

1932-531: The Association of Alternative Newsweeklies , wrote: [T]he most significant historical event in the creation of the modern alt-weekly occurred in Chicago in 1971, when the Chicago Reader pioneered the practice of free circulation, a cornerstone of today's alternative papers. The Reader also developed a new kind of journalism, ignoring the news and focusing on everyday life and ordinary people. The Reader

2016-483: The Chicago Reader invested in the Washington paper in 1982 and eventually controlled 100 percent of the stock. In 2007, they sold their interest in both papers to Creative Loafing, Inc. The Reader's Guide to Arts & Entertainment was published as a suburban extension of the Chicago Reader in 1996. Before then, the Reader had avoided distribution in all but the closest suburbs of Chicago. The Reader's Guide

2100-492: The Chicago Reader . Although Holman briefly owned shares in the Chicago paper, none of the Chicago owners had an interest in the San Diego paper. Holman used the Reader format and nameplate with the blessings of his friends in Chicago. Various other Reader s have been published, but the San Diego and Los Angeles papers are the only ones affiliated with the Chicago Reader . In the late 1970s, Chicago Reader, Inc. (CRI) sued

2184-517: The Chicago Tribune , was named president and publisher. In March, 2010, Warren resigned. In June, longtime editor Alison True was fired by acting publisher Alison Draper and Creative Loafing CEO Marty Petty, sparking outrage among the paper's remaining audience. In July, Draper was named publisher, managing editor Kiki Yablon was promoted to editor, and Geoff Dougherty was named associate publisher. Dougherty had founded and subsequently closed

2268-532: The Creative Loafing name for some time after the sale. In October 2011, Creative Loafing Charlotte and Creative Loafing Tampa were sold to SouthComm Inc., a publisher of alternative weeklies based in Nashville, Tennessee. Creative Loafing 's three largest newspapers continued under Atalaya's ownership for one more year. In May 2012, the Chicago Reader was sold to Wrapports, publisher of

2352-481: The Reader ' s appeal was its free classified ads to individuals. Ads were seen as another source of information alongside the journalism and listings. The original look of the Chicago Reader in 1971 was devised by owner-founder Bob McCamant. In 2004, a redesign by the Barcelona , Spain, firm of Jardi + Utensil introduced a new logo and extensive use of color, including a magazine-style cover. In 2007, under

2436-429: The Reader , citing a 90% drop in advertising revenue due to COVID-19 shutdowns , announced that it was pivoting from a weekly to a biweekly print schedule, with a renewed focus on digital content and storytelling and a refreshed special issues calendar. On May 16, 2022, ownership of the Reader was transferred to the new non-profit organization Reader Institute for Community Journalism. The transfer had been delayed by

2520-608: The Twin Cities Reader for trademark infringement, arguing that the Chicago Reader had given special meaning to the name "Reader". The federal appeals court ultimately ruled that the term was "merely descriptive" and thus could not be protected as a trademark. The East Bay Express , which serves the San Francisco Bay area, was co-founded in 1978 by Nancy Banks, a co-founder of the Chicago Reader , and editor John Raeside. Chicago Reader owners invested in

2604-709: The governor of Ohio . He was the Democratic Party candidate for president of the United States in the presidential election of 1920 , running unsuccessfully on a ticket that included Franklin D. Roosevelt as the vice presidential candidate. In 1935, at the urging of Governor Cox's son James M. Cox Jr. , Cox entered the radio business starting with WHIO in Dayton. Governor Cox purchased The Atlanta Journal in 1939 as well as radio station WSB . On September 29, 1948, Cox's WSB-TV , later referred to as

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2688-469: The "Eyes of the South", aired the first television broadcast in Atlanta. WHIO-TV in Ohio's Miami Valley soon followed, airing its first broadcasts on February 23, 1949. In 1950, Governor Cox purchased The Atlanta Constitution , and in 1962 his son purchased three cable television systems in central Pennsylvania with a total of 11,800 subscribers. The two combined their broadcasting and cable businesses into

2772-495: The 1996 Democratic National Convention in Chicago) reported that the Reader was "an enormous financial success. It's now as thick as many Sunday papers and is published in four sections that total around 180 pages." This report put the circulation at 138,000. The Reader began experimenting with electronic distribution in 1995 with an automated telephone service called "SpaceFinder", which offered search and "faxback" delivery of

2856-641: The Atlanta area, starting two community weeklies, Gwinnett Loaf and Topside Loaf , covering the suburbs north of the city in Cobb, Gwinnett, southern Forsyth and northern Fulton counties. Bowing to reader complaints about racy advertisements in Creative Loafing Atlanta , the Easons established a separate Atlanta publication, The Scene , for nightlife listings. These three Atlanta-area publications would later be folded back into Creative Loafing Atlanta in 2001. By July 2007, Creative Loafing became

2940-642: The Cox Automotive name. Cox Communications is the third-largest U.S. cable company, serving approximately 6 million residences and businesses. It provides advanced digital video, Internet, telephone and home security and automation services over its own nationwide IP network. Cox Communications formed an alliance with the Cleveland Clinic  to take Healthcare to the home in February 2015. The company has also been deploying residential gigabit internet service. In 2019, Cox Communications earned

3024-701: The Cubs. They are closer to home." In its early years the Reader was published out of apartments shared by the owner-founders, Roth, McCamant, Rehwaldt and Yoder. The first apartment was in Hyde Park —the University of Chicago neighborhood on the south side of Chicago—and the second was in Rogers Park on the far north side. Working for ownership in lieu of pay, the owner-founders ultimately owned more than 90% of

3108-584: The Easons and Creative Loafing board members voted to censure the two Cox executives for unethical conduct, and by June 2004 both companies agreed to allow the chain to repurchase its shares from Cox. On July 24, 2007, Creative Loafing announced the purchase of the Washington City Paper and the Chicago Reader , along with the Reader 's properties The Straight Dope and the SDMB, the associated Internet message board. In order to accomplish

3192-599: The Family" used an apartment-building fire as the starting point for a 15,000-word chronicle of life among the underclass, following three generations of a west-side family and touching on urban issues such as addiction, discrimination, crime, and teen pregnancy . It won the Peter Lisagor Award for Exemplary Journalism, awarded by the Chicago Headline Club. Ben Joravsky's "A Simple Game" followed

3276-611: The No. 11 spot on the 2019 DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list. This marks the fourteenth time the company has been recognized among the nation's corporate diversity leaders. Cox Automotive is a provider of "vehicle remarketing services and digital marketing and software for automotive dealers and consumers." Cox Automotive brands include Manheim, Clutch Technologies, Dealer-Auction Ltd, AutoTrader , Kelley Blue Book , vAuto, Dealer.com, Dealertrack, NextGear Capital, Xtime, Vinsolutions, Dickinson Fleet Services, FleetNet America, and

3360-810: The Ohio newspapers it sold to Apollo Global Management after the FCC required Apollo to reduce the daily newspapers to 3-day publication or sell them. Cox announced the newspapers would continue 7-day publication. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution , in addition to the media agency Ideabar, will continue to be part of Cox Enterprises. Cox Conserves is the company's national sustainability program that focuses on alternative energy, community investment, employee engagement, energy conservation, waste diversion, recycling, and water conservation. Since its launch in 2007, Cox Enterprises has invested more than $ 120 million in over 400 sustainability and conservation projects through Cox Conserves to drive positive environmental change within

3444-650: The Reader Institute for Community Journalism. On June 22, 2020, the Reader , citing a 90% drop in advertising revenue due to COVID-19 shutdowns, announced that it was pivoting from a weekly to a biweekly print schedule, with a renewed focus on digital content and storytelling and a refreshed special issues calendar. The Reader returned to weekly publishing in June 2024. The Reader is dated every Thursday and distributed free on Wednesday and Thursday via street boxes and cooperating retail outlets. As of June 2020,

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3528-547: The World . Groening worked at the Los Angeles Reader for six years, first in circulation and then as a critic and assistant editor. In 1989, the paper was sold to a company headed by its founding editor, James Vowell. In 1996, it was sold to and closed by New Times Media, which later became Village Voice Media . The San Diego Reader was founded in 1972 by Jim Holman, one of the original group who established

3612-407: The acquisitions, the company borrowed $ 40 million. The ensuing economic slump hurt ad sales, and CL Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on September 29, 2008. In a bankruptcy auction on August 25, 2009, Atalaya Capital Management of New York City, emerged as the new owner, paying $ 5 million (it was also CL's largest creditor, owed $ 30 million before the bankruptcy). The Easons had put in

3696-405: The column appeared in print, objections from the editorial staff and a public outcry prompted Baim and Hawkins to first defend the column (Hawkins tweeted in defense of it and privately assured Goodman the column was "bulletproof") before changing their minds and commissioning a post-publication fact-check that found multiple inaccuracies and errors. Baim proposed publishing the fact-check online with

3780-522: The column, but Goodman and allied board members accused Baim of censorship and demanded her resignation before allowing the transfer to a nonprofit; she refused. Baim, Goodman, and the board remained in a stalemate for months, unable to reach an agreement. In April 2022 the newspaper's editorial union, saying the dispute threatened the future of the newspaper, mounted a public pressure campaign that culminated in protests outside of Goodman's mansion, and after two weeks, he agreed to give up ownership and allow

3864-778: The company was sold to New Times Media, which became Village Voice Media and renamed Ruxton as the Voice Media Group. Index Newspapers is the company that publishes The Stranger in Seattle , Washington, and the Portland Mercury in Portland, Oregon . In 2002, CRI invested in Index and took a minority interest. Quarterfold, Inc. is a company formed by most of the former owners of Chicago Reader, Inc. to succeed that company and hold assets that were not included in

3948-530: The company's international operations stretch across Asia, Australia, Europe and Latin America. Cox Enterprises is currently led by Alexander C. Taylor, a fourth-generation Cox family member and great-grandson of founder James M. Cox . James M. Cox's grandson, James C. Kennedy , and other members of the Cox family are on the company's board of directors. On March 2, 2020, the sale of Cox Media Group's Ohio newspapers

4032-672: The company. In 1975 the paper began to earn a profit, incorporated, and rented office space in the downtown area that later came to be known as River North . In 1979, a reporter for the Daily Herald of Arlington Heights, Illinois , called the Reader "the fastest growing alternative weekly in the U.S." In 1986, an article in the Chicago Tribune estimated the Reader' s annual revenues at $ 6.7 million. In 1996, Crain's Chicago Business projected revenue of $ 14.6 million. The National Journal's Convention Daily (published during

4116-596: The company. This lawsuit led to the sale of the Reader and its sibling, Washington City Paper , to Creative Loafing in July 2007, publisher of alternative weeklies in Atlanta , Georgia; Charlotte, North Carolina ; and Tampa and Sarasota, Florida . Creative Loafing filed for bankruptcy in September 2008. In August 2009, the bankruptcy court awarded the company to Creative Loafing's chief creditor, Atalaya Capital Management, which had loaned $ 30 million to pay for most of

4200-483: The competing Chicago Sun-Times , in a deal reported at $ 3 million. Two months later, on July 3, Creative Loafing Atlanta and the Washington City Paper were sold to SouthComm, for an undisclosed sum, and CL Inc. ceased to exist. In 2016, the Charlotte Creative Loafing was sold to Womack Publishing of North Carolina. In 2018, the Charlotte Creative Loafing was sold again and ceased publishing

4284-469: The couple attended a 25-attendee Georgia State University lecture by a visiting Russian scholar. This, and other poorly attended events, convinced them to start Creative Loafing Atlanta to inform the public about all of the city's cultural happenings—festivals, concerts, Wicca meetings. They originally began publishing it from the basement of their home in the Morningside neighborhood of Atlanta. After

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4368-625: The display advertisers who accounted for much of the paper's revenue. By 2007 the PDFs were gone and all of the paper's content was available online, along with a variety of blogs and Web-only features. A 2008 article in the Columbia Journalism Review by Edward McClelland, a former Reader staff writer (then known as Ted Kleine), faulted the Reader for having been slow to embrace the Web and suggested that it had trouble appealing to

4452-485: The end." It explained the rationale behind free circulation and the paper's unconventional editorial philosophy: "Why doesn't the Reader print news? Tom Wolfe wrote us, 'The Future of the newspaper (as opposed to the past, which is available at every newsstand) lies in your direction, i.e., the sheet willing to deal with "the way we live now. " ' That sums up our thoughts quite well: we find street sellers more interesting than politicians, and musicians more interesting than

4536-408: The first issue, 16 pages, on October 1, 1971. One year later, in its first anniversary issue, the Reader published an article titled "What Kind of Paper is This, Anyway?" in which it answered "Questions we've heard over and over in the past year." This article reported that the paper had lost nearly $ 20,000 in its first ten months of operation but that the owners were "confident it will work out in

4620-526: The late 1990s that it added a suburban edition, The Reader's Guide to Arts & Entertainment, but by 2006 it was operating at a loss. It faced severe competitive pressure starting near the turn of the century, as some of its key elements became widely available online. Websites offered entertainment listings, schedules, and reviews. Classified ads, a major source of revenue in the 1990s, migrated to Craigslist and other online services that published ads for free and made them easily searchable. By 2000 much of

4704-477: The mix. Reader articles by freelance writer David Moberg are credited with helping to elect Chicago's first black mayor, the late Harold Washington . Staff writer John Conroy wrote extensively, over a period of more than 17 years, on police torture in Chicago; his reporting was instrumental in the ouster and prosecution of Commander Jon Burge, the leader of a police torture ring, and in the release of several wrongly convicted prisoners from death row. The Reader

4788-478: The online Chi-Town Daily News and its successor, the print-and-online Chicago Current, which he closed to take the Reader job. In 2012, the Chicago Reader was acquired by Wrapports LLC, parent company of the Chicago Sun-Times . Managing editor Jake Malooley was formally named Editor-in-Chief in July 2015. In February 2018 Malooley was fired by phone at O'Hare Airport as he returned from his honeymoon by newly appointed Executive Editor Mark Konkol. Konkol

4872-550: The organization, among stakeholders, and within the communities being served. According to its public statements, its primary focus areas include: In September 2019, Cox Automotive's Mobility Division entered into an agreement with Rivian , the company developing the first luxury all-electric truck. In the deal, Cox will invest $ 350 million into Rivian, with the two companies exploring partnership opportunities in service operations, logistics, and digital retailing. In August 2022, Cox Enterprises agreed to acquire Axios Media , with

4956-535: The ownership of Creative Loafing, the paper was converted to a single-section tabloid. In 2010, Publisher Alison Draper hired Chicago-based redesign consultant Ron Reason to help revamp the publication. Among changes introduced were a revitalized and rebranded music section titled B Side, an improvement in the paper's advertising design, quality glossy paper stock for covers and key inside spreads, and editorial destinations shepherded primarily by new editor Mara Shalhoup. A post-redesign checkup several months later revealed

5040-406: The paper and eventually CRI held a major stake. The paper was sold in 2001 to New Times Media, which became Village Voice Media and in 2007 sold it to editor Stephen Buel and a group of investors. Washington City Paper was founded in 1981 by Russ Smith and Alan Hirsch, who had founded Baltimore City Paper in 1977. Originally named 1981 , the name was changed the following year. Owners of

5124-442: The paper claimed to have nearly 1,200 locations in the Chicago metropolitan area and circulation of 60,000, a fraction of what circulation had been in the mid-2000s. The Reader remains among the largest and most successful alternative newspapers in the country. Weekly readership had once been put at 450,000. The Chicago Reader was founded by Robert A. Roth , who grew up in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights. His ambition

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5208-532: The paper's apartment rental ads, one of its most important franchises. Later in 1995 the paper's "Matches" personal ads were made available on the Web, and in early 1996 the SpaceFinder fax system was adapted for Web searching. Also in 1996 the Reader partnered with Yahoo to bring its entertainment listings online and introduced a Web site and an AOL user area built around its popular syndicated column " The Straight Dope ". The Reader became so profitable in

5292-549: The paper's content was available online, but the Reader still resisted publishing a Web version of the entire paper. It concentrated on database information like classifieds and listings, leaving the long cover stories and many other articles to be delivered in print only. In 2005, when many similar publications had long been offering all their content online, the Reader began offering its articles in PDF format, showing pages just as they appeared in print — an attempt to provide value to

5376-699: The privately-owned company. In 1982, CBC moved its headquarters to the Atlanta area and changed its name to Cox Communications , Inc. The company was eventually consolidated into Cox Enterprises. In 1988 then-Executive Vice President Jim Kennedy , grandson of Governor Cox, was promoted to CEO and chairman of Cox Enterprises. In 1986, Cox Enterprises launched a new subsidiary Cox Video, which lined up eleven commitments for original video programs, four of them came from Media Home Entertainment , which are comedy-based tapes and seven of them came from Fox Hills Video , which are reality-based tapes, both subsidiaries of Heron Communications , and co-production budgets involve

5460-586: The process, Cox executives filled two seats on Creative Loafing's eight-member board. An uneasy four-year relationship between the two companies followed, as Cox also owned Atlanta's only daily, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution , as well as television and radio outlets in the Atlanta area. After the Journal-Constitution in April 2003 quietly launched its own free entertainment weekly named Access Atlanta , in direct competition with Creative Loafing ,

5544-441: The publicly-traded Cox Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) in 1964, though the newspaper business remained independent as Cox Enterprises. In 1966, Cox expanded its holdings to purchase television syndicator Walter Schwimmer, followed in 1967, by the purchase of television production company Bing Crosby Productions. Cox subsequently sold off its syndication unit to a new production company Telecom Productions in 1970. Cox would reenter

5628-545: The purchase price for the Reader and the Washington City Paper . In late 2007, under a budget cutback imposed by the new owners at Creative Loafing, the Reader laid off several of its most experienced journalists, including John Conroy, Harold Henderson, Tori Marlan and Steve Bogira. The paper had de-emphasized the tradition of offbeat feature stories in favor of theme issues and aggressive, opinionated reporting on city government, for example its extensive coverage of tax increment financing (TIFs) by Ben Joravsky, who has been

5712-539: The sale to Creative Loafing. Quarterfold's chief asset is its ownership interest in Index Newspapers. Amsterdam Weekly was a free, English-language weekly published in the Netherlands from May 2004 through December 2008. As of May 2010 , it exists in limited form online. The paper was started by Todd Savage, who had been a writer and typesetter for the Chicago Reader in the late 1990s. The Reader

5796-428: The sale, Debby Eason purchased Creative Loafing 's Greenville and Savannah properties back from her children. The Greenville paper was renamed MetroBEAT , while Creative Loafing Savannah was merged into Connect Savannah . To help finance the 2000 deal transferring ownership to Ben Eason's group, media conglomerate Cox Enterprises purchased a 25% minority share of the company for approximately US$ 5 million. In

5880-508: The television syndication business, when Cox's subsidiary TeleRep, established Television Program Enterprises in the late 1970s, before merging with Rysher Entertainment in 1993. As the cable business expanded, it was eventually consolidated and spun off into the new privately-owned Cox Cable Communications (CCC) in 1968, which quickly became the second-largest cable TV company. Upon Jim Cox Jr.'s death in 1974, he left his two sisters, Anne Cox Chambers and Barbara Cox , in control of 95% of

5964-465: The transfer to a nonprofit. In return, Baim agreed to keep the column at the center of the dispute online. In June 2022, Hawkins left the Reader . In August, Baim announced that she would resign by the end of the year. Solomon Lieberman was hired as new CEO and publisher in February 2023. Salem Collo-Julin was named editor in chief in March 2023. In May 2024, the newspaper announced it would return to

6048-486: The wife of Sean Hannity , was the managing editor of the newspaper 1993–1996 until their move to New York City, which commenced Sean Hannity's television career. Mara Shaloup won a Clarion Award for her work breaking the Black Mafia story in 2006. Investigative report and CL Editor CB Hackworth's piece on racial segregation brought Oprah Winfrey to Forsyth County to confront overt racism in 1987. Creative Loafing, LLC

6132-713: Was a major investor. In 2008, the paper was sold to Yuval Sigler, publisher of Time Out Tel Aviv , who with assets and staff including Savage launched Time Out Amsterdam in October 2008. Cox Enterprises Cox Enterprises, Inc. is an American privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta , Georgia, United States, with approximately 55,000 employees and $ 21 billion in total revenue. Its major operating subsidiaries are Cox Media Group , Cox Communications , and Cox Automotive . The company's major national brands include AutoTrader , Kelley Blue Book , Manheim Auctions and more. Through Cox Automotive ,

6216-529: Was a scaled-down version of the Reader , printed as a one-section tabloid meant to satisfy suburban demand for Reader content and advertising. In 2007, it was closed and distribution of the complete Chicago Reader was expanded to the suburbs. The Ruxton Group, originally called the Reader Group, was formed by CRI in 1984 as a national advertising representative for the Reader , Washington City Paper , and other large-market alternative weeklies. In 1995

6300-459: Was based on a variety of elements. Most obvious early on was a focus on pop culture for a generation who were not served by the entertainment coverage of daily newspapers. Like many alternative weeklies, the Reader relied heavily on coverage and extensive listings of arts and cultural events, especially live music, film, and theater. As the paper prospered and its budget expanded, investigative and political reporting became another important part of

6384-637: Was dissolved and Atalaya sold off the Chicago Reader . In 2012, SouthComm purchased all of the properties and then sold off each of the papers to other publishers in 2018. The Atlanta Creative Loafing launched the career of many writers and has been an institution in Atlanta's cultural scene. The Parrotheads of Jimmy Buffett fame were launched from an ad in Creative Loafing in the 1990s. Best-selling author and American humorist Hollis Gillespie by debuting her weekly column "Moodswing," which first appeared in 2001 and ran for eight years. Jill Hannity,

6468-587: Was finalized back to Cox Enterprises, and subsequently formed Cox First Media. This move was to ensure the publications would remain daily newspapers serving the southwest Ohio region. The company was founded in Dayton, Ohio , by James M. Cox , who purchased the Dayton Daily News in 1898. Cox became a member of Ohio's delegation to the United States House of Representatives and then

6552-532: Was fired by Sun-Times Media only 19 days after his appointment, following the publication of a controversial editorial cartoon that was deemed to be race baiting . On July 13, 2017, a consortium consisting of private investors & the Chicago Federation of Labor , led by businessman & former Chicago alderman Edwin Eisendrath , through Eisendrath's company, ST Acquisition Holdings, acquired

6636-424: Was founded by a group of friends from Carleton College , and four of them remained its primary owners for 36 years. While annual revenue reached an all-time high of $ 22.6 million in 2002, double what it had been a decade earlier, profits and readership then went into steep decline, and ownership changed several times between 2007 and 2018. In 2022, the owners transferred the Reader to a new non-profit organization,

6720-656: Was not the first alternative weekly Atlanta had seen, but over the years, its size and ambitions crowded out competitors— The Great Speckled Bird; Poets, Artists & Madmen; The Sunday Paper . After a decade and a half in Atlanta, the Easons established new Creative Loafing weeklies in March 1987 in Charlotte, North Carolina, and in 1988 in Tampa, Florida . Other expansions or acquisitions included newspapers in Greenville, South Carolina; Raleigh, North Carolina; and Savannah, Georgia . The company also expanded its footprint in

6804-695: Was perhaps best known for its deep, immersive style of literary journalism, publishing long, detailed cover stories, often on subjects that had little to do with the news of the day. An oft-cited example is a 19,000-word article on beekeeping by staff editor Michael Lenehan. This article won the AAAS Westinghouse Science Journalism Award , awarded by the American Association for the Advancement of Science , in 1978. Steve Bogira's 1988 article "A Fire in

6888-404: Was short-lived; she abruptly departed in March 2019. In June 2019 Karen Hawkins and Sujay Kumar were announced as new editors in chief, previously managing editors who had been serving as interim editors in chief following Moore's departure. In November 2020, the Reader announced co-editor Hawkins would also serve as co-publisher with Baim, while Baim was also made president. On June 22, 2020,

6972-410: Was taken over by Ed Zotti , who continued to serve as Cecil's "assistant" as of January 2010. In 1984, Chicago Review Press published The Straight Dope , a compilation of columns; the cover named Cecil Adams as author and Zotti as editor. The title was picked up and republished by Ballantine, which published four more volumes between 1988 and 1999. In 1996, The Straight Dope became a user area on AOL ;

7056-501: Was to start a weekly publication for young Chicagoans like Boston's The Phoenix and Boston After Dark . Those papers were sold on newsstands but were also given away, mostly on campuses, to bolster circulation. Roth believed that 100-percent free circulation would work better, and he persuaded several friends from Carleton College , including Robert E. McCamant, Thomas J. Rehwaldt and Thomas K. Yoder, to join him in his venture. They scraped together about $ 16,000 in capital and published

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