 | |
| Type | Alternative bi-weekly |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner(s) | Brady Walkinshaw |
| Publisher | Rob Thompson |
| Editor | Wm. Steven Humphrey |
| Founded | June 2000 |
| Language | English |
| Headquarters | 115 SW Ash St., Suite 600 Portland, OR 97204 USA |
| Circulation | 45,000(as of June 2014) [1] |
| Website | portlandmercury |
Portland Mercury is an alternative bi-weekly newspaper and media company founded in 2000 in Portland, Oregon. It has a sibling publication in Seattle, Washington, called The Stranger . [2]
A prior version of The Mercury was published from 1869 and into the 1930s. The current Portland Mercury launched in June 2000. [3] The paper describes their readership as "affluent urbanites in their 20s and 30s." [4] Its long-running rivalry with Willamette Week began before its first issue was even printed when Willamette Week publisher Richard Meeker asked a Portland law firm to pay $10 to register the Mercury name with Oregon's Corporation Division, thus preventing it from being used for 120 days. [5]
As of 2020, the newspaper's revenue was almost entirely dependent on advertising and sales of tickets for events and concerts with nearly 95% of its revenue coming from advertisements. [6] [7]
Former managing editor Phil Busse's controversial tenure included charges of plagiarism, a favorable review for a restaurant that hadn't yet opened, a bid for mayor, and a cover featuring him wearing women's underwear, dollops of whipped cream, and a hard hat. [8] Shrill , a television series based on Seattle-based writer Lindy West’s memoir and essay collection of the same name, was inspired by The Stranger and Portland Mercury and starred actress Aidy Bryant. [9] The paper has also published articles and columns written by Chuck Palahniuk and Dan Savage. [10] [11]
Portland Mercury's print edition was published weekly until fall 2018 [12] when it changed to bi-weekly beginning with the issue released on September 13, 2018. [13] Its name as displayed on the nameplate was shortened to just Mercury as well. [12] [14]
On March 14, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the paper temporarily suspended print publication and switched to online only. [15] In addition, it laid off 10 employees, which comprised half of the publication's staff. [16] [17] A special newsstand edition, titled 'Say Nice Things About Portland: A Manifesto,' was released in May 2023. It was Portland Mercury's first print publication since the beginning of the pandemic. [18]
In July 2024, the paper, along with the related The Stranger were sold by Index Media to Noisy Creek, a media company founded by Brady Walkinshaw. [19]
Charles Michael "Chuck" Palahniuk is an American novelist who describes his work as transgressional fiction. He has published 19 novels, three nonfiction books, two graphic novels, and two adult coloring books, as well as several short stories. His first published novel was Fight Club, which was adapted into a film of the same title.
The Stranger is an alternative biweekly newspaper in Seattle, Washington, U.S. It has a progressive orientation and as founded in 1991. The paper's principal competitor is the Seattle Weekly.
Willamette Week (WW) is an alternative weekly newspaper and a website published in Portland, Oregon, United States, since 1974. It features reports on local news, politics, sports, business, and culture.
An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting local people and culture. Its news coverage is more locally focused, and their target audiences are younger than those of daily newspapers. Typically, alternative newspapers are published in tabloid format and printed on newsprint. Other names for such publications include alternative weekly, alternative newsweekly, and alt weekly, as the majority circulate on a weekly schedule.
The Portland Tribune is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday in Portland, Oregon, United States. It is part of the Pamplin Media Group, which publishes a number of community newspapers in the Portland metropolitan area. Launched in 2001, the paper was published twice weekly until 2008, when it was reduced to weekly. It returned to twice-weekly publication in 2014 and was again reduced to weekly publication in 2020. It was distributed free from its 2001 launch until October 2022, then becoming available only by paid subscription or purchase at retail outlets.
Street Roots is a Portland, Oregon, United States based homeless advocacy group and a weekly alternative newspaper that covers homeless issues. The newsprint is sold by and for the homeless in Portland. The paper is published every week and sold through vendors who are currently or formerly homeless. The paper's editorial position is homeless advocacy. Vendors purchase the paper for 25 cents and sell them for $1 and keep the difference of 75 cents. The paper features alternative news, interviews, and poetry written by local journalists as well as the homeless and those who work with them.
The Independent Publishing Resource Center (IPRC) is a resource center based in Portland, Oregon that provides access to tools for the creation of books, prints, posters, zines, and comics. The studios include a computer lab and general workspace, screen printing, letterpress printing, risograph printing, and a zine library. The center was founded in 1998 by Chloe Eudaly, owner of Reading Frenzy and Show & Tell Press, and Rebecca Gilbert, worker-owner at Stumptown Printers.
CC Slaughters is a gay bar and nightclub located in Portland, Oregon, and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. The Portland bar is located in the Old Town Chinatown neighborhood, and the Puerto Vallarta bar is located in Zona Romántica.
LGBT culture in Portland, Oregon is an important part of Pacific Northwest culture.
The Skanner or The Skanner News is an African-American newspaper covering the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Its head office is in Portland, Oregon, with an additional office in Seattle, Washington. Prior to discontinuing regular print publication in 2020, it published three formats: a daily website at theskanner.com, a weekly printed newspaper, plus a facsimile of the printed edition online.
Three Sisters Tavern, sometimes abridged as Three Sisters and nicknamed "Six Tits", was a gay bar and strip club in Portland, Oregon, United States. The bar was founded in 1964 and began catering to Portland's gay community in 1997 following the deaths of the original owners. The business evolved into a strip club featuring an all-male revue. Also frequented by women, sometimes for bachelorette parties, Three Sisters was considered a hub of Portland's nightlife before closing in 2004.
Purrington's Cat Lounge was a cat café and shelter in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. The establishment billed itself as "the first cat cafe and adoption center in the Pacific Northwest". Purrington's was the first cat cafe in Oregon and among the first in North America.
The Alibi, also known as Alibi Restaurant and Lounge and Alibi Tiki Lounge, is a restaurant and tiki bar located in Portland, Oregon's Overlook neighborhood, in the United States.
Crush Bar is a gay bar and restaurant in Portland, Oregon's Buckman neighborhood, in the United States. Established in 2001, the bar was scheduled to permanently close at the end of 2023, until an employee's investment kept Crush open into 2024.
Clyde Common was a restaurant and market in Portland, Oregon, United States. The business opened in 2007. In 2020, Clyde Common closed temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic, reopening in July with outdoor dining and as a market. The bar and restaurant became known as Clyde Tavern, and the part of the former dining area was called Common Market. Clyde Common closed permanently in January 2022.
Delta Cafe is a Southern, cajun, and soul food restaurant in the Woodstock neighborhood of Portland, Oregon. Anastasia Corya and Anton Pace opened the restaurant in 1995. They sold Delta in 2007 to open another Southern restaurant, Miss Delta, with two of the cafe's cooks. Frequented by Reed College students and neighborhood residents, Delta Cafe has been recognized as a favorite local comfort food destination. The cafe also has a cocktail bar called Delta Lounge. In 2016, a mural was painted on the restaurant's exterior as part of a neighborhood beautification project.
Xico was a Mexican restaurant in Portland, Oregon's Richmond neighborhood, in the United States. The restaurant opened in 2012; sibling establishment Xica Cantina opened in northwest Portland in mid 2019. Xico closed in March 2023 for financial reasons.
Local Lounge was a gay bar in Portland, Oregon, operating from 2010 to 2021.
Aviv was a Middle Eastern vegan restaurant with several locations in Portland, Oregon. Guy Fieri visited the restaurant for a 2020 episode of the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. Although Aviv had been popular, it closed in 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hippo Hardware and Trading Company, or simply Hippo Hardware, is a hardware store in Portland, Oregon. Established by Steven Miller and Stephen Oppenheim in southeast Portland in 1976, the business has operated from its current location on East Burnside Street in the Buckman neighborhood since 1990. Hippo Hardware sells new and salvaged hardware, lighting, plumbing and other materials, as has a hippopotamus theme throughout. The store has supplied locally filmed television series and has been described as an institution and a landmark.
the Mercury and its Seattle sister paper, The Stranger
Mercury readers are affluent urbanites in their 20s and 30s with impressive disposable incomes and an appetite for everything the city has to offer.
