In 2024, the Chicago Reader covered 34 art venues, 156 performing art venues, theaters and live music, conducted 311 theater reviews, 202 film reviews, 52 visual art show reviews and published 1,627 concert announcements. Of those, 491 freelancers, many of them practicing artists, contributed over 1,500 articles. “We tell y’all about a lot,” according to Ellen Kaulig, the Chicago Reader’s chief of staff.

That storied history will continue now that the 54-year-old publication is being acquired by Noisy Creek — the media company that bought alternative weeklies in Seattle and Portland, Oregon — The Stranger and the Portland Mercury. Walkinshaw did not disclose terms of the deal, but said it will close this week.

Noisy Creek is the brainchild of Brady Walkinshaw — former Democratic legislat

See Full Page