City Pages Shutting Down, Effectively Ending Era Of Alternative Weeklies (ad revenue way down) [View all]

City Pages, which has been an alternative news and entertainment source for the Twin Cities for more than four decades, is shutting down for good, according to a statement posted from the Star Tribune ownership.

The weekly paper, which is currently owned by the Star Tribune and has been since 2015, is shutting down immediately. The last issue will be distributed this week.

The paper began under the moniker Sweet Potato in 1979 before rechristening as City Pages two years later. It was, along with the Reader, considered the preeminent free alternative newspaper in the metro area for most of the ’80s and ’90s. The Reader was shut down in the late ’90s.

The move was made as a result of the disruption the COVID-19 pandemic has had on restaurants, clubs, theaters and other venues that “form the core of City Pages’ revenue.”