The Chicago Reader announced that Malik Johnson, a South Shore native and former executive director and publisher of South Side Media Works, will join the newsroom June 1 as its next publisher, replacing Amber Nettles.
On a Monday announcement that carries the weight of a newsroom trying to steady itself, the Chicago Reader said Malik Johnson will join the newsroom on June 1 as its next publisher.
Johnson is a third-generation Chicagoan from South Shore. He previously served as the executive director and publisher of South Side Media Works. an organization that oversees South Side Weekly and the Hyde Park Herald. The Reader framed the move as both continuity and change, calling Johnson’s arrival “a new beginning for the publication.”.
“The Reader has a rich and storied history that stands on its own, and I’m thrilled to help usher in a new beginning for the publication,” Johnson said in a news release.
The Reader’s next step comes after years of pressure that tested the paper’s ability to survive in a shifting media landscape. Founded in 1971 in the Kenwood neighborhood, the publication has changed hands before. In 2018. the Chicago Sun-Times sold the Reader to a group led by Dorothy Leavell. the publisher of the Chicago Crusader and Gary Crusader newspapers.
But financial and governance struggles followed. In 2022, the Reader nearly shut down amid a dispute among board members over the publication’s leadership. That conflict prevented the paper’s transition to nonprofit ownership and centered on concerns about then co-publisher and president. Tracy Baim. By the end of 2022, Baim stepped down from her position.
The strain didn’t end there. In January 2025, the publication laid off six employees to reduce costs and prevent closure. Later in 2025, the Reader was acquired by Noisy Creek, a media company dedicated to alternative weekly publications including The Stranger in Seattle and the Portland Mercury.
By February, the publication returned to print—no longer as a weekly newspaper, but as a monthly magazine. In an editors note announcing the paper’s return that month, editor-in-chief Sarah Conway said the Reader was entering a “new era of Chicago journalism.”
That line now meets another transition at the top. Johnson will replace Amber Nettles as publisher. Nettles previously stepped into the role in 2024, when the publication divided the responsibilities that had been held by Solomon Lieberman, who had served as both CEO and publisher.
Nettles left the company in November 2025 to join EmpowerLocal as the chief partnerships officer.
The sequence matters here: layoffs. a near-closure episode tied to nonprofit leadership. an acquisition by Noisy Creek. and a shift from weekly paper to a monthly magazine all point to one central reality—the Reader has been rebuilding under strain. not simply refreshing its brand. Now it’s doing that rebuild with a new publisher as it moves into this “new era” Conway described.
With Johnson slated to join the newsroom June 1. the Reader is betting that leadership rooted in Chicago’s South Side media networks—and familiar with keeping smaller publications alive—can help it hold onto what readers expect from a local institution while navigating what has been anything but stable ground.
Chicago Reader Malik Johnson Amber Nettles South Shore South Side Weekly Hyde Park Herald Noisy Creek Sarah Conway Dorothy Leavell Tracy Baim Chicago journalism
Malik Johnson sounds like he’s got newsroom experience so hopefully they stop falling apart.
So they’re replacing Amber Nettles? I don’t even read the Chicago Reader much but why does it feel like every year it’s “next publisher” and layoffs. Maybe they should just charge less or something.
Wait Malik Johnson is from South Shore right? That’s cool but I swear they always say “new beginning” and then it’s the same drama with boards and all that. Also how is Noisy Creek involved now… is that like a political thing or am I mixing it up with something else?
“Third-generation Chicagoan” and “new beginning” blah blah. I’m more focused on the part about nearly shutting down and layoffs in 2025, like how can anyone be confident about continuity when they’re cutting people. If they’re really aiming for nonprofit ownership why was it blocked by board members? Sounds like typical Chicago governance mess, honestly.