New York-based hedge fund Atalaya won the Creative Loafing bankruptcy auction today gaining control of the alt-weekly chain, the second-largest in the country. The chain has been owned and operated by the Eason family since it was founded 30 years ago, and has papers in Chicago, D.C., Charlotte, Atlanta, and Tampa.
Atalaya won the auction with a bid of $5 million, more than twice the $2.32 million the Easons and their backers came up with. Creative Loafing had borrowed $30 million from Atalaya in 2007 to buy the Chicago Reader and the Washington City Paper.
Atalaya says they’re not going to shut down the papers, and even says they’ll make $1 million available for the chain’s costs. Ousted CEO Ben Eason says he’ll start a new online publication in Tampa.
Wait, Washington City Paper … isn’t that who “distributes” that DC politico online thing those WaPo political reporters bailed to?
Oh, snap. They’re going to all be let go.
Eason is a total tool
Coming from an Atlanta resident: Creative Loafing sucks. It aims for all the marks that a standard-issue generic alt-weekly is supposed to hit–the best-of-city, some local music, some city news, some bad comics and syndicated material. But it does it in the most bland, useless way possible. There’s absolutely no voice to the paper; it feels more like the City Life Sunday section of a daily than anything else. It’s weekly, but it’s sure not alt-weekly; the daily Atlanta Journal-Constitution has more flavor. Can I use the word “bland” about three more times in this paragraph? Bland bland bland.
If the Stranger ever wants to start an Atlanta branch, know that you’d be filling a gaping hole.
You win Headline of the Day.
Nobody reads The Reader since the uncreative oafs took over and slashed 3/4 the content.