''Philadelphia City Paper'' was an

alternative weekly newspaper 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 ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. The independently owned paper was free and published every Thursday in print and daily online at citypaper.net. Staff reporters focused on labor issues,

politics Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...

education Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty. Va ...

and

poverty Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse social, economic, and political causes and effects. When evaluating poverty in ...

. Critics reviewed the city's

arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both hi ...

entertainment Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have developed over thousa ...

literary Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

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 ...

scene. Listings of

concerts 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 variet ...

, art exhibits, dance performances and other events were carried in the paper and in a comprehensive online events calendar. The publication was established in November 1981 as a spinoff of the now-defunct WXPN Express newsletter. ''Philadelphia City Paper'' distributed 70,000 copies in more than 2,000 locations throughout Philadelphia, its suburbs and

South Jersey South Jersey comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey located between the lower Delaware River and the Atlantic Ocean. The designation of South Jersey with a distinct toponym is a colloquialism rather than an administrative ...

. Its more than 2,000 orange-colored boxes and wire racks were found in

Center City Philadelphia Center City includes the central business district and central neighborhoods of Philadelphia. It comprises the area that made up the City of Philadelphia prior to the Act of Consolidation, 1854, which extended the city borders to be coterminous wi ...

cafes A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-caf ...

small businesses Small businesses are types of corporations, partnerships, or sole proprietorships which have fewer employees and/or less annual revenue than a regular-sized business or corporation. Businesses are defined as "small" in terms of being able to ap ...

and on many university campuses. Each year, ''City Paper'' published a City Guide for college students and new residents. Its monthly readership was 521,000, which was verified by Scarborough Research. Founder Bruce Schimmel sold the paper to the Rock family (Milton L. Rock and his son Robert H. Rock) in 1996. In 2014,

Metro Metro, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urba ...

acquired the ''City Paper'' from the Rock family. In 2015, the ''City Paper'' was sold to Broad Street Media, owner of ''

Philadelphia Weekly ''Philadelphia Weekly'' (''PW'') is a website based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded as a newspaper in 1971 as ''The Welcomat'', a sister publication to the ''South Philadelphia Press''. In 1995, the paper became ''Philadelphia Weekl ...

''. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.

Print edition

''City Paper'' was broken into a variety of different sections. Naked City: The paper's news section regularly featured A Million Stories, an offbeat analysis of current events in the city, the Bell Curve, the city's "quality-o-life-o-meter". Cover Story: Typically a long-form feature, news, or service package, taking on various writing forms such as narrative, question-and-answer, and explanatory. The paper's front page art or design was usually centered on the cover story's content. Arts & Entertainment: Reviews and short show previews of both local and national talent. The section covered a broad swath of genres, including music, photography, performing arts, books and visual arts. Movies: Reviews and picks of local, independent and mass-produced films. Lead reviews were usually written by Sam Adams, Shaun Brady, or Drew Lazor. The section also included movie shorts (200-word graded reviews) and local repertory film listings. Events: A calendar of noteworthy events in the city, highlighting everything from clothing boutiques and book signings to festivals and music performances with quick, witty previews. Food & Drink: Reviews and features centered on local restaurants, cafes and bars, and also chronicles the goings-on of Philadelphia's restaurant community, such as openings and closings. Reviews were mostly handled by critic Adam Erace.

Online edition

''City Paper''s website featured the digital version of the print edition, along with links to blogs and social networking pages.

Blogs

The Naked City: The news blog, covering anything from breaking news to quirky stories from the community. Meal Ticket: The paper's food and drink blog. Shop Savvy: Brenna Adams' expertise on shopping on a budget. Data Points: A look at Philly's tech universe. Let's Get It On: Rachel Kramer Bussel on sex of all stripes. Philly: Hyper Local: This blog focuses on the local happenings with culture, food, people and more in Philly's neighborhoods. Get Lit: Lynn Rosen reads between the lines for insights on the local book scene.

Social networking

''City Paper'' had regularly updated profiles on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Contests

Contests: The contest page offered viewers opportunities to win concert, theatre, movie tickets and more.

Masthead

Associate Publisher Jennifer Clark Editor in Chief Lillian Swanson Senior Editor / Music Editor Patrick Rapa Arts & Culture Editor Mikala Jamison Senior Staff Writer Emily Guendelsberger Staff Writer Jerry Iannelli Copy Chief Carolyn Wyman Production Director Dennis Crowley Senior Designer & Social Media Director Jenni Betz U.S. Circulation Director Joseph Lauletta Account Managers Sharon MacWilliams, Susanna Simon, Stephan Sitzai Classified Advertising Sales Jennifer Fisher Founder & Editor Emeritus Bruce Schimmel

Awards

2015

In 2015, ''City Paper'' won 11

Keystone Press Award The Keystone Press Awards are a prominent series of awards presented by the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association to Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the ...

s, awarded by the

Pennsylvania Newspaper Association The Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association is a trade group serving newspapers in Pennsylvania. The PNA seeks to "advance the business interests of Pennsylvania news media companies" and protect the "free and independent press." It represents Pennsylv ...

. *First Place: Investigative Reporting :Ryan Briggs *First Place: Series :Emily Guendelsberger *First Place: Feature Story :Natalie Pompilio *First Place: News Feature Story :Emily Guendelsberger *First Place: News Beat Reporting :Daniel Denvir *First Place: Feature Beat Reporting :Mikala Jamison *First Place: Front Page Design :Brenna Adams, Jenni Betz *Second Place: Personality Profile :Mikala Jamison *Second Place: News Photo :Maria Pouchnikova *Second Place: Video Story :Daniel Denvir, Emily Guendelsberger *Honorable Mention: Ongoing News Coverage :Daniel Denvir

2014

In 2014, ''City Paper'' won 15

s, awarded by the

. *First Place: Investigative Reporting :Ryan Briggs *First Place: News Series :Daniel Denvir *First Place: Feature Beat Reporting :Emily Guendelsberger *First Place: Photo Story :Neal Santos *First Place: Sports Photo :Neal Santos *First Place: Front Page Design :Reseca Peskin *First Place: Page Design :Reseca Peskin *First Place: General News :Daniel Denvir *First Place:Ongoing News Coverage :Daniel Denvir & Samantha Melamed *First Place: Featured Story :Ryan Briggs *First Place: Graphic/Photo Illustration :Evan M. Lopez, Emily Guendelsberger & Jess Bergman *First Place: News Beat Reporting :Samantha Melamed *Second Place: Feature Beat Reporting :Adam Erace *Second Place: Business or Consumer Story :Samantha Melamed *Honorable Mention: Column :Daniel Denvir *Honorable Mention: Special Project :Pat Rapa

2013

In 2013, ''City Paper'' won 8

s, awarded by the

. Also in 2013, ''City Paper'' won one

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 ...

awards.

2012

In 2012, ''City Paper'' won six

s, awarded by the

2011

In 2011, ''City Paper'' won two

awards.

2010

In 2010, ''City Paper'' won six Newspaper of the Year (NOY) awards, including the prestigious newspaper of the year honor. Also in 2010, ''City Paper'' won six

s, awarded by the

2009

In 2009, ''City Paper'' won three Newspaper of the Year (NOY) awards. *First Place (tie): General and Departmental News Coverage *First Place: Advertising Excellence *Second Place: Layout & Design

References

External links

The ''Philadelphia City'' paper
{{Newspapers published in Pennsylvania Alternative weekly newspapers published in the United States Defunct newspapers of Philadelphia Publications established in 1981 1981 establishments in Pennsylvania

Print edition

Online edition

Blogs

Social networking

Contests

Masthead

Awards

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

References

Further reading

External links