With a 36,000 circulation, The Austin Voice and The Garfield Lawndale Voice are the largest circulation community newspapers and the largest African-American owned publications serving the 300,000 residents of Chicago’s West Side Austin, East & West Garfield Park, North Lawndale, West Humboldt Park, and Galewood neighborhoods. Since 1985, The Austin Voice has been the most popular and influential Westside Newspaper. It built a reputation as a powerful vehicle for sales, carrying more local West Side business advertising on a regular basis than any other Chicago Newspaper. With an amazing 2.5:1 pass around rate is a primary reason, raising total readership to nearly 100,000 per issue.
In January 2005, The Garfield/Lawndale Voice was launched and, with its sister publication, The Austin Voice, began a weekly print schedule on Wednesdays. Each newspaper serves approximately one-half the total distribution area in terms of circulation and readership.
The Voice Newspapers’ circulation areas comprise several unique communities, making generalizations difficult. Each of the Primary neighborhoods the newspapers serve is in the midst of dynamic change and growth. However, some demographic patterns remain steady. Readership of The Voice Newspapers is 85% African-American, 9% White, and 6% Hispanic and others.
The Voice Newspapers are available free of charge at approximately 750 locations across our distribution area, including all public, private, and parochial school and colleges. Zip Code Breakdown of circulation figures is as follows:
60651 22.8%
60644 20.0%
60639 18.5%
60624 21.7%
60623 9.1%
60612 4.3%
60302 2.4%
The Austin Voice is certified by the State of Illinois as a Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (Black) and is recognized by the Community Reinvestment Act. Administrators as an African American community owned publication. The Voice Newspapers are operating divisions of Megamedia Enterprises, Inc., a stock company registered in the state of Illinois, and owned by employees and local residents within the distribution area of The Voice Newspapers.