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Feder: Chicago Reader to go nonprofit route

After nearly 50 years as the city's premier alternative weekly, the Chicago Reader is about to move to a nonprofit business model, Robert Feder writes.

Owners Elzie Higginbottom and Leonard Goodman, who rescued the Reader from Sun-Times mismanagement in 2018, have made a deal to sell the newspaper to a newly created nonprofit, the Reader Institute for Community Journalism, in early January.

The Reader hasn't turned a profit in ages, although revenue is said to be up almost 50 percent this year.

As an official nonprofit, the door will be open to additional revenue sources, including foundation grants and other donations.

Get the full report, and more Chicago media news, at robertfeder.com.

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