Riverfront Times

History

The paper was founded in 1977 by Ray Hartmann who, along with co-owner Mark Vittert, sold the newspaper in 1998 to New Times Media (later known, following a 2006 merger, as Village Voice Media). In September 2012, Village Voice Media executives Scott Tobias, Christine Brennan and Jeff Mars agreed to purchase Village Voice Media's papers and associated web properties from its founders and formed Voice Media Group. In 2015, Euclid Media Group acquired the Times from Voice Media Group.

The paper received more than three dozen awards from the Missouri Press Association, along with the group's Gold Cup. The paper and website featured a weekly syndicated column by relationship and sex advice writer Dan Savage. In the past, the paper carried Chuck Sheppard's News of the Weird column. Former journalists that wrote for the paper include Suzanne Langlois, who won the 1994 Con Lee Kelliher award for distinguished achievement.

In June 2019, editor-in-chief Sarah Fenske announced her departure after being selected to host St. Louis on the Air on St. Louis Public Radio. News editor Doyle Murphy was selected as interim editor-in-chief. Murphy served as editor-in-chief until he announced in the February 9, 2022, edition that he would be leaving the paper to work for St. Louis Public Radio. Ben Westhoff, the executive editor of Euclid Media Group, served as interim editor-in-chief following Murphy's resignation, but announced on February 24, 2022, that Rosalind Early, who was then serving as deputy managing editor for Washington Magazine at Washington University in St. Louis, would be the paper's next editor in chief, starting in March.

In August 2023, Euclid Media Group dissolved and the newspaper was sold to Chris Keating, operating under the name Big Lou Holdings LLC. The paper was sold again in May 2024 to an unnamed buyer and all staff were laid off. The buyers were revealed to be individuals who promote OnlyFans content creators under the LLCs Ready Set Cam and FanFox registered in Texas.

Bound print backfiles of the Riverfront Times spanning December 1977 to 2007 were donated to Washington University in St. Louis Special Collections, and public librarians Jaclyn Crow and Joshua Lawrence archived digital content from the publication's last decade on a Google Sites page.

References

References

1. "Association of Alternative Newsweeklies". Association of Alternative Newsweeklies.
2. Krull, Ryan. (2024-09-12). "Sauce Magazine lays off all but three employees, pivots toward events".
3. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121104005504/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/csmonitor_historic/access/187179322.html?dids=187179322:187179322&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:AI&date=May+20,+1980&author=By+Stewart+McBrideStaff+correspondent+of+The+Christian+Science+Monitor&pub=Christian+Science+Monitor&desc=Underground&pqatl=google Underground], ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'', May 20, 1980 (noting "Ray Hartmann's fledgling Riverfront Times ...")
4. [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SL&p_theme=sl&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB05097F26C03F4&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM WELL ESTABLISHED: RAY HARTMANN HAS TURNED AN ALTERNATIVE PAPER INTO A 20-YEAR-OLD COMMUNITY FIXTURE], ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]'', November 16, 1997
5. (1998-09-16). "New Times, Inc. Buys Riverfront Times". Association of Alternative Newsweeklies.
6. [http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/1998/09/21/daily15.html Riverfront Times being sold to chain], ''[[St. Louis Business Journal]]'', September 24, 1998
7. [http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=SL&p_theme=sl&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB0871F08D8FB34&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM PHOENIX CHAIN BUYS RIVERFRONT TIMES PRICE IS ESTIMATED AT $6-10 MILLION], ''[[St. Louis Post-Dispatch]]'', September 25, 1998
8. [http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/gi_0199-7115078/Riverfront-Times-turns-30.html Riverfront Times turns 30], ''St. Louis Journalism Review'' (October 2007)
9. [http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2005/10/24/daily4.html?jst=b_ln_hl Riverfront Times parent to merge with Village Voice], ''[[St. Louis Business Journal]]'', October 24, 2005
10. Ha, Anthony. (24 September 2012). "Village Voice Media Execs Acquire The Company's Famed Alt Weeklies, Form New Holding Company". Tech Crunch.
11. (2015-03-25). "Euclid Media Group Acquires St. Louis Weekly, Riverfront Times". AltWeeklies.com.
12. "About Riverfront Times".
13. Rose, Louis J.. (26 September 1994). "Panel Rips TV for Initiating Furor over Simpson Hearing". St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
14. Painter, Madalyn. "Sarah Fenske Named New St. Louis On The Air Host".
15. Fenske, Sarah. (June 27, 2019). "The RFT's New Boss Is Doyle Murphy (Not the Same as the Old Boss)".
16. "Issue of Feb 9-25, Vol. 46, No. 6". The Riverfront Times.
17. Murphy, Doyle. "I'm Leaving, But You Should Absolutely Work at the RFT".
18. "St. Louis News and Events".
19. (August 10, 2023). "The RFT Has a New Owner, and He's Based in St. Louis".
20. Kirn, Jacob. (May 22, 2024). "Riverfront Times sold, newspaper's editorial staff laid off".
21. Merrilees, Annika. (2024-05-22). "St. Louis alt-weekly Riverfront Times sold, lays off all staff".
22. Rogen, Jessica. (2024-09-24). "Who owns the Riverfront Times? Signs point to Texas-based companies hawking OnlyFans camgirls".
23. Fenske, Sarah. (2025-12-04). "Moonlighting librarians save the RFT’s online archive from its post-porn purge".