''Las Vegas CityLife'', founded in August 1996,
was the oldest
alternative weekly newspaper in
Southern Nevada
Southern Nevada (SNV) is a region and the southern portion of the U.S. state of Nevada which includes the Las Vegas Valley. It also includes the areas in and around Pahrump and Pioche. Tonopah and Hawthorne are sometimes also referred to as part ...
and covered news about the
Las Vegas Valley
The Las Vegas Valley is a major metropolitan area in the Southern Nevada, southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada, and the second largest in the Southwestern United States. The state's largest urban agglomeration, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Stat ...
and surrounding areas. Coverage included news, politics, arts, and culture reporting in print and online formats.
Publication background
The publication was owned by
Stephens Media Group
Stephens Media Group is an Oklahoma based radio broadcaster that owns 75 radio stations particularly in small to mid-size markets. Its flagship stations are at its headquarters in Tulsa. Stephens refers to itself as "A portfolio of People", ref ...
but was initially owned by
Wick Communications
Wick Communications (formerly known as Wick Newspaper Group) is a family-owned media company with 27 newspapers and 18 specialty publications in 11 states. They also publish websites and other specialty publications. The home offices are in Sier ...
. Its primary competitors were ''Scope Magazine'' (first published in April 1992), ''
Las Vegas Weekly
''Las Vegas Weekly'' is a free alternative weekly newspaper based in Henderson, Nevada, covering Las Vegas arts, entertainment, culture and news. ''Las Vegas Weekly'' is published by Greenspun Media Group. The paper was founded in 1992 by James P ...
'' (which emerged in 1998 after a majority interest in ''Scope Magazine'' was sold to Daniel Greenspun in 1996) and ''Vegas Seven'' (founded in 2010). Publication ceased on January 30, 2014.
Its editor, Scott Dickensheets, took the position in February 2011 after then-Editor Steve Sebelius returned to the ''
Las Vegas Review-Journal
The ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' is a daily subscription newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area.
The ''Review-Journal'' ...
'' as a political columnist. Former managing editors include Larry Lane, Bill Hughes,
Geoff Schumacher, Hugh Jackson,
Matthew O'Brien
Matthew O'Brien (born in 1970) is an American author, journalist, editor and teacher who writes about the seedier side of Las Vegas. His most well-known work is the nonfiction book '' Beneath the Neon'', which documents the homeless population li ...
and Steve Sebelius. Former writers include Sarah Jane Woodall, Chad Plummer, Launce Rake,
Pj Perez, Heidi Walters, Amy Kingsley,
Chip Mosher
Charles Jon "Chip" Mosher (June 23, 1947 – November 15, 2021) was an educator, poet, author and newspaper columnist who wrote social commentary about education and history, as well as satirical fiction.
Early life and education
Mosher, who gre ...
,
George Knapp,
Saab Lofton
Saab Lofton is an author, cartoonist and radio personality. He lives in Seattle, Washington, United States.
Lofton graduated from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. After graduation, Lofton moved to Las Vegas where he hosted t ...
, Mike Prevatt,
Cathy Scott
Cathleen "Cathy" Scott (born c. 1950) is a ''Los Angeles Times'' bestselling American true crime writer and investigative journalist who penned the biographies and true crime books ''The Killing of Tupac Shakur'' and ''The Murder of Biggie Small ...
, Quentin Bufogle, and columnist James P. Reza, previously the editor of ''Scope Magazine''. Syndicated columns included
Savage Love
Savage Love is a syndicated sex-advice column by Dan Savage. The column appears weekly in several dozen newspapers, mainly free newspapers in the US and Canada, but also newspapers in Europe and Asia. It started in 1991 with the first issue of t ...
and
Free Will Astrology by
Rob Brezsny
Rob Brezsny is an American astrologer, author, and musician. His weekly horoscope column "Free Will Astrology" – formerly "Real Astrology" – has been published since 1980, and by 2010 was syndicated in around 120 periodicals.
Care ...
.
O'Brien expanded a feature article for ''CityLife'' about killer TJ Weber, who hid in the storm tunnels until his arrest, into the book ''
Beneath the Neon: Life and Death in the Tunnels of Las Vegas'', published by
Huntington Press.
In September 2006, ''CityLife'' earned more awards than the other weekly newspapers in the state in the
Nevada Press Association
The Nevada Press Association is the official member trade organization for news publications in the state of Nevada. It is a non-profit organization that represents seven daily and thirty-five weekly news publications in Nevada and the Lake Tahoe ...
's annual Better Newspapers Contest,
which competed against 40 weekly NPA member publications.
History
![CityLife_Banner_2](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0e/CityLife_Banner_2.png)
The precursor to ''CityLife'' was a publication called the ''Las Vegas New Times''. Started in September 1992, ''Las Vegas New Times'' was quickly sold to
Wick Communications
Wick Communications (formerly known as Wick Newspaper Group) is a family-owned media company with 27 newspapers and 18 specialty publications in 11 states. They also publish websites and other specialty publications. The home offices are in Sier ...
, also known as Las Vegas Press, which published three newspapers in the Las Vegas area - the ''Las Vegas Business Press'', ''Las Vegas CityLife'' and the ''Las Vegas Senior Press.'' On August 1, 1996, the Las Vegas New Times' name was changed to ''Las Vegas CityLife'' to avoid legal conflicts with another publication, the ''
Phoenix New Times
''Phoenix New Times'' is a free digital and print media company based in Phoenix, Arizona. ''New Times'' publishes daily online coverage of local news, restaurants, music and arts, as well as longform narrative journalism. A weekly print issue ...
''. Rod Smith published ''CityLife'' from August 1998 to January 2002.
Over the course of the newspaper's history, two large Las Vegas casino corporations, the
MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
and
Station Casinos
Station Casinos, LLC is an American hotel and casino company based in Las Vegas suburb of Summerlin South, Nevada, and founded by Frank Fertitta Jr. Station Casinos, along with Affinity Gaming, Boyd Gaming and Golden Entertainment, dominate the ...
, pulled their advertising because of news stories about their properties and managers which the businesses felt were condemnatory.
Rod Smith, the publisher at the time, called the actions of the MGM, in particular, "petty private censorship."
In March 2004, Portland-based designer Kat Topaz redesigned the ''CityLife'' logo and layout to give the publication an updated feel. The current design is the work of Maureen Adamo.
The offices of ''CityLife'' were housed alongside the ''
Las Vegas Review-Journal
The ''Las Vegas Review-Journal'' is a daily subscription newspaper published in Las Vegas, Nevada, since 1909. It is the largest circulating daily newspaper in Nevada and one of two daily newspapers in the Las Vegas area.
The ''Review-Journal'' ...
'' building, at 1111 W. Bonanza Road, Las Vegas, NV, 89106. Formerly, the paper was located on Pama Lane in
Green Valley, Henderson
Green Valley is a master planned community located in Henderson, Nevada, and Southern Nevada's first master-planned community built before Summerlin. The Green Valley Master Community development was founded in 1978 by American Nevada Corporation ...
, and before that, on Wynn Road near
Chinatown, Las Vegas
Spring Valley is an unincorporated town and census-designated place in Clark County, Nevada, United States, located west of the Las Vegas Strip. The population was 215,597 at the 2020 census. Spring Valley was formed in May 1981.
History
In 1 ...
.
In 2009, ''CityLife'' was accepted for membership in the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, an organization of alternative weekly newspapers in the United States and Canada. The newspaper had applied unsuccessfully for membership in 2007. In 2010, the newspaper won a first-place award from AAN in the "format buster" category for a report on disparate redevelopment spending between downtown Las Vegas and the heavily minority West Las Vegas area. Staffers recognized for the award were Amy Kingsley, Maureen Adamo and videographer Justin Yurkanin. In Jan., 2014, the paper ceased production, and shut down its website a year later.
Recurring features
Recurring features in ''CityLife'' included:
*"Fear No Evil," Saab Lofton's far leftist news column
*"''CityLife'' Picks," top event listings for the week
*"Best of the Valley," yearly listing of readers' choices for favorite restaurants and other venues in various categories
*"On The Scene," short feature about a clubbing or event pick for the week
*"Fear and Lounging," weekly music performance pick
*"Dining Out," weekly restaurant pick
*"Socrates in Sodom," opinion piece by Clark County educator
Chip Mosher
Charles Jon "Chip" Mosher (June 23, 1947 – November 15, 2021) was an educator, poet, author and newspaper columnist who wrote social commentary about education and history, as well as satirical fiction.
Early life and education
Mosher, who gre ...
*"Crime & Punishment," column by journalist and author
Cathy Scott
Cathleen "Cathy" Scott (born c. 1950) is a ''Los Angeles Times'' bestselling American true crime writer and investigative journalist who penned the biographies and true crime books ''The Killing of Tupac Shakur'' and ''The Murder of Biggie Small ...
*"Smart Guy," weekly column by James P. Reza
Publication distribution
''Las Vegas CityLife'' was free to the public and went to press every Wednesday for publication and distribution citywide on Thursdays. As of September 2011, circulation was 70,000 copies per week at more than 2,200 sites, including
University of Nevada, Las Vegas
The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is a public land-grant research university in Paradise, Nevada. The campus is about east of the Las Vegas Strip. It was formerly part of the University of Nevada from 1957 to 1969. It includes the S ...
,
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller. It is a Fortune 1000 company and the bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. As of July 7, 2020, the company operates 614 retail stores across all 50 U. ...
,
Terrible Herbst
Terrible Herbst, or Terrible Herbst Oil Company, is an American privately held gas station company based in Paradise, Nevada, United States.
The company operates gas stations in Nevada, California, Utah and Arizona.
History
The company's root ...
, and
7-11
7-Eleven, Inc., stylized as 7-ELEVE, is a multinational chain of retail convenience stores, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. The chain was founded in 1927 as an ice house storefront in Dallas. It was named Tote'm Stores between 1928 and 1946. A ...
.
References
{{Reflist
External links
News, Politics, Music, Arts, Culture - ''Las Vegas CityLife''
Alternative weekly newspapers published in the United States
Newspapers published in Las Vegas
Publications established in 1996