We’re starting to experience something unfamiliar in our long history, that is, having more stories ready to publish for an edition than we have space for.
This is a very good thing, as there is nothing worse than coming out of a deadline, hoping to take a breath, and realizing that you’re missing a cover story for the next issue. This was especially a problem in all our years as a print weekly.
Beyond the stress reduction it brings us editors, this is a good thing for the magazine and its readers, too, as it means we can be more selective about the stories we publish, we can more carefully curate the mix of things in any given issue, and we can take the time to improve work that needs improving—in writing, editing and design.
So yes, this trend is a good one. But we’re not getting complacent, since we have twelve print issues to fill in 2023. And we need many more stories to do so.
For Newcity Digital, we’ve been living with a sea change of another kind this last year or so, as the advent of our daily, five-days-a-week publishing schedule, led by the Newcity Today newsletter, has meant a whole new level of constant and intense workflow. And we’ve recently increased our budget for art stories from three days a week to five, so it’s increasing. Any peace we might achieve in our lives from print being more manageable is more than offset by the increasing pace of digital.
As we end this year, we want to thank all of you for your continuing readership and support. You’re the engine fueling us. Please consider spreading the Newcity word with gift subscriptions this holiday season. Not only will you be giving the gift of cultural intelligence—and what better thing to share?—but you’ll be enabling us to continue increasing the breadth and depth of cultural journalism and criticism that we all value. Find gift subscription options at NewcityShop.com.
—BRIAN HIEGGELKE
Look for Newcity’s December 2022 print edition at over 300 Chicago-area locations this week or subscribe to the print edition at Newcityshop.com.
IN THIS ISSUE
Photo Finish AIC Photography curator Elizabeth Siegel talks about her epic swan song
What Cuts At My Soul James Elder’s story of Mama Lizzie
Film Leaders of the Moment How Music Box Theatre and Music Box Films thrive and survive
Film 50 2022 Meet Chicago’s current class of “screen gems”
AND
Comics “Let the Dead Walk” A new graphic story by Anya Davidson
Poetry “arrhythmia” A new poem from Rachel DeWoskin
Editor's Letter: December 2023 Our first music issue since 2021 brings together contributors who span the history of Newcity and, in some cases, life before it.
Editor's Letter: April 2022 The convergence of three passions—art, film and Brazil—that first week in April is giving us spring fever.
Editor's Letter: January 2022 We did not publish a Players list in 2021 due to the start of the ongoing pandemic. We're freshening it up with this return with a new approach.
