Can alternative papers revive journalism?

Publishers from across the U.S. convened in Madison, Wisconsin, July 9-11 to commiserate, inspire and share survival tips at the annual conference for alternative media organizations. The conference brought media vendors together with over 40 member and associated papers of AAN, formerly known as the Association of Alternative Newsmedia.  

Standing in front of journalists, editors and marketing professionals, cartoonist Dan Perkins, known best under his pen name Tom Tomorrow, gave a rousing keynote address.

“I really feel like this is a promising moment for an alt-weekly resurgence,” Perkins said. “There’s a palpable hunger for voices of opposition to the MAGA shit show right now. All the millions of people who marched in the ‘Hands Off’ and the ‘No Kings’ rallies, that’s your audience.”

Not all or even most alternative papers take a left-leaning stance on issues, but Perkins’ remarks reflect a shared desire to carve out a niche among readers. AAN member papers seek to establish a voice that will distinguish them from others in the market, often by covering issues and communities ignored by mainstream media outlets. llinois Times has been a member of AAN since the organization was founded in 1978. IT owner Fletcher Farrar attended the first AAN gathering that took place in Seattle, Washington, in January 1978.

“When Darrel Oldham of Seattle Weekly called me in the fall of 1977 to invite me to this meeting of ‘alternative’ papers, I had no idea that we were an  ‘alternative’ paper, or that there were others around the country trying to do what we were doing. Going to that first meeting was eye-opening, to say the least,” Farrar said.

Distance from the mainstream brings some room for greater audience trust, especially with the public’s continuing crisis of confidence in the media. A Gallup poll from last year ranked mass media as the least trusted group among 10 U.S. civic and political institutions involved in democratic processes, a ranking below the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. 

In the poll, 69% of respondents reported that they had little to no confidence in the media’s role in reporting news fully, accurately and fairly. Only 8% reported a “great deal” of confidence.

While the outlook for trust in national news looks bleak, local outlets typically fare better. Almost three quarters of Americans polled by the Pew Research Center last year said they had some or a lot of trust in local outlets, reflecting a trend the Center has reported since 2016.

Yet, for all the trust in local news, local publications struggle to find the resources needed to produce the news readers seek.

The conference highlighted the highs and lows. Perhaps most dramatic was the implosion of AAN paper Boulder Weekly in the very week that the paper’s fellow members met in Madison. As reported in a Substack post by journalist Corey Hutchins, the news racks of the alt-weekly that had served the Boulder, Colorado, community since 1993 were empty for the first time in its 32-year history. 

A week after firing editor Shay Castle, the paper’s owner, Stewart Sallo, said he did not know when or if the paper would return. If the shutdown is permanent, Boulder Weekly will join a growing list of lost papers.

Over the past two decades, more than one in three U.S. newspapers closed, according to last year’s Medill State of Local News report. Last year, 130 newspapers ceased operation, averaging 2.5 closures per week. This has left 206 counties without a single local news source, and over 1,500 with only one.

Fewer publications generally means fewer reporters. Since 2005, more than 45,000 editorial and reporting jobs have disappeared, a decline of over 60%, according to the Medill report. Illinois has been particularly hard hit, losing 86% of journalists in the same period – the highest percentage decline in the nation – the Chicago Sun-Times reported in late 2024. 

The report estimated the impact of news deserts: “Almost 55 million people in the United States have limited to no access to local news.”

Many of the papers that continue operating do so in a diminished capacity, either publishing less frequently or moving from print to digital-only formats. Medill found that 80% of all the newspapers which remain in the U.S. now publish only weekly. 

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Rebirth as a nonprofit

Madison’s Isthmus, the conference’s host paper, survived the COVID-19 pandemic, but just barely. 

Like many other papers, Isthmus saw ad revenue dry up as businesses shut down amid the pandemic onset. By April 2020, Isthmus had announced a pause in publication and laid off staff. The paper’s owners did not see a way forward.

But the paper’s staff was not ready to see it die and banded together to convert the paper to a nonprofit. Editor Judith Davidoff said what Isthmus provided to Madison was worth saving.

“I was just really dedicated to what Isthmus has stood for all these years. We put a strong emphasis on quality writing and quality editing,” Davidoff said. “It was such an abrupt end, and I guess I’m a bit of a fighter. I just didn’t want to let it go.”

The paper provides the most comprehensive community calendar in town, as well as providing a space where readers can pen a personal essay, according to Davidoff. During the pandemic, the staff worked to provide the information people needed, from COVID-19 testing sites to virtual arts and culture events. 

They now work with local illustrators and photographers for their cover design to showcase local artists and collaborate with Wisconsin Watch to publish in-depth investigative reports each month. And the paper mentors young people as interns.

Plus, since returning to print in August 2021, the Isthmus staff members hand-deliver the paper around town, which allows them a very direct line to their readers. Davidoff recalled a time when she encountered a young fan of the paper while delivering to a local bookstore. 

“She kind of squealed and then her friend revealed that she frames most of them in her apartment,” Davidoff said. 

Davidoff said there was a desire from both advertisers and sources, across age groups, to be in print, adding that her team was always shocked by how many young people would ask, “Is this going to be in print?” 

It turned out, readers were willing to pay to support the community benefits provided by the paper. Although Isthmus still relies on traditional advertising for about 60% of its revenue, readers now account for around 30% of revenues. Another 10% comes from foundation grants and donor-match fundraisers. 

The nonprofit model was widely discussed among AAN members at the conference. Several times, the question was asked, “Are you nonprofit yet?” It is a model with high promises: editorial independence from private ownership and the sense that foundation grant money plus reader contributions will materialize to keep finances afloat. But going nonprofit comes with its own challenges.

“Those grants require time. The applications are sometimes lengthy and they want specific things,” Davidoff said. 

Pitching stories for grant funding often requires having a large chunk of the work done to ensure stories have a future, especially for niche or investigative stories. Isthmus does not always have the resources to support the research needed to apply for grants. In her experience, Davidoff said, there are few grants to directly support operating costs. 

Moving to a nonprofit status also involved a learning curve for Isthmus, Davidoff said, referring to new skills the editorial staff needed to develop to raise money, manage human resource responsibilities and manage and work with a board of directors.

Davidoff called the current model at Isthmus “stable but not sustainable.” The paper has money in the bank to make payroll and get the paper out – now monthly instead of weekly – but it struggles to provide benefits or offer time off to the team. To grow and provide more content, Davidoff thinks they would need to hire additional editorial staff. 

Each year since its return to print, Isthmus celebrates its “Rebootiversary,” a vivid reminder to readers and local businesses that, without community support, this beloved product could disappear again.

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Relying on reader support

Reader support is crucial, from small local papers all the way up to alternative national publications like The Onion and Wired magazine. Although neither is a member of AAN, representatives from both publications made an appearance at the conference.

Danielle Strle, chief product officer at The Onion, discussed the satirical publication’s digital rebound and reentry into print last year.Part of the success comes in asking readers to pay, doing it relentlessly, and asking in the same cheeky tone as the rest of the site’s content.

“Have A Written Record of Society’s Collapse,” read one Onion ad in Strle’s presentation. “Send Us Money Until the Throbbing Subsides,” read another. 

The media company asks readers to contribute in its daily email newsletter, as well as organizing membership campaigns around major stories and holidays. For Father’s Day this year, the paper advertised a 25% discount with phrases like, “THE PATRIARCHY WILL BE PLEASED” and “FINALLY, A CHANCE TO MAKE YOUR FATHER PROUD.”

Strle said The Onion is leaning into that brand voice and identity to form a community around the publication in other ways, like selling stickers and allowing readers to ask journalists about their work through Reddit Ask Me Anything forums. 

Wired Global Editorial Director Katie Drummond, who joined the conference for a “fireside chat,” similarly encouraged attendees to embrace what makes their publications special.

Wired, founded in 1993, has always been devoted to coverage of cutting-edge and emerging technologies. Unlike traditional news, it isn’t mandated to cover everything that happens. Rather, the publication can define a precise identity for its coverage. And, that identity has evolved with the times.

“I think Wired when it was founded was very much about championing this new era of innovation, this era of technology,” Drummond said in an interview with Illinois Times. “Technology in the 90s was counterculture. It was subversive. It was like the rebels and the hackers building the early era of the internet.”

Now with technology companies forming a $1 trillion industry, Drummond said, that culture has become the establishment. It has meant a shift in how Wired covers the tech world, now with a lens of accountability towards the influence of wealthy business leaders like Amazon owner Jeff Bezos, tech billionaire Elon Musk and OpenAI Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman. 

“So, the role of journalism in that, of course, is to question the power, question the money, the decisions,” Drummond said. 

The question of power came into view more distinctly than ever in the past year, when Musk took on the role of “special government employee” to President Donald Trump. Wired, which had rarely dabbled in politics before, formed a new politics reporting team under Drummond’s leadership. 

Drummond saw initial hesitation or pushback from some readers convert into praise as readers tuned in for the coverage of Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) initiative. And they showed up with their wallets to support it. 

“The most rewarding part of my job recently has been seeing how our journalism translates directly into subscription revenue,” Drummond said. “When we started covering the Trump administration and Elon Musk and DOGE, we saw this massive surge in subscriptions.” 

She also credited staff – who she referred to as “very experimental” and “very weird” – for the magazine’s recent success and revenue growth. 

“They are very quick to interrogate and ask questions, and so we do really fun, strange things because we have license to as Wired,” Drummond said. “At Wired, trying the crazy thing is part of the DNA of the place.”

Establishing a strong voice and identity is something Drummond encouraged other publishers to leverage to build a stronger relationship with audiences, especially local papers that are embedded in their communities. 

“I have seen firsthand how great journalism turns into money, so I would say not to feel like you need to cheapen your work or back away from provocative journalism or difficult stories,” Drummond advised. “I believe that if you build that direct connection with your community and your audience that there’s a business model that can work.”

Cartoonist Perkins, not always known for his optimism, saw tapping into the alternative as a path forward.

“These are not hopeful times in so many ways and yet I’m urging you to remain hopeful, to remain true to your alternative roots, to keep in mind that what you are doing matters. Adversarial local journalism matters now more than ever, local culture reporting matters, the community you create by doing these things matters.”   

Maggie Dougherty is a summer intern with Illinois Times as she finishes her master’s degree with Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. 

This article appears in August 28-September 3, 2025.