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by | Mar 16, 2018 | Hosta

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Block Club Chicago is an online newspaper that reports local and neighborhood news in Chicago. The website operates as a non-profit, subscription-based service.[1][2]

After DNAinfo was shut down in November 2017, Block Club Chicago was founded by three former DNAinfo Chicago editors – Shamus Toomey, Stephanie Lulay, and Jen Sabella. The new online publication was initially funded with a Kickstarter campaign and with capital from the Civil publishing platform. The Kickstarter was, at the time, the most successful local news Kickstarter campaign.[3] Block Club Chicago went live on June 12, 2018.[1][2][4][5][6][7]

Block Club Chicago was founded in order to supply a neighborhood-focused coverage.[8] It therefore adopted a geographic, rather than topical, structure, in which each reporter is assigned a "neighborhood beat".[3]

As of 2021, Block Club Chicago had a newsletter circulation of 140,000 and a paid subscribership of 15,500. It had ten reporters and five editors.[8]

As of 2023, the website had 20,000 paid subscribers, and offered news coverage of 45 of Chicago's 77 community areas.[9]

References

  1. ^ a b Stevens, Heidi (February 6, 2018). "3 Months Later, Block Club Chicago Picks Up Where DNAinfo Left Off". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  2. ^ a b Grieve, Pete (February 6, 2018). "DNAInfo Journalists to Launch New Chicago Newsroom on Blockchain Marketplace". Chicago Sun-times. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Legg, Heidi. "A Landscape Study of Emerging Local News Models Across America" (PDF). Shorenstein Center. Retrieved 2023-06-03.
  4. ^ Emmanuel, Adeshina (February 7, 2018). "Former DNAinfo Staffers Link Up with Civil for Block Club Chicago". Columbia Journalism Review. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  5. ^ Schmidt, Christine (February 8, 2018). "DNAinfo Chicago Will Be Reborn as Block Club Chicago, Relying on Blockchain and Subscriptions Instead of Billionaires". Nieman Journalism Lab. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  6. ^ Guaglione, Sara (February 9, 2018). "'Block Club Chicago' to Focus on Local Coverage". Publishers Daily. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  7. ^ Feder, Robert (June 12, 2018). "Block Club Chicago Comes Alive Wednesday". Robert Feder. Retrieved July 28, 2019.
  8. ^ a b Scott, Marin (2021). "Local Chicago news startup turns 3, with a growing list of newsletter readers and paid subscribers". Gateway Journalism Review. 50 (360) – via Gale Academic OneFile.
  9. ^ Caro, Mark (June 13, 2023). "Why One Local Newsroom Startup in Chicago Succeeded Where Others Failed". Poynter. Retrieved July 14, 2023.

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