Washington City Paper

See also: List of newspapers in Washington, D.C.

The Washington City Paper^[a] is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area since 1981. The City Paper is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial mix is focused on local news and arts. It is owned by Mark Ein, who bought it in 2017.

The Washington City Paper

Type	Alternative weekly
Format	Tabloid
Owner(s)	Mark Ein
Editor	Alexa Mills
Founded	1981; 44 years ago (1981) (as 1981)
Headquarters	734 15th St. NW, Suite 400 Washington, D.C., U.S. 20005
Circulation	68,059 weekly in 2011[1]
Website	washingtoncitypaper.com

History

The Washington City Paper was started in 1981 by Russ Smith and Alan Hirsch, the owners of the Baltimore City Paper.^[3] For its first year it was called 1981: Washington's Alternative Newspaper.^[2] The name was changed to City Paper in January 1982 and in December 1982 Smith and Hirsch sold 80% of it to Chicago Reader, Inc.^[3] In 1988, Chicago Reader, Inc. acquired the remaining 20% interest. In July 2007 both the Washington City Paper and the Chicago Reader were sold to the Tampa-based Creative Loafing chain. In 2012, Creative Loafing Atlanta and the Washington City Paper were sold to SouthComm Communications.^[4]

Amy Austin, the longtime general manager, was promoted to publisher in 2003. Michael Schaffer was named editor in April, 2010, two months after Erik Wemple resigned to run the new local startup TBD.^[5]

On December 21, 2017, it was announced that D.C.-area venture capitalist and philanthropist Mark Ein would buy the City Paper.^[6] He became the first D.C.-based owner in the paper's history.^[7] Ein announced the creation of two groups to ensure the paper's long-term success: "Alumni Group" and "Friends of Washington City Paper."^[8]

Defamation lawsuit

In 2011, Daniel Snyder, the owner of the Washington Redskins, filed a lawsuit^[9] against the City Paper for The Cranky Redskins Fan's Guide to Dan Snyder, a November 19, 2010 cover story that portrayed him in a negative light.^[10][11] He and the Simon Wiesenthal Center claimed that the story used anti-Semitic tropes.^[12] Prominent sports journalists, Jewish groups,^[13] and Jewish writers published sharp criticism of Snyder and the Simon Wiesenthal Center's claims of anti-Semitism, referring in various opinion pieces and public statements to their statements as, "breathtakingly dumb allegation",^[14] "almost unbearably stupid",^[15] and "so self-evidently lacking in merit".^[16]

The Washington City Paper issued its own response in a published editorial, saying, "But we at City Paper take accusations of anti-Semitism seriously—in part because many of us are Jewish, including staffers who edited the story and designed the cover. So let us know, Mr. Snyder, when you want to fight the real anti-Semites."^[17]

In response, hundreds of loyal readers donated over $30,000 to a legal defense fund.^[18][19]

In September 2011 the lawsuit was dropped, after, in December 2010, Washington D.C. passed^[20] anti-SLAPP legislation ("David Donovan, the Redskins' former chief operating officer and general counsel, that threatened an expensive legal battle unless Snyder received a retraction and an apology"^[21]), while also, Amy Austin, the publisher, had written in a February article^[22] that unauthorized switching of long-distance accounts by Snyder Communications and GTE Communications was not meant to be construed as, by Snyder himself, but people who worked for Snyder Communications and GTE Communications.^{[21][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]}

Contents

Regular City Paper features include:

• a cover feature, 2,500 to 12,000 words in length
• an arts feature, 1,200 to 2,000 words in length
• The District Line, a section of shorter news features about D.C.
• Loose Lips, a news column and blog devoted to D.C. local politics^[30]
• Young & Hungry, a food column and blog^[31]
• Housing Complex, a real estate column and blog^[32]
• Music, theater, film, gallery, and book reviews by various writers
• City Lights, a section comprising critics' events picks.

Also published is one syndicated feature:

• Savage Love, by Dan Savage

Notable former staffers

An empty Washington City Paper dispenser at Huntington metro station

• David Carr – Former staff writer, The New York Times; author, The Night of the Gun^[33]
• Jake Tapper – Chief Washington correspondent, CNN^[33]
• Ta-Nehisi Coates – National correspondent, The Atlantic; author, Between the World and Me; MacArthur "Genius" grant recipient^[33][34]
• Katherine Boo – Author, Behind the Beautiful Forevers; MacArthur "Genius" grant recipient^[35]
• Erik Wemple – Media critic, The Washington Post^[36]
• Jack Shafer – Senior media writer, Politico; former columnist, Reuters; former columnist, Slate^[37]
• Amanda Hess – Staff writer, The New York Times; former staff writer, Slate^[38]
• Dave McKenna – Staff writer, Deadspin^[39]
• David Plotz – CEO, Atlas Obscura; co-host, Slate Political Gabfest; former staff writer, Slate^[35]
• Jelani Cobb – Staff writer, The New Yorker^[33]
• Clara Jeffery – Editor-in-chief, Mother Jones^[35]
• Kara Swisher – Co-founder, Recode^[35]
• Jason Cherkis – Reporter, HuffPost^[33]
• Neil Drumming – Producer, This American Life^[33]
• Amanda Ripley – Journalist and author^[33]
• Michael Schaffer – Editor, Washingtonian^[33]
• Brett Anderson – Contributing writer, The New York Times;^[40] former restaurant critic, The Times-Picayune^[33]
• Tom Scocca – Deputy executive editor, Special Projects Desk, Gizmodo Media Group^[41]
• Christina Cauterucci – Staff writer, Slate^[42]
• Lydia DePillis – Economics reporter, CNNMoney; former economics reporter, Houston Chronicle; former business reporter, The Washington Post^[43]
• Jonathan Fischer – Senior editor, Slate^[42]
• Josh Levin – Executive editor, Slate^[42]
• Jessica Sidman – Food editor, Washingtonian^[44]
• Mike DeBonis – Reporter, The Washington Post^[45]
• Alan Suderman, Virginia statehouse reporter, Associated Press^[46]
• Will Sommer – Reporter, The Daily Beast^[47]
• Shani Hilton – Deputy Managing Editor, Los Angeles Times^[48]
• Perry Stein – Reporter, The Washington Post^[49]

Notes

1. Originally titled 1981: Washington's Alternative Newspaper and titled the City Paper between 1982–1988, and still informally known by the latter name^[2]