The Chicago Reader completed its transition to a nonprofit organization Monday, starting a new chapter for the iconic 51-year-old alternative newspaper.
The sale to the nonprofit Reader Institute for Community Journalism follows months of turmoil, as the owners who rescued the money-losing newspaper from insolvency battled over its direction. An agreement to move forward as a nonprofit was reached last month when co-owner Len Goodman relinquished control and three board members stepped down from the Reader.
Tracy Baim, who became publisher of the Reader in 2018, called the shift to nonprofit “Independence Day” for the newspaper, but said the task ahead remains challenging.
