Gapers Block
Gapers Block (Gapers Block Media, LLC) was a Chicago-centric web publication focused on covering Chicago culture under the tag line: "Slow down and check out Chicago". The site, gapersblock.com, lists local events, aggregates other Chicago blogs and news of local interest and features many topical blogs: A/C (arts and culture), Drive-Thru (food related), Transmission (local music), Mechanics (state and local politics), Tailgate (sports coverage), and Book Club (book club and literary scene coverage).
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Type | Privately held company |
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Founded | 2003 |
Founder | Andrew Huff Naz Hamid |
Headquarters | , |
Key people | Andrew Huff |
Services | Online magazine |
Website | gapersblock.com |
History
Conceived in 2003 by Andrew Huff and Naz Hamid, the stuck-in-traffic themed section names, such as Merge (blog, links aggregation), Slowdown (calendar event listings), and Rearview (noteworthy local photos), are inspired by the Chicago-coined term, "gapers' block", a synonym (with "gapers' delay") for rubbernecking. The site was the first city blog in Chicago and one of the earliest examples of the genre; Gothamist and the Metroblogging network were also founded in 2003.
The site is written by volunteers from various backgrounds and professions, with content organized into topical sections, including arts & culture, literature, food, music, politics, and sports.[1]
In 2010, the cookbook The Everything Cast Iron Cookbook was published, based in large part on author Cinnamon Cooper's "One Good Meal" column[2] on Gapers Block.[3]
In December 2015, editor and publisher Andrew Huff announced the site would be going on "indefinite hiatus" on January 1, 2016.[4]
Accreditations and awards
- It was named a "Forbes Favorite"[5] in Forbes.com's Best of the Web directory, in the category "Best City Blogs."
- Web design site Typesites credits Gapers Block’s aesthetics, “well-crafted layout”[6] and noteworthy typography.
- Chicago Community Trust awarded Gapers Block $35,000 in an effort to boost new sources of local news and information and “increase the amount of neighborhood-based, original local coverage ... with priority given to stories about underserved communities and issues that affect them.”[7]
- The Chicago Sun-Times in 2009 named the Gapers Block Book Club the #2 best way to find romance in Chicago.[8]
- Gapers Block Editor and publisher Andrew Huff was listed in Crain’s Chicago Business’s “40 Under 40”[9] in 2009.
- David Schalliol, Brian Ashby, Dave Nagel, Akemi Honga and Natalia Echeverry were the recipients of the Peter Lisagor Award for Best Use of Features Video[10] for "The Area" in 2014. Jason Prechtel was a finalist[11] for the award for Best Individual Blog Post, Independent for “Ventra’s Parent Company: An International History of Fare Card Glitches" the same year.
- The site was named Best Local Blog in the Chicago Reader's "Best of Chicago" poll in 2013,[12] 2014[13] and 2015[14]
Notable contributors and alumni
- Anne Elizabeth Moore, freelance journalist, artist, and author
- Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief of The Verge
References
- Gapers Block - Chicago news, reviews & commentary
- "One Good Meal archives". Gapersblock.com. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
- Cooper, Cinnamon (2010). The Everything Cast Iron Cookbook. United States: Adams Media. p. 304. ISBN 1440502250.
- "A Letter from the Editor". Gapersblock.com. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
- "Gapers Block", Forbes, Web Site Reviews, accessed May 31, 2010.
- gapers block | Typesites
- The Chicago Community Trust Announces Community News Matters Award Recipients - Knight Foundation
- http://www.suntimes.com/-1,romance-places-092509g.photogallery?index=2
- 40 Under 40: 2009 | Crain's Chicago Business
- Chicago Reader - Best of Chicago 2013 - Best Local Blog Accessed Sept. 5, 2013.
- Chicago Reader - Best of Chicago 2014 - Best Local Blog Accessed June 25, 2014.
- Chicago Reader - Best of Chicago 2015 - Best Local Blog Accessed June 24, 2015.