A breath of fresh air
An inaugural editorial note on Green Bay’s new alternative weekly newspaper
By John McCracken
Green Bay has a lot more to it than football, bridges and cheese.
No offense to that trinity, but Green Bay has a bustling and booming art scene, ample local musicians, engaged and active citizens and a whole lot else. But where do you go to know what is happening in your own backyard? Before today, it was probably pretty messy.
That’s where Green Bay City Pages comes in. Green Bay City Pages is the city’s only alternative weekly newspaper.
We publish in-print every Thursday. Our paper is 100% free and can be found at grocery stores, convenience stores, restaurants, bars, alleyways and other locations throughout the Greater Green Bay area. A full list can be found here.
Green Bay City Pages also helps you find out what’s happening in your own city with our literal “big guide” of events.
Alt-weeklies, as in an alternative weekly paper, are found across the country, with examples of historic papers such as The Village Voice, The Detroit Metro Times, Isthmus in Madison and Shepherd Express in Milwaukee.
Alternative weeklies haven’t really existed in Green Bay, or at least not for some time. Recent memory brings about Frankly Green Bay’s coverage of local entertainment which stopped publishing in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The Scene, which halted publishing in 2017. The News-Chronicle (originator of this publication’s parent company) printed a Thursday entertainment section dubbed “Rave!”, but it’s been a hot minute since Green Bay had a voice like ours and we’re ecstatic to be here.
Here at Green Bay City Pages, we’re not afraid to be flashy, loud, opinionated, cover topics no one else is covering and peel back the layers that make Green Bay, well, Green Bay.
Green Bay City Pages is owned by Multi Media Channels LLC—the parent company of hyper-local Green Bay newspaper The Press Times as well as our sister alt-weekly paper, Wausau City Pages. We are editorially separate from these publications, but we collaborate with feedback on stories, coffee runs and ideas.
But wait a minute, who am I?
My name is John McCracken and I will be the Editor. I’m a journalist by trade but a musician at heart. Before coming aboard with Green Bay City Pages, I freelanced with The Press Times, The Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting, The Capital Times, Tone Madison, Belt Magazine, Great Lakes Now (Detroit Public Media), Bandcamp Daily and Loudwire among others freelance projects. I love to report on music, art, Midwest culture, environmental concerns, community issues and anything else that catches my eye. I also love a good hotdog, playing board games and listening to death metal.
As your Editor, I am humbled to champion, curate and work with contributors and artists who care deeply about topics such as public arts funding. Our premiere cover story gives a behind the scenes look at how some local community organizations are working to erase “starving artist” from the public’s vocabulary. As an arts and entertainment focused publication, we too play a role in how our community sees and interacts with the arts. I look forward to covering this ongoing topic and I hope you do too. As Green Bay’s Public Arts Coordinator Laura Schley told me “we’re stronger together.” Read the full story starting here.
Talking about money and funding can be a touchy subject even when it comes to something as enjoyable as the arts and I thank everyone involved for their time. I also want to thank local illustrator Carolyn Paplham for her amazing work illustrating our cover issue. She knocked it out of the park. Check it out below.
Green Bay's art scene has made strides in recent years. The road isn't always easy. Read the full story here.
Illustration by Carolyn Paplham
While Green Bay City Pages is your go to source for events, arts, entertainment and culture, we recognize that these subjects don’t exist in a vacuum. We plan to tackle deep dives into local issues such as infrastructure problems and environmental concerns because we all need to get from point a to point b and we all live on this planet together.
Alt-weeklies also thrive when different community voices are at the table. We have a plethora of columnists lined up for our perspectives and opinion section for future issues. In our first issue, political columnist Eric Drzewiecki delves into how local governing bodies waste time and resources “virtue signaling” on a variety of topics across the aisle. Read his piece here.
As we are just getting started, I want to make myself available to our readers and community members. Bring me your outcasts. Bring me your punks. Bring me the misfits, the oddballs, the loudmouths, the curious, the nerdy, the underserved, the unheard and everyone in-between. If you have a story you want to share, get in touch with me via email at jmccracken@mmclocal.com or call (920) 624-4502.
I invite you to submit your comments, letters, feedback and concerns to me.
Additionally, I will be hosting “coffee hours” the first Friday of every month from 11am to 2pm. The first event will be on Oct. 1 at Kavarna Coffeehouse (143 N Broadway), the second will be on Nov. 5 at The Attic Corner (730 Bodart) and the last one this year will be on Dec. 3 at Village Roasters (933 Anderson Dr., Ashwaubenon). This is an opportunity for you to voice concerns, talk about stories past, present and future and is definitely not an excuse for me to get out of the office and drink coffee. The event page can be found here.
If you want to follow us online, make sure to subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter here. You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
Thank you for reading and I hope you keep picking us up. See you around.
John McCracken is the editor of Green Bay City Pages. He can be reached via email at jmccracken@mmclocal.com or on Twitter @jmcjmc451.