Dayton City Paper
The Dayton City Paper was a free weekly newspaper distributed at hundreds of locations throughout the metro Dayton, Ohio region from April 3, 2003 through September 11, 2018. Pickup locations included areas as far North as Troy; as far West as Trotwood, West Carrollton, and Miamisburg; areas East including Springfield, Yellow Springs, and Xenia; and as far South as Springboro / Franklin. An ownership change in January 2009 ushered-in an editorial narrowing from its broad “weekly news and culture” format while simultaneously distancing itself from the typical tabloid alternative newsweekly editorial format by aiming at hyper-local arts, culture, and entertainment coverage. The DCP cherry-picked editorial covering the region's performing and visual arts, cultural diversity, entertainment offerings (occasionally including Cincinnati and Columbus), nightlife, recreation, dining, beer, wine, festivals, and a blend of political debate and opinion. That focus along with other aggressive changes in 2010 such as moving its street publication day from Wednesdays to Tuesdays, converting its presentation from 50% color / 50% black & white to an all-color publication printed on an even brighter paper stock, and aggressively increasing its regional availability footprint by securing at least twenty-five regional Kroger stores along with other key pickup locations such as the Dayton Airport and the entire University of Dayton campus, the paper propelled its readership from just under 30,000 weekly readers to over 50,000 by 2017. Early readership surges quickly helped increase revenue sufficiently for employee-publisher Paul Noah to secure low-interest financing to form a new company Dayton City Media that purchased the Dayton City Paper in April, 2012. Other growth benefits included a rapid page-count increase from an average of 32 pages per week in 2009 to anywhere from 40 pages to 44 pages starting in 2013 naturally allowing the publication to expand editorial content in addition to its ability to increase critical display advertising (its only revenue source). At one time the paper swelled to 52 pages. The Dayton City Paper’s contributor roster climbed to its peak of over thirty freelance writers, as did its distribution pickup location count from approximately 350 to over 500 locations by 2016.
| Type | Alternative newsweekly |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner(s) | Independent |
| Founded | 1993 |
| Language | English |
| Ceased publication | September 2018 |
| Headquarters | PO Box 10065 Dayton, OH 45402  |
| Circulation | 18,570± weekly |
| Website | daytoncitypaper.com |
Prior to 2003, the Dayton City Paper was known by two other monikers. The publication launched on August 26, 1993 under the name The Dayton Voice by the husband / wife team of Jeff Epton and Marrianne McMullen. In the early 2000s, the paper's name was changed to Impact Weekly as a result of legal pressure levied by the nationally known alternative newsweekly, The Village Voice which did the same to numerous weekly publications that included the word “Voice” in their names. A handshake agreement amongst many former “Voice” named publications yielded several new, but unrelated “City Paper” publications nationally including Philadelphia, PA, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, MD, and Toledo, OH. On April 3, 2003, Impact Weekly became Dayton City Paper.
Whereas many alternative newsweeklies across the country tend to take political sides (typically left-leaning) and emphasize a blend of lifestyles, the Dayton City Paper deliberately departed from the alt-weekly stereotype with its politically-neutral arts and culture, etc. mission while still inclusively covering the myriad of lifestyles throughout the region, especially with respect to local and independent music coverage. In addition to over 80% locally written content, the publication featured a carefully selected roster of quality syndicated content well appreciated by its eclectic and educated audience including Amy Alkon's "The Advice Goddess", Chuck Shepard's "News of the Weird," Cariel's "Sign Language Astrology," the New York Times Sunday Crossword, as well as weekly editorial cartoons including Don Asmussen's "Bad Reporter," Donna Barstow's "Daily Special," and political satire by Ted Rall (raised in Kettering, Ohio). The paper's staff and freelance writers authoritatively delivered the editorial quality its readers demanded. Readers especially enjoyed the DCP's weekly locally-driven "debate forum" created by former Impact Weekly publisher Kerry Farley where opposing writers argued in a true debate format in favor or against political and social issues of the day with emphasis on local. Yet, debate topics nearly never included the typical water cooler conversation topics such as presidents, abortion, guns, and God. The only topics the paper ever took sides on were legalization of same-sex marriage, marijuana legalization, and solidarity with the French publication Charlie Hebdo.
In fact, on April 25, 2015, the official website of the Dayton City Paper was hacked by unknown individual or individuals claiming to be affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS). The DCP's website homepage instead played foreign music, displayed picture of a masked man holding an apparent assault rifle and displayed the message "Hacked by Team System DZ. I am Muslim & I love Jihad. I love ISIS <3.""[1] The paper's publisher, Paul Noah, stated in an interview on a local TV station he believed the hacking may have been related to the paper's January 20, 2015 edition where the Dayton City Paper executive team collectively chose to publish an approximation via illustrated parody the cover of the January 14 issue of Charlie Hebdo following the Charlie Hebdo shooting.[2][1]
The Dayton City Paper published its final issue on September 11, 2018, with the next issue unexpectedly not appearing on the next scheduled publication date of September 18. The next day, it was reported by several of the paper's writers that the paper had ceased publication, and the same day the newspaper's official website transitioned to provide only an archive of the virtual edition versions of past issues.[3]
The next week several local news media sources revealed that one the newspaper's employees, Wanda Esken, to whom Noah as CEO of Dayton City Media had entrusted daily operations by promoting her to the role of associate publisher and, finally, as Dayton City Paper publisher in September, 2017, had been indicted on charges of grand theft and forgery in relation to her activities in the company. In early January 2018 Noah contacted police after being told by the company that printed the Dayton City Paper that Dayton City Media owed about $35,000 in unpaid invoices. Shortly afterward, he learned from the Victoria Theatre Association (the DCP's landlord) that the publication was four months behind on rent as well. Until those and other unexpected revelations, Noah was under the belief the company was not being managed in arrears. The resulting investigation by the City of Dayton Police Department over the next several months became the basis behind the Montgomery County Prosecutor's indictment.
Though the Dayton City Paper was able to remain afloat for over another half year with Noah contributing thousands of dollars of his own savings, yet leaving no public hint the paper was in trouble other than the page count had plummeted back down to an average of thirty-two to thirty-six pages per week by mid-Spring 2018, he was ultimately unable to prevent it from shutting down. He stated prior to the scandal the paper was thriving, with plans to expand into other markets such as Lexington, Kentucky. After confirming the Dayton Metro Library possessed at least one hard copy of every edition since its 1993 Dayton Voice launch, Noah promises to maintain DaytonCityPaper.com as an online archive of all virtual editions since August 4, 2010 as a courtesy to the paper's writers, advertisers, and readers.
Wanda Esken was eventually arrested on February 4, 2019 based on three Fourth Degree Felony - Grand Theft charges and one Fifth Degree Felony - Forgery charge (all pending). Her trial, State of Ohio v. Wanda Esken, is scheduled for late July, 2019 in Montgomery County, Ohio Common Please Court in Dayton.
References
- "Newspaper site hacked with pro-ISIS message: Dayton City Paper homepage comprised tonight". WHIO-TV. April 25, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
- "Dayton City Paper January 20, 2015 issue". Dayton City Paper. January 20, 2015. Retrieved April 26, 2015.
- Amelia Robinson and Mark Fisher (September 19, 2018). "Dayton City Paper shutting down, writers say". Dayton Daily News. Retrieved September 26, 2018.