Lansing’s alternative newspaper The City Pulse turns 15 years old this week, with a special issue hitting newsstands on Wednesday. We talk with publisher Berl Schwartz about his vision for the paper and what lies ahead.
Fifteen years ago, a mid-Michigan journalism veteran decided to take a stab at publishing his own newspaper. Berl Schwartz had been general manager of the State News, the student newspaper at Michigan State University, when he made up his mind to fulfill a long-standing dream to run his own operation. Thus began the free weekly paper he called The City Pulse.
The paper celebrates 15 years of publication tomorrow with a special issue. Berl Schwartz joins us to reflect on those early days of the City Pulse, the 15 years since its founding, and what lies ahead for what he calls “a newspaper for the rest of us.”