
THIS MONTH marks the one-year anniversary of a fateful day in the history of this publication. On the Monday after Thanksgiving (November 28), the IM staff was called into a meeting wherein Emmis Communications officers announced that Indianapolis Monthly would officially be sold to Hour Media later that week. We were aware the sale was coming, but we did not know five coworkers wouldn’t be retained in the deal. We did not foresee several more staff members departing for varied reasons. If you look at each issue’s masthead, you probably noticed the list of names shrinking in the early months of this year. Our full crew in Indy dwindled to an impossibly small roster of just six people. I’m not sure how we continued to produce the magazine month after month, but somehow our “tiny staff that could” pulled together to keep the title in circulation.
As part of the ownership transfer, Indianapolis Monthly was paired with Cincinnati Magazine, also a former Emmis title. Throughout the past year, publisher Ivy Bayer and the CM staff have acted as our backbone, supporting and guiding us while we rebuild our ranks and navigate changes to our operating practices and procedures. I can’t say that we are on a perfectly even keel just yet, but our colleagues in Ohio have been instrumental in keeping us afloat and helping us right the ship.
In his final letter to readers, former editor-in-chief Michael Rubino saluted the cohorts unable to join us in this new era of Indy Monthly. Now it’s my turn to sing the praises of the talented, resourceful veteran staff—Julia Spalding, Margo Wininger, Christina Vercelletto, and Nancy Oliphant—who have put forth a herculean effort to sustain the magazine. Megan Fernandez, who served as our interim editor-in-chief, certainly deserves a nod for her leadership in the early months of this year.
I am thrilled to have welcomed eight new faces to the IM team since May. The energy in the office has been reinvigorated with fresh voices, perspectives, and skill sets. We are only beginning to observe what we can accomplish together, and I can’t wait to see what 2024 holds for us.