The ''Houston Press'' is an

online newspaper An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical. Going online created more opportunities for newsp ...

published in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely 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 and is free to readers. It reports a monthly readership of 1.6 million online users. Prior to the 2017 cessation of the print edition, the ''Press'' was found in restaurants, coffee houses, and local retail stores. New weekly editions were distributed on Thursdays.

History

The

alt-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 ...

''Houston Press'' was founded in 1989 by John Wilburn, Chris Hearne (founder of Austin's ''Third Coast Magazine'') and Kirk Cypel (a Vice President of a Houston-based investment group) conceived of this news and entertainment weekly after rejecting a business plan to relaunch ''Texas Business Magazine''. Hearne and John Wilburn, who previously managed the Sunday magazine of the ''

Dallas Morning News ''The Dallas Morning News'' is a daily newspaper serving the Dallas–Fort Worth area of Texas, with an average print circulation of 65,369. It was founded on October 1, 1885 by Alfred Horatio Belo as a satellite publication of the ''Galvesto ...

'', jointly established the magazine. Hearne was the paper's first publisher and Cypel served as the organization's business advisor. Although the paper faced early challenges, the landscape changed when Hearne and Cypel engineered a buyout of 713 Magazine, a key competitor. Once in control of 713, they stopped its publication and converted advertisers to the ''Houston Press''. Thereafter, the ''Houston Press''s advertising and circulation grew dramatically. Prior to the establishment of the ''Houston Press'', the city did not have a major alternative weekly publication. Its original cover story was about the election of the Mayor of Houston. For the newspaper's first five years, Niel Morgan served as the investor, and therefore the owner; Morgan was a real estate developer. Due to Wilburn's desire to get mainstream advertising, he chose not to run sexually-oriented advertising. After Wilburn and Morgan found themselves disagreeing over aspects of the paper, Wilburn quit. In the period before 1993 the ''Houston Press'' experienced financial difficulties. That year Morgan sold the paper, to New Times Media. Sexually-oriented advertising appeared after the sale. The paper's fortunes improved due to the

dot-com bubble The dot-com bubble (dot-com boom, tech bubble, or the Internet bubble) was a stock market bubble in the late 1990s, a period of massive growth in the use and adoption of the Internet. Between 1995 and its peak in March 2000, the Nasdaq Comp ...

of 1997-2001 and the increase in advertising; it was one of the first alternative weeklies in the United States to establish a website. In 1998 ''Houston Press'' acquired the assets of an alternative paper, ''

Public News Public News is a Pakistani news channel launched on 24 June 2018 by a Pakistani media mogul Yousaf Baig Mirza. The channel is owned and operated by Sports Star International Private Limited (Sports Star). It is an Urdu language Pakistani televi ...

'', that was ceasing operations. Employees of ''Public News''' sales department began working for the ''Houston Press''. That year Margaret Downing became the primary editor. There were 23 reporters and editors in 1998. Michael Hardy stated in the '' Texas Observer'' that the "heyday" of the paper was around 2004. Advertising-related income declined due to the rise of persons reading articles online, as well as the establishment of Craigslist. In 2005, New Times acquired Village Voice Media, and changed its name to Village Voice Media. In September 2012, Village Voice Media executives Scott Tobias, Christine Brennan and Jeff Mars bought Village Voice Media's papers and associated web properties from its founders and formed Voice Media Group. The paper's fortunes declined, as

Backpage was a classified advertising website founded in 2004 by the alternative newspaper chain New Times Inc./New Times Media (later known as Village Voice Media or VVM) as a rival to Craigslist. Similar to Craigslist, Backpage let users post a ...

, which separated from Village Voice Media, had contributed significant funding. On November 3, 2017, Voice Media Group announced that it would cease printing of the ''Press'', moving to online-only publication, and that the paper would only use freelance journalists. Voice Media Group cited

Hurricane Harvey Hurricane Harvey was a devastating Category 4 hurricane that made landfall on Texas and Louisiana in August 2017, causing catastrophic flooding and more than 100 deaths. It is tied with 2005's Hurricane Katrina as the costliest ...

as the final factor behind the cessation, and Downing stated that a recession in the oil industry and the decline of revenue from advertising contributed to the decision. The majority of the ''Press'' employees, including nine full-time editorial staff members and at least 6 employees on the advertising staff, lost their jobs. Downing and publisher Stuart Folb continued, along with a small advertising staff and marketing manager. The online-only scenario was a compromise reached by Downing and Folb with the owners, who initially wished to completely shut the paper down. In 2021, Voice Media Group sold the ''Houston Press'' to an anonymous buyer.

Content

Hardy stated that the ''Houston Press'', known for its coverage of the culture of Houston, was like a " court jester" compared to the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

'' being the "king" of Houston's journalism industry; he added "Its music and arts listings were more comprehensive and reliable than those of the ''Chronicle'', which often seemed painfully out of touch, and it had the best critics in the city." He added that "The ''Press'' established a reputation for punching above its weight" in regards to investigative journalism, citing how an article lead to the exoneration of Roy Criner. The publication included John Nova Lomax's articles on the cityscape and music as well as Robb Walsh's articles on the

cuisine of Houston In 1998, ''USA Today'' referred to Houston, Texas as "the dining-out capital of he United States ">United_States.html" ;"title="he United States">he United States /nowiki>." Houstonians ate out at restaurants more often than residents of other Ame ...

Headquarters

The headquarters of the ''Houston Press'' are located in

Midtown Houston Midtown is a central neighborhood of Houston, located west-southwest of Downtown. Separated from Downtown by an elevated section of Interstate 45 (the Pierce Elevated), Midtown is characterized by a continuation of Downtown's square grid street ...

on McGowen Street. Prior to 1998,Garza, Abrahán. "Spaced City The ''Houston Press'' Moves to New Digs, From Downtown to Midtown." ''Houston Press''. October 25, 2013. p
1Archive
. Retrieved on October 25, 2013. the ''Houston Press'' was located in Suite 1900 of the 2000 West Loop South building in Uptown Houston, off of the

610 Loop Interstate 610 (I-610) is a freeway that forms a loop around the inner city sector of the city of Houston, Texas. I-610, colloquially known as The Loop, Loop 610, The Inner Loop, or just 610, traditionally marks the border between the i ...

West Loop. In 1998, it moved to a new location in Downtown Houston, which became the ''Houston Press'' building and was originally built in 1927. That building is in close proximity to the

ExxonMobil Building The ExxonMobil Building (formerly the Humble Building) was built in 1963 in Houston. At that time it was the tallest building west of the Mississippi River at , surpassing the Southland Center in Dallas (the previous record holder). It remained ...

. Shelor Motor Company was the building's first occupant and used it as an automobile showroom. Beginning in the 1960s, the facility served as the Gillman

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada *Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

dealership building. In 1994 Suzanne Sellers painted a by trompe-l'œil mural that is located around two of the building's sides. This mural is visible from Leeland, Milam, and Travis streets. In 2008 the ''Houston Press'' building received damage from

Hurricane Ike Hurricane Ike () was a powerful tropical cyclone that swept through portions of the Greater Antilles and Northern America in September 2008, wreaking havoc on infrastructure and agriculture, particularly in Cuba and Texas. Ike took a sim ...

since the hurricane caused water to go through the parking area on the building's roof into the offices. In 2010 the ''Houston Press'' installed new energy efficient windows in place of the original glass windows on the facility's second and third floors. On the weekend after Friday October 25, 2013 the ''Houston Press'' was scheduled to move to its new offices in Midtown, then on 2603 LaBranch Street.Garza, Abrahán. "Spaced City The ''Houston Press'' Moves to New Digs, From Downtown to Midtown." ''Houston Press''. October 25, 2013. p
2Archive
. Retrieved on October 25, 2013. "Our new address will be 2603 La Branch Street, Houston TX 77004"

Awards

Up until the November 2017 loss of salaried staff, the ''Houston Press'' won various awards for its coverage. Awards from 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. AAN ...

: 2007 *First Place, Feature Story; Third Place, Investigative Reporting Todd Spivak *First Place, Music Criticism; Second Place, Arts Feature John Nova Lomax *Second Place, News Story/Long Form, Craig Malisow 2005 *Honorable Mention, Column above 50,000: "Downing" by Margaret Downing *3rd Place, Education: Above 50,000: "HCCS's Gift Basket Bonanza" by Josh Harkinson *2nd Place, Food Writing: Above 50,000: "The Cow Says Oink" by Robb Walsh *3rd Place, News Story (1500 words or less): "Firing Line" by Josh Harkinson 2004 *2nd Place, Column-Political: Above 50,000: Tim Fleck *1st Place, Food Writing: Above 50,000: Robb Walsh *3rd Place, Religion Reporting: Above 50,000: "Doing Time" by Scott Nowell 2003 *1st Place, Media Reporting: Above 50,000: "Reality TV Bites" by Jennifer Mathieu 2001 *2nd Place, Investigative Reporting: Above 54,000: "Paying the Price" by Bob Burtman 2000 *1st Place, Column: Above 54,000: Margaret Downing *1st Place, Corrections Reporting: Above 54,000: "Trouble in Mind" by Steve McVicker 1999 *1st Place, Online 1998 *1st Place, Investigative Reporting: Above 54,000: "Easy Street" by Bob Burtman *1st Place, Web Site: "Webb Page Confidential" Other awards of note include Todd Spivak's 2006 first place win in the Investigative Reporters and Editors Association under 100,000 circulation weekly category, and Rich Connelly's first place in the humor category of the under 100,000 circulation bracket of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists.

References

External links