Editing Houston Press (section)

==History==
The [[alt-weekly]] ''Houston Press'' was founded in 1989<ref>{{cite news|last1=Routon|first1=Ralph|title=Believe it or not: New Gazette publisher sounds excited about the future but shifty about his past|url=http://www.csindy.com/coloradosprings/believe-it-or-not/Content?oid=1328013|access-date=25 January 2017|newspaper=[[Colorado Springs Independent]]|date=February 26, 2009|archive-date=November 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171107113956/https://www.csindy.com/coloradosprings/believe-it-or-not/Content?oid=1328013|url-status=dead}}</ref> by John Wilburn, Chris Hearne<ref name="Glassman">{{cite book |last1=Glassman |first1=James |title=The Houstorian Calendar: Today in Houston History |date=2019 |publisher=History Press |location=Charleston, S.C. |isbn=978-1-4671-3987-8 |page=162}}</ref> (founder of Austin's ''Third Coast Magazine'') and Kirk Cypel (a vice president of a Houston-based investment group) conceived of this news and entertainment weekly after rejecting a business plan to relaunch ''Texas Business Magazine''.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}}

Hearne and John Wilburn, who previously managed the Sunday magazine of the ''[[Dallas Morning News]]'',<ref name=Hardyreq>{{cite magazine|author=Hardy, Michael|url=https://www.texasobserver.org/requiem-alt-weekly-houston-press/|title=Requiem for an Alt-Weekly|magazine=[[Texas Observer]]|date=2017-12-14|access-date=2017-12-14}}</ref> jointly established the magazine.{{r|Glassman}} Hearne was the paper's first publisher and Cypel served as the organization's business advisor. Although the paper faced early challenges, the landscape changed when Hearne and Cypel engineered a buyout of ''713 Magazine'', a key competitor. Once in control of 713, they stopped its publication and converted advertisers to the ''Houston Press''. Thereafter, the ''Houston Press''{{'}}s advertising and circulation grew dramatically.{{citation needed|date=November 2017}} Prior to the establishment of the ''Houston Press'', the city did not have a major alternative weekly publication. Its original cover story was about the election of the [[Mayor of Houston]].<ref name=Hardyreq/>

For the newspaper's first five years, Niel Morgan served as the investor,<ref>Tyer, Brad. "Mama Ninfa and her Comeback Kids." ''Houston Press''. Thursday August 6, 1998. [http://www.houstonpress.com/1998-08-06/news/mama-ninfa-and-her-comeback-kids/ 1]. Retrieved on February 4, 2012.</ref> and therefore the owner; Morgan was a real estate developer. Due to Wilburn's desire to get mainstream advertising, he chose not to run sexually-oriented advertising. After Wilburn and Morgan found themselves disagreeing over aspects of the paper, Wilburn quit. In the period before 1993 the ''Houston Press'' experienced financial difficulties. That year, Morgan sold the paper<ref name=Hardyreq/> to New Times Media.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Vane |first1=Sharyn |date=November 1998 |title=Consider the Alternative |journal=[[American Journalism Review]] |url=http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=912 |access-date=October 18, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606165524/http://www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=912 |archive-date=June 6, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Sexually-oriented advertising appeared after the sale. The paper's fortunes improved due to the [[dot-com bubble]] of 1997–2001 and the increase in advertising;<ref name=Hardyreq/> it was one of the first alternative weeklies in the United States to establish a website.<ref name=Najarroceases>{{cite news|author=Najarro, Ileana|url=http://www.chron.com/business/article/Houston-Press-to-cease-print-publication-12330482.php|title=Houston Press ceases print publication|newspaper=[[Houston Chronicle]]|date=2017-11-03|access-date=2017-11-04|quote=The Press, one of the nation's first alt weeklies to have an online presence.}}</ref> In 1998 ''Houston Press'' acquired the assets of an alternative paper, ''[[Public News (Houston)|Public News]]'', that was ceasing operations. Employees of ''Public News''<nowiki>'</nowiki> sales department began working for the ''Houston Press''.<ref>{{cite news|author=Carroll, Chris|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/1998/07/20/newscolumn3.html|title=Houston Press acquires Public News assets as alternative folds|newspaper=[[Houston Business Journal]]|date=1998-07-20|access-date=2017-11-04}}</ref> That year Margaret Downing became the primary editor. There were 23 reporters and editors in 1998. Michael Hardy stated in the ''[[Texas Observer]]'' that the "heyday" of the paper was around 2004.<ref name=Hardyreq/>

Advertising-related income declined due to the rise of persons reading articles online, as well as the establishment of [[Craigslist]].<ref name=Hardyreq/> In 2005, New Times acquired [[Village Voice Media]], and changed its name to [[Village Voice Media]].<ref>{{cite news |title= The Village Voice, Pushing 50, Prepares to Be Sold to a Chain of Weeklies |author= Richard Siklos |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/24/business/24voice.html |newspaper= [[The New York Times]] |date= October 24, 2005|access-date=October 18, 2012}}</ref> In September 2012, Village Voice Media executives Scott Tobias, Christine Brennan and Jeff Mars bought Village Voice Media's papers and associated web properties from its founders and formed [[Voice Media Group]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Village Voice Media Execs Acquire The Company's Famed Alt Weeklies, Form New Holding Company|date=September 24, 2012 |url=https://techcrunch.com/2012/09/23/voice-media-group-acquisition/|publisher=Tech Crunch|access-date=27 September 2012}}</ref> The paper's fortunes declined, as [[Backpage]], which separated from Village Voice Media, had contributed significant funding.<ref name=Hardyreq/>

On November 3, 2017, Voice Media Group announced that it would cease printing of the ''Press'', moving to online-only publication,<ref name="Johnson">{{cite news |last=Johnson |first=Laurie |date=3 November 2017 |title=Houston Press Abruptly Ends Print Publication |work=Houston Public Media |url=https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2017/11/03/248483/houston-press-abruptly-ends-print-publication/amp/ |access-date=2021-09-25}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=November 3, 2017 |title=Voice Media Group Sheds Legacy Newsprint Operations in Houston and Los Angeles |url=http://www.houstonpress.com/news/the-houston-press-shutters-its-print-operation-9931298 |newspaper=Houston Press |access-date=November 3, 2017}}</ref> and that the paper would only use freelance journalists.{{r|Johnson}}<ref>{{cite news |author=Downing, Margaret |url=http://www.houstonpress.com/news/saying-goodbye-to-the-houston-press-in-print-9931333|title=The Presses Have Stopped, But the Press Lives On|newspaper=Houston Press|date=2017-11-03|access-date=2017-11-04}}</ref> Voice Media Group cited [[Hurricane Harvey]] as the final factor behind the cessation, and Downing stated that a recession in the oil industry and the decline of revenue from advertising contributed to the decision. The majority of the ''Press'' employees,<ref name=Pulsinelliendsp>{{cite news|author=Pulsinelli, Olivia|url=https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2017/11/03/houston-press-ends-print-product-cuts-staff.html|title=Houston Press ends print product, cuts staff |newspaper=[[Houston Business Journal]]|date=2017-11-03|access-date=2017-11-04}}</ref> including nine full-time editorial staff members and at least six employees on the advertising staff,<ref name=Najarroceases/> lost their jobs.<ref name=Pulsinelliendsp/> Downing and publisher Stuart Folb continued,<ref name=Hardyreq/> along with a small advertising staff and marketing manager.{{citation needed|date=January 2018}} The online-only scenario was a compromise reached by Downing and Folb with the owners, who initially wished to completely shut the paper down.<ref name=Hardyreq/>

In 2021, Voice Media Group sold the ''Houston Press'' to an anonymous buyer.<ref name="sold">{{cite news |last1=Devadanam |first1=Steven |title=Pioneering Houston alternative media outlet sold to mysterious new owner |url=https://houston.culturemap.com/news/city-life/11-09-21-houston-press-sells-voice-media-group-new-buyer-margaret-downing-stuart-folb/ |access-date=8 December 2022 |work=CultureMap Houston |date=9 November 2021 |language=en}}</ref>