Chicago Reader

Founded in 1971, the Chicago Reader was originally conceived as a free arts and culture print publication. The Reader’s status as an “alternative weekly” newspaper embedded in Chicago’s arts and music scene produced a cult following among young, hip audiences, creating name recognition for the Reader over time.
During the Local News Accelerator, the Chicago Reader overhauled its print newspaper distribution model. The Reader doubled the frequency of production and distribution of its print product from biweekly to weekly, conducted an in-person audit of the most oversaturated route on its old distribution map and created a custom tool to test the viability of map locations. Ultimately, the Chicago Reader used Medill research to reposition 15% of its print distribution locations.

The Reader team identified seven neighborhoods within Chicago’s South and West sides to focus expansion around. By the end of LNA, the Reader team increased the number of box locations in these target neighborhoods by 21%, from 234 boxes to 283 boxes, and increased circulation of print issues in these locations by 43%, from 13K to 18.5K. As of Oct. 2024, the Reader had more distribution points in Chicago’s South and West sides than in the Loop/Magnificent Mile area as a result of relocating redundant distribution points and establishing new ones. The Reader team also left the LNA program with an agile tool, developed through data analysis, to determine the crucial factors when deciding a distribution point’s placement, enabling the project to continue evolving into the future.

I think that was a really big key– having access to the research, having a partner that had the ability to pull some research that we would not have been able to, and [having Medill researchers] really analyze it. That was huge–expanding outside of our own organization.

Chastity Cooper, Director of Marketing for Chicago Reader