The first month of City Pulse
The first issue of City Pulse was Aug. 15, 2001.
The cover image featured someone with a boyish grin flying in a rocket pack, and the sales prototype was explicit about the paper’s goals: “Lansing’s newest media outlet reaches lucrative advertising market.”
City Pulse’s prototype cover, in a cardboard stand format, which lives in the City Pulse offices. Mike Ellis/City Pulse
City Pulse launched to reach people who weren’t reading stories about themselves and as a platform for businesses to reach people at rates they could afford.
The first headlines carried the same rocket prototype image, and the first news stories were about the Ranney Skate Park (being built with $600,000 in city support despite naysayers saying you’d have to be a “sadist” to want it in such a risky spot) and The Temple Club’s impending opening (the club with a sprawling dance floor would operate for about five years with the 1905 building becoming the Temple Lofts a few years ago).
The second issue focused on East Lansing’s early high-rises and asked: “Is this progress?”
The plan – build housing in downtown to goose the number of shoppers and shops – is being repeated in downtown Lansing.
Many of the same challenges – suburban people unaccustomed to parking and the rise of the Internet – are familiar, but others like competition from powerful malls are a little fainter.
The story lamented the withdrawal of planned downtown East Lansing anchors Tower Records and Jacobson’s department store and celebrated the coming of CVS as well as the mainstay of Flat, Black and Circular. The record store is still around and is now owned by Jon Howard, an employee who was quoted in the 2001 story.
The third issue of City Pulse came out on Sept. 12, 2001.
The fourth began to reckon with a new world.
What a time
Launching a media enterprise in 2001 wasn’t an insane idea.
There was a new energy in the media environment. Websites and free media and the Internet were showing the first signs of toppling the still-dominant dinosaurs of TV, radio, books, newspapers and more.
AOL had bought up venerated Time Warner and Yahoo! (with a period-correct exclamation point!) was headed back up to its financial heights.
The Internet was around and helpful, but was more of a curiosity or occasional tool for most people. City Pulse’s website was lansing.com and we wish we still had that domain! Look for lansingcitypulse.com.
But the September 2001 attacks marked a quick shift in the landscape and suddenly, a new Lansing newspaper that was flying high on ambition and chutzpah seemed to be a much more risky proposition.
City Pulse was born to be an alternative paper.
Over 25 years, we’ve been with you through a lot of changes. Old buildings saved and lost, downtown workforces swelling and the downtown becoming a ghost town during the pandemic.
We’ve been through the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and are now amid wars in Ukraine and Iran.
City Pulse predates the iPhone and Facebook.
Somewhere along the way, City Pulse adopted the “alternative” tagline.
We’re not 100% about what “alternative” means, but we know City Pulse is a great alternative to everything out there.
It means we can use ‘hell’ or even the stronger swear words if it’s appropriate and we pursue what our readers want.
More importantly, it means we’re a paper for everyone.
An alternative to the big mainstream publications.
We’re not beholden to national trends and powers or out-of-state goals.
City Pulse is operated by Buried Lede Media and owned by Michigan Independent Media Group, which also owns Tribune Recorder Leader, Yale Expositor, Tri-City Times and the Hamtramck Review. MIMG has partnered with Civic Media to acquire five Upper Peninsula radio stations.
In practice, City Pulse is a paper that has something for everyone. ‘Alternative’ has lost a lot of meaning over the years as it’s easier than ever to find stories about people like yourself.
Which is why we’re committed to bringing you stories you still can’t find anywhere else.
We cover Lansing and East Lansing news as well as other local news that affects our region. We cover arts and culture better than anyone else in the area, from weekly live music roundups from dozens of venues to deep profiles on local and national music figures.
City Pulse’s food coverage reaches into your kitchen, your weekend plans and your lunch recommendations. Today’s City Pulse is also delivered in newsletters, with a special food-specific newsletter on Saturdays.
What’s changed?
City Pulse remains, in a surprising number of ways, unchanged from a quarter century ago.
Looking back at the very first issues: Tom Tomorrow’s comics still run, Rob Brezney’s astrology reports still run, we call our weekly food stories “The Dish,” and we feature illustrations and photographs on our cover instead of lots of words.
And we hope to see you around in another 25 years.
Mike Ellis was a college dropout 25 years ago. He has been a professional journalist for 20 years and became the managing editor of City Pulse last fall.
