DOWNTOWN — Dozens of newspaper racks around Downtown have quietly disappeared, a move that has harmed local publications and their readers, according to the news outlets.The racks — streetside metal containers that hold copies of local papers and magazines, including Chicago Reader, Newcity and South Side Weekly — have been a staple of Downtown streets for decades.But in the days ahead of the Democratic National Convention, the city removed at least 46 newspaper racks, said Chasity Cooper, the Reader’s director of marketing. Thirty-seven newsracks remain, Cooper said.Local publications didn’t know the racks were gone until it was time to refill them — when workers saw they weren’t there, Newcity publisher Brian Hieggelke said.Hieggelke is the chair of the Chicago Newsracks Task Force, which is made up of Chicago publications, newsrack vendor JCDecaux and the city as a channel for communication. This means Hieggelke was responsible for sharing news of the removed newsracks with affected papers.JC Decaux told Heggielke on Aug. 16 that the city ordered the newsracks to be removed just three days before the Democratic National Convention was coming to town, he said.The loss of the newsracks is a blow to local publications, as they are a critical way for readers to get the news for free in the busiest part of the city, leaders at the outlets said.In a statement, a spokesperson with the Mayor’s Office said the decision to remove newsracks was made based on “public health and safety risks, as well as their deteriorating condition and limited use.” Publications are free to put up their own boxes Downtown so long as their size, weight, placement and aesthetics comply with city code, according to the city.This puts the burden on local publications — some of which have limited financial resources — to quickly replace newsracks before they lose readers, news leaders said.The city didn’t immediately respond when asked if there are plans to remove the remaining newsracks. A newsrack is littered with trash in Downtown Chicago on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. Credit: Leen Yassine/Block Club ChicagoThe newsracks have been around since the mid-’90s, when then-Mayor Richard M. Daley passed an ordinance to consolidate and make uniform the city’s various newspaper stands, Hieggelke said.When the newsracks were installed, there were about 110 around the Magnificent Mile and Gold Coast area, Heggielke said. Over time, that number dwindled to just over 80 newsracks before the recent round of removals, he said.The removal of shared city newsracks immediately impacted the Reader’s circulation. The number of Reader papers in the shared newsracks has dropped from 8,715 copies to 3,385, Cooper said.That means 4,830 Reader copies are no longer available to readers via the newsracks, Cooper said.“So we lost two-thirds of our circulation rate in the busiest area in Chicago,” she said.While the Reader has individual newsracks around Downtown, they hold fewer copies, around 2,800 total. The Reader is also stocked at places like libraries, cultural centers and museums.Without the city’s shared newsracks, just over 4,100 Reader newspapers would be available Downtown, Cooper said. That’s less than half of what was stocked in the shared newsracks alone.The Reader has a nearly zero return rate on its distribution, Cooper said — meaning the papers are nearly all taken by the end of each week.A newsrack in Downtown Chicago on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. Credit: Leen Yassine/Block Club ChicagoHeggielke said he feels the city is taking away racks with “no rhyme or reason.” Local publications are hesitant to put their papers in remaining newsracks because the city might take them away at night, he said.The city has “never done anything like this,” Hieggelke said.“It would have been a reasonable decision for the city to have concluded it was time to move away from these” newsracks, Heggielke said. “That would have been their prerogative. What was unreasonable was the manner that they undertook to not communicate it, and to do it so quickly and decisively that it damaged all the publications and their ability to get the word out.”Downtown Ald. Bill Conway (34th) approved of the removal of the newsracks on social media. He confirmed his stance in a statement to Block Club.“Even before I took office, I’ve heard from neighbors about the unsanitary conditions of these news boxes, which seemed mostly empty,” Conway said in the statement. “In conversations with Streets and Sanitation, I indicated I was in favor of removing these boxes that were in disrepair, but can’t speak to how the City worked with JC Decaux or any of the outlets on removing them.”Glad to work with @StreetsandSan to remove these dilapidated news racks, which were underutilized and had become unsanitary due to misuse. Time for them to go. https://t.co/nx8RKrFLgf— Alderman Bill Conway (@AldConway) August 17, 2024While cleaning up Downtown ahead of the DNC might have been one reason for the removal of the newsracks — some are filled with trash and covered in graffiti — Heggielke believes it’s also an act of suppression.The newsracks have been up through marathons, parades, protests, NATO summits and more, Heggielke said.“It’s not orderly, and it’s just not cool to pick on small businesses,” Heggielke said. “These were places where people were able to get publications that were free, that have a long legacy … of being kind of the independent press in Chicago serving underserved areas of the city.”DNC banners seen in the Loop on Monday, Aug. 27, 2024. Credit: Leen Yassine/Block Club ChicagoKatie Prout, a features writer for the Reader, said the removal of the newsstands directly impacts her readership, especially among people who are unhoused.Having papers in the racks feels like a direct line to the people Prout is reporting “for and with,” she said.“The people that I meet that live on lower Wacker or in some communities around the Loop are some of the most voracious readers that I know,” Prout said. “A lot of people that I know read the Chicago Reader specifically, but also check out other papers as well. That’s where they get a lot of information. … And so I’m reporting on issues that are important to them, whether that is overdose prevention or housing efforts by the city.”The city’s lack of transparency and communication with stakeholders has been especially jarring, she said.“How many papers are not going to get distributed this week and maybe not next week, maybe not the week after and again?” Prout said. “To remove a vital source of information during such an important time — it really, really sucks.”Support Local News!Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? Click here to gift a subscription, or you can support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:Listen OnApple PodcastsListen OnGoogle PodcastsListen OnSpotifyCTA Boss Travels The World More Than Visiting City Transit Stations Episode play icon CTA Boss Travels The World More Than Visiting City Transit Stations Episode play icon Beethoven And Beers — Chicago’s Only Classical Music Street Fest Episode play icon Kamala Accepts, Chicago Takes A Bow, And Beyoncé Didn’t Show — Day Four Of The DNC Episode play icon Marches, Maggots and Monologues – Day Three Of The DNC Episode play icon The Obamas, Lil Jon, And The MyPillow Guy — Day Two Of The DNC Load MoreSearch Results placeholderPrevious EpisodeShow Episodes ListNext EpisodeShow Podcast InformationSupport Local News!Subscribe to Block Club Chicago, an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? Click here to gift a subscription, or you can support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation.Listen to the Block Club Chicago podcast:Listen OnApple PodcastsListen OnGoogle PodcastsListen OnSpotifyCTA Boss Travels The World More Than Visiting City Transit Stations Episode play icon CTA Boss Travels The World More Than Visiting City Transit Stations Episode play icon Beethoven And Beers — Chicago’s Only Classical Music Street Fest Episode play icon Kamala Accepts, Chicago Takes A Bow, And Beyoncé Didn’t Show — Day Four Of The DNC Episode play icon Marches, Maggots and Monologues – Day Three Of The DNC Episode play icon The Obamas, Lil Jon, And The MyPillow Guy — Day Two Of The DNC Load MoreSearch Results placeholderPrevious EpisodeShow Episodes ListNext EpisodeShow Podcast Information