The ''Louisville Eccentric Observer'' (also called ''LEO Weekly'' but widely known as just ''LEO'') is a privately owned free urban

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, distributed every Wednesday in about 700 locations throughout the Louisville, Kentucky, metropolitan area, including areas of southern

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

. The newspaper was founded in 1990 by

John Yarmuth John Allan Yarmuth ( ; born November 4, 1947) is an American politician and former newspaper editor serving as the U.S. representative for since 2007. His district encompasses the vast majority of the Louisville, Kentucky, Louisville Metro Area. ...

, Robert Schulman, (Schulman was a nephew of

Greenwich Village Greenwich Village ( , , ) is a neighborhood on the west side of Lower Manhattan in New York City, bounded by 14th Street to the north, Broadway to the east, Houston Street to the south, and the Hudson River to the west. Greenwich Village ...

's legendary

Romany Marie Marie Marchand (May 17, 1885, Băbeni, Vâlcea County—February 20, 1961, Greenwich Village, New York), known as Romany Marie, was a Greenwich Village restaurateur who played a key role in bohemianism from the early 1900s through the late 19 ...

Denny Crum Denzel Edwin "Denny" Crum (born March 2, 1937) is an American former men's college basketball coach at the University of Louisville from 1971 to 2001, compiling a record. He guided the Cardinals to two NCAA championships ( 1980, 1986) and six Fin ...

(then the coach of the

University of Louisville The University of Louisville (UofL) is a public research university in Louisville, Kentucky. It is part of the Kentucky state university system. When founded in 1798, it was the first city-owned public university in the United States and one of ...

men's basketball team), and two other investors. According to The Media Audit (March–April 2012) the ''LEO'' has a weekly readership of 88,807 and an unduplicated monthly readership of 136,478. The paper carries various nationally syndicated columns and features such as

News of the Weird News of the Weird is a syndicated newspaper column once edited by Chuck Shepherd that collects bizarre news stories. It was created in 1988. , it is syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate and published in more than 250 newspapers in the United S ...

and ''The New York Times'' crossword puzzle. However, the reviews of music, restaurants, theatre, films, books, and local and sports news, are all written by local writers. In the past, it featured popular columns by national writers

Molly Ivins Mary Tyler "Molly" Ivins (August 30, 1944 – January 31, 2007) was an American newspaper columnist, author, political commentator, and humorist. Born in California and raised in Texas, Ivins attended Smith College and the Columbia Univers ...

and

Dave Barry David McAlister Barry (born July 3, 1947) is an American author and columnist who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for the ''Miami Herald'' from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comic ...

History

The paper was initially devoted to opinion and commentary, with columns by Crum, Schulman, Yarmuth, and former ''

Louisville Courier-Journal The ''Courier Journal'', also known as the ''Louisville Courier Journal'' (and informally ''The C-J'' or ''The Courier''), and called ''The Courier-Journal'' between November 8, 1868, and October 29, 2017, is the highest circulation newspape ...

'' writers Mary Cauldwell and Dudley Saunders. The first issue was distributed in July 1990, bi-weekly publication began on November 1 of that year, and weekly publication in April 1993. A free paper, it has always been wholly supported by

advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

revenue. Following its conversion to a weekly format in 1993, the ''LEO'' began including a more diverse variety of news and reviews. Since 1992, the ''LEO'' has published an annual issue called the ''Literary LEO'', dedicated to locally produced literature, poetry and, more recently, photography. Since 1995, ''LEO'' has been a member of the

Association of Alternative Newsweeklies The Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN) is a trade association of alternative weekly newspapers in North America. It provides services to many generally liberal or progressive weekly newspapers across the United States and in Canada. AA ...

. In 2003, it was sold to a company owned by Times Publishing Co. of Pennsylvania, owner of the ''

Erie Times-News The ''Erie Times-News'' is a daily morning newspaper in Erie, Pennsylvania. It has a daily circulation of about 47,385 and a Sunday circulation of about 58,378. The beginning The newspaper was founded as the ''Erie Daily Times'' on April 12, 188 ...

''. Yarmuth remained on board as a columnist and consultant until January 2006, when he declared himself a Democratic candidate for the Kentucky 3rd congressional district race and his column was put on indefinite hold. Yarmuth won the primary and defeated incumbent

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Rep.

Anne Northup Anne Meagher Northup (born January 22, 1948) is an American Republican politician and educator from the Commonwealth of Kentucky. From 1997 to 2007, she represented the Louisville-centered 3rd congressional district of Kentucky in the United S ...

, an occasional target of his columns. In 2008,

SouthComm Communications SouthComm Communications was a media company that owned a number of alternative newspapers and other news sources in the United States such as the ''Nashville Scene'' and the ''Washington City Paper''. It was based in Nashville, Tennessee. South ...

of Nashville, Tennessee, bought the ''LEO''. Following this acquisition, the magazine underwent a style change, introducing a new logo and using coated stock magazine paper rather than newspaper. In March 2013, the printing of ''LEO Weekly'' moved to Gannett Publishing Services in Louisville, and the publication moved back from a coated stock paper to newsprint. In 2014, ''LEO'' was acquired by a group led by Aaron Yarmuth, the son of John Yarmuth. In June 2021, the ''LEO'' was sold to the Euclid Media Group.

References

External links

* {{official website Alternative weekly newspapers published in the United States Newspapers published in Louisville, Kentucky Publishing companies established in 1990 1990 establishments in Kentucky Eccentricity (behavior)