The Boston Phoenix was the survivor of a proud journalistic tradition dating back to the alt-weekly wars of the ’70s, in which the Phoenix battled against its former staffers on The Real Paper. The fight was over authenticity, and which paper best reflected the values of its audience. That audience was young people, war protesters, fans of the counterculture, rock music lovers, and feminists. Really, it was anyone who believed that powerful institutions and other engines of society deserved a kind of scrutiny that went beyond mere reporting, and who wanted to see the fundamental ills of the social order exposed.
Alternative journalism was brave and daring, and it eventually began to seep into the more-mainstream media. Still, the Phoenix, like New York’s Village Voice and the Chicago Reader, dedicated itself to social justice at the street level, a subject that didn’t fit easily into other journalistic formats. Over time, changing attitudes, even among young people, made the Phoenix’s offerings seem less urgent and compelling. Web-based competition for readers and advertisers intensified. Cutbacks ensued.
Comments
Wow the point of this editorial is that we need the Phoenix because the Globe is failing at its mission.
The only thing that could assuage this crazy deamer's heartache would be to wake up tomorrow morning and see the names Bernstein, Schwartz and Faraone on the Globe's masthead.
The Phoenix never really was as important as the editors and writers thought it was.
Follow the money! No money = No newspapers.
Profits from sex/prostitution advertising fueled that entire enterprise.
The truth is The Phoenix relied on sex ads....an entire pull-out section every week, with 100% density of advertising/zero editorial. That was the business model. I don't think it was designed that way, but once they opened the door there was no turning back. They charged top dollar and got prepayment for sex ads. No reputable newspaper or other media outlet in Boston sold advertsising space to that category. The Phoenix owned the category. It was easy and profitable. SOOOOOOOO profitable.
The Phoenix and or WFNX did not sell enough (non-sex) advertising to EXIST let alone make a profit, expand to other cities, or, weather even one economic downturn.
Craigslist and other digital advertising friendly to sex business/prostitution is the main reason the Phoenix (and WFNX) shut down.