As Philadelphia City Paper Closes, a Campaign Springs Up to Keep its Archives Public

“If it bleeds it leads,” the old saying goes. For alt-weekly lovers and fans of good journalism in general, “Philadelphia City Paper to Cease Publication” was that type of story—a stab in the heart as another publication bit the dust.

A company called Broad Street Media, which owns the competing Philadelphia Weekly, announced Sept. 30 that it had “ac­quired the in­tel­lec­tu­al prop­erty rights” to City Paper, and would promptly be shutting it down. The final print edition goes out today. City Paper staff soon published word of their own impending unemployment—andelegies and remembrances for the paper started to roll in.