Farewell for Now The ReadeR and el PeRico Plan To end wiTh SePTembeR’S iSSue

It was always an unexpected journey.

What started in 1992 as Sound News & Arts to preserve the old Sokol polka hall (today’s Admiral), led to launching an alternative investigative newsweekly with arts coverage that caught the wave that was Omaha’s indie culture explosion and all that followed. Partnering with Omaha’s original bilingual media helped center equity in our coverage and contributing to a vibrant nonprofit and community media ecosystem, one that helped bend local news coverage to be more fair and just. It’s been nothing short of an incredible adventure and honor.

However, due to life circumstances, I’ve decided it’s time that I can no longer do what’s best for myself or those closest to me by being a local media owner and operator. I currently intend for The Reader and El Perico to cease operations, effective by the end of August, and with our September issue.

This isn’t an easy decision, but I’ve made no secret of my medical challenges. I thought I could come back as if nothing had changed. But I made a commitment to myself and now, a bit over a year out, is a time for a reckoning to honor that, even as my treatments continue.

I need to slow down. I need to find more space in my life. I will focus my time catching my breath, managing health, maybe even smelling some roses, with some consulting, thinking about the future of local media and hoping to otherwise make myself useful.

This is a very personal decision. I’m still very bullish on local media opportunities and still intend to contribute as I’m able in other capacities. The Reader and El Perico are viable businesses with some extra work, financing and if you can find that secret sauce with some staying power, potentially quite profitable. They have a lot of the right ingredients, but this line cook has to hang up his apron. They could only continue in the right hands, and if you think that’s you, I’m open to a conversation. Absent that, the hardest part of this is helping our outstanding team find their own next adventures. They embraced our mission and there is not a group out there more dedicated to supporting and telling stories that need to be told. I can not endorse them enough. Any organization would be lucky to have them.

I want to express my deep gratitude for a city full of stories we’ve been allowed to tell over these last decades. These are your stories. It’s been our honor to share them. Grateful for an audience that supported that coverage. For all of our paid members, we will prorata refund your membership fees, though we would encourage you to redirect them as donations to Omaha Documenters. That’s the type of program that will really redefine journalism’s future.

Fortunately, we have a number of great, strong local community newsmedia operations — Flatwater Free Press, the Omaha Star, 1st Sky Omaha, Mundo Latino and Nebraska Examiner — working on reinventing local media and journalism. They have my full support and I hope I can help them thrive to meet the needs of our growing, diverse metropolis.

So as we wind down almost 55 combined years (29 years for The Reader, 24 years for El Perico), we’d love to hear your stories, and to share those in these last issues.

And you can bet there will be a little shin-dig at that old polka hall. Welcome any thoughts or suggestions on that. Let’s celebrate all that we’ve done together.

Thank you, as always, for reading.

John heaston PuBLISHER/EDITOR