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Sox Shuffle Continues
UR Chicago has just announced they are going on indefinite hiatus and that this month's issue will be the last to appear in print. They will still maintain an online presence, and publishers En Prise Entertainment will continue to promote music and art events around town, but we're sad to say that the magazine itself is kaput due to obvious economic factors facing the print media industry. We thought it was one of the best independently produced arts and entertainment periodicals in Chicago, so we're rather bummed to see it become another casualty. (Full disclosure: A number of Chicagoist writers have freelanced or been employed by UR Chicago in the past.)
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Damn their goes 1 of my top 3 rags for transit rides.
The Reader (My #2) is going to crap, and Newcity (#3) is few and far between.
I refuse to read Red-Eye!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
does anyone think this had anything to do with the re-organization after the whole PURE entertainment debacle?
I always liked UR but it always seemed like they were going to go under at any moment anyway.
Too bad.
Slightly off-topic: Can someone tell me how NewCity stays in business after all these years? Not saying the paper is awful or good--or that I want it to die--but I simply don't understand how such a thin publication with a less-than-distinctive voice and outlook, and with few unique blockbuster articles, has managed to stay alive for so long in this media market. God bless 'em, I guess.
Sad to see another publication bite the dust, even it is was hardly a trailblazer or must-read.
Matilda as you are neither a
"trailblazer" or a "must read", but very much like a "thin publication with a less-than-distinctive voice and outlook", will you soon "bite the dust"?
because I'm looking forward to pulling out my tap shoes for the occasion ;-)
p.s I see you are honoring Rev/Sen Meek's boycott, I hope you don't miss too many days of school!
So, Spook, no original thoughts to add? Just trite personal insults that, much like a crappy hip-hop artist, merely samples what others have produced? OK--just checking. All is the same with the world.
Spook, I didn't know the computer lab at your elementary school allowed Internet surfing. Or is your mom home-schooling you again?
I realize everyone's much more inclined to criticize local media than praise it, and while that sort of discussion is incredibly important, it should also be essential that we as readers support the local rags a little more in these times or we'll see more deaths like this and we'll be left with nothing. The Reader, Timeout Chicago, New City—all are far from perfect and are at times infuriating, but each serve a purpose in engaging the public in the arts, and I for one am quite fearful of the day when there is no weekly paper or magazine to discuss, bitch about, gush over with my friends at the bar. In the grand scheme of things, we should be grateful for what we have and mourn what's been lost today. If that sounds melodramatic, tell it to the UR people who just lost their jobs.
Good point uncle joey likes gangsta rap and great name!
xlprq
I missed you at lunch recess because you were hiding under the teacher's desk, but I will be waiting outside when the 3:00pm bell sounds, chump.
we as readers support the local rags a little more in these times or we'll see more deaths like this and we'll be left with nothing.
Well, if they deserve support. There is nothing to be said for mindless cheerleading or mere jobs programs.
But really supporting a local rag--the best way at least--is to buy from the advertisers who pay the bills--this might be local merchants, or big chains, or both. Simply picking up a local rag and talking about it is only half the job.
And, for the real hardcores out there when it comes to local rags, stop shopping on Craigslits for apartments, furniture, services, etc and use the listings offered by your local rags. The rise of Craigslist has taken away revenue from all our adverstising-supported local rags.
Still want to support our local rags?
You're not not right. But you are also wrong.
I preferred UR Chicago in its broadsheet form and I didn't read it in it's magaine format.
NewCity is decent I suppose. If there's an Onion to read I'll grab that instead
Are there any thoughts on Wassup Chicago?
IS Illinois Entertainer(IE)still around?
the writing in UR always seemed like a regurgitated press release. TimeOut is the Red Eye/Reader's Digest of art coverage. NewCity has stepped up where the Reader has lost it (art/theatre/film coverage).
For a hint on how Newcity stays alive, take a look at the masthead and compare the interns' names with the bylines. The interns write A LOT of their copy, and it's free labor. Not that the Newcity interns are bad people, or necessarily bad writers - many are my friends - but it's a poor practice. I've written for both the Reader and Newcity, and the latter's wages are shockingly low. My friend who's a writer for TOC, and has freelanced with basically every music outlet in the city, said that Newcity's wages are the lowest he's ever gotten. I understand tightening the belt and all, but you're not going to get talent that way.
Also, everyone's "going to crap" because everyone has to cut pages. But keep an eye out for web-only content.
web-only content isn't necessarily better than print in terms of how writers get compensated. Web-only typically pays less than print, or nothing at all, because web-magazines are all "start ups." How much do Chicagoist writers get paid per?
I wasn't talking about web-only publications; I meant web-only content at historically-print publications. There are a lot of great blogs out there put out by print media who have to cut pages and thus migrating content to the web. Just because there's less good shit in your weekly rag doesn't mean there's less good shit overall - poke around online, too, before you start complainin'.
And I know it's not better in terms of compensation, but it seems to be the way things are headed. I was mainly addressing people who complain about the Reader's decline, because while their print product is thinner, they still do quite a bit of high-quality online reportage.