Alternative Newsweeklies Go Global

Posted on April 2, 2004

The debut issue of a new alternative newsweekly hit the streets of Amsterdam yesterday. Amsterdam Weekly received support from the Chicago Reader, a major investor in the new publication and founding member of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. Since its founding in 1978, the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies has grown to include 123 free-circulation weekly newspapers throughout North America.

Todd Savage, a former freelancer for the Reader, devised the plan for starting the weekly overseas and approached The Reader for capital and business expertise for the new venture.

"Todd wanted to do it; it was his idea and he came to us with it," says Jane Levine, the publisher of the Chicago Reader and chief operating officer of Chicago Reader Inc., which also owns Washington City Paper. "We want to grow, we want to expand, and there aren't a lot of cities in the states that don't have strong alternative weeklies, and there aren't a lot of cities overseas where you can do an English-language weekly.

Amsterdam Weekly looks to fit the mold of a sleek, stylish urban weekly with critical stories on arts and culture in the Amsterdam region, reports Matt Pulle, writing for AAN News. The new weekly will target both expatriates and Dutch readers.

Levine declined to exactly specify the Reader's stake in Amsterdam Weekly, but acknowledged that it is hardly incidental. "There are a couple of large investors and we are one of them."