Editor's Letter: Metro buys City Paper
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
We used to be just neighbors, now we are first cousins.
We used to be just neighbors, now we are first cousins.
Metro US has been our landlord since last September when we moved out of Old City and rented space on their floor in a high-rise across from City Hall. We’ve shared a kitchen, and there’s been friendly banter back and forth between the two staffs, but because of the deadlines we face, most of us hardly knew each other.
So, on the day last week when the sale of City Paper was announced, there was a lot of “Hello, my name is …” and a pizza lunch as we were welcomed into the fold. Not long after that, the wall of filing cabinets that had separated our two offices was breached.
Though both of us are free papers, use gallons of ink and distribute largely via street boxes, our missions are very different. Metro’s is to produce a weekday paper that gives commuters a smart, 20-minute read focusing on news, celebrity gossip and sports. I’m a typical reader, catching up on the day’s top local news and trying to finish the sudoku puzzle before my train reaches Center City.
We’re more a coffee-shop read, for those with the time and inclination to savor the writing and ponder the ideas. Our long-form journalism, such as the saga about the nurse who successfully fought accusations of her father’s murder, aims to put the news in context and bring a national perspective to local stories.
We are the first alt-weekly to come under Metro’s umbrella, and that brings with it all the support and anxiety afforded to a first-born.
Our new owners have told us that they like what we do. We will remain an independent title, free to continue to speak truth to power in our own bold voice. We also will continue our job of discovering new artists, musicians and chefs and being the first to tell readers about them. Our insider’s view of local arts, food and entertainment will remain a big piece of our franchise.
The email messages I’ve received since the sale by the Rock family was announced indicate that readers understand our special place under Philly’s journalism sun. Regular readers know, for example, the current criticism of the DA’s civil forfeiture program was detailed in a cover story by Isaiah Thompson in November 2012. Last year, a judge ordered new trials for two men serving life terms for murder not long after reporting in these pages by Daniel Denvir prompted a new witness to come forward. Most recently, we have written about a city police officer who admitted to lying in open court in December 2011, yet has continued to be called to testify in drug cases.
Over the years, countless small arts organizations have thanked us for helping them get started. We are a small outfit ourselves, but we have an outsize voice that can get results.
As an editor who knows the numbers behind this business, I am grateful that Metro US saw that our differences — the lack of overlapping content, publishing cycles and readership — made us an attractive buy, and has given us new life.
With that fresh start, the path ahead for City Paper is clear. We hope every week to create a paper that our readers are eager to pick up and find impossible to put down.
