''Baltimore City Paper'' was a free

alternative weekly An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting l ...

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

published in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, founded in 1977 by Russ Smith and Alan Hirsch. The most recent owner was the

Baltimore Sun ''The Baltimore Sun'' is the largest general-circulation daily newspaper based in the U.S. state of Maryland and provides coverage of local and regional news, events, issues, people, and industries. Founded in 1837, it is currently owned by Tr ...

Media Group, which purchased the paper in 2014 from

Times-Shamrock Communications Times-Shamrock Communications is an American media company based in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The company, owned by the Lynett and Haggerty families of Scranton, lists among its assets four daily newspapers, six weekly newspapers, and nine radio stat ...

, which had owned the newspaper since 1987. It was distributed on Wednesdays in distinctive yellow boxes found throughout the Baltimore area. The paper folded in 2017, due to the collapse of advertising revenue income to print media. The Media Group's closure announcement happened at the same meeting immediately after recognizing ''City Paper'' staff joining the Washington-Baltimore News Guild.

History

Russ Smith and Alan Hirsch started the Baltimore City Paper in May 1977 while students at Johns Hopkins University. It was originally named the ''City Squeeze'', and Smith and Hirsch published it using the offices of the Johns Hopkins student newspaper. In 1978, they took the paper out of the university and started publishing it as the ''Baltimore City Paper''. Smith said that he viewed the paper as an alternatively weekly similar to the ''Chicago Reader'' and the ''Boston Real Paper''. The paper was free, except for a time between 1979 and 1981, where they charged 25¢ per issue. Charging a fee turned out to be mistake, as most of the paper's income came through advertising revenue and the fee led to a precipitous drop in circulation, and consequently advertising revenues. It was best known for providing information on

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

, and

restaurant A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...

s, but each issue also has one major article on a subject not usually being carried by the

mainstream media In journalism, mainstream media (MSM) is a term and abbreviation used to refer collectively to the various large mass news media that influence many people and both reflect and shape prevailing currents of thought.Chomsky, Noam, ''"What makes mai ...

. In each issue there are also several political and advice columns and numerous

cartoon A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...

s including the weekly comic ''Dirtfarm'' by Ben Claassen III. The last issue was released on November 1, 2017. The '' Baltimore Beat'' started after.

Notable stories

The ''City Paper'' broke several important stories in the Baltimore area, including a

plagiarism Plagiarism is the fraudulent representation of another person's language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions as one's own original work.From the 1995 '' Random House Compact Unabridged Dictionary'': use or close imitation of the language and thought ...

scandal A scandal can be broadly defined as the strong social reactions of outrage, anger, or surprise, when accusations or rumours circulate or appear for some reason, regarding a person or persons who are perceived to have transgressed in some way. Th ...

involving longtime ''

'' columnist

Michael Olesker Michael Olesker (born 1945) is a former syndicated columnist for ''The Baltimore Sun'' newspaper in Baltimore, Maryland, and a book author. Olesker attended the University of Maryland where he was on the staff of the school newspaper, ''The Diamo ...

. It also presented the Best of Baltimore awards every year, in which various local businesses, attractions, and aspects of Baltimore, Maryland were highlighted. In the summer of 2013, Times-Shamrock Communications announced its intention to sell off all of its alternative newspapers outside Pennsylvania, including the ''City Paper''. In February 2014, the

Media Group announced it had reached an agreement to purchase the ''Baltimore City Paper'', with the sale to close in March 2014.

Notable writers

* J. D. Considine (1977–1980) *

Peter Koper Peter Koper (January 1947 – May 21, 2022) was an American journalist, professor, screenwriter, and producer. He numbers among the original Dreamlanders, the group of actors and artists who worked with independent filmmaker John Waters on his ...

(1979–1980) *

Franz Lidz Franz Lidz (born September 24, 1951) is an American writer, journalist and pro basketball executive. A ''New York Times'' archaeology, science and film essayist, he's a former ''Sports Illustrated'' senior writer,

(1978–1979)Lidz weaves a tale of family, life on fringes
, 02.19.91 – ''Baltimore Sun''Odds are, these guys are real characters
, 09.21.95 – ''Baltimore Sun'' *

John Strausbaugh John Strausbaugh (born 1951, in Baltimore, Maryland) is an American author, cultural commentator, and host of ''The New York Times'' ''Weekend Explorer'' video podcast series on New York City. Among other topics, he is an authority on the history ...

(1979–1990)

References

{{Tribune Publishing Alternative weekly newspapers published in the United States CityPaper, Baltimore Tribune Publishing Newspapers established in 1977 1977 establishments in Maryland