For a city of about 76,000 people, Evanston has an unusually crowded news shelf. Part of the reason is Northwestern University, which supplies a student newsroom and a steady stream of stories. Part is a long local habit of following schools, zoning and the lakefront. Here is how the main outlets divide the work.
The established outlets
The Evanston RoundTable is a free online news site that concentrates on city government, schools and civic life. Evanston Now is an online newspaper and community site that has covered the city since 2006, with a focus on local government and schools. The Evanston Review is the community weekly, listed as a subscription paper in the Pioneer Press group.
Those three overlap on big stories such as budget votes and school board decisions, but they differ in tone and depth. Readers who want the full arc of a zoning fight usually end up checking more than one.
Student and community papers
The Daily Northwestern, the university’s student newspaper, covers campus and the city around it, including downtown openings and relations between the university and residents. At the high school, The Evanstonian is the student paper of Evanston Township High School. The Evanston Sentinel is listed as a free weekly serving the African American community.
A 2022 Daily Northwestern report on the local media scene also pointed to newer, resident-focused projects, among them Our Evanston, Dear Evanston, Evanston Rules and The Informed Village, a Black-led outlet focused on municipal elections. Small outlets start and stop often, so check a site’s recent posts before relying on it.
Regional coverage
Evanston also turns up in Chicago-wide reporting, particularly when a restaurant opens or something happens at Northwestern. Chicago-area business and food publications have written up Evanston restaurant openings, bakeries and bike shops over the years, and the Chicago Tribune has reviewed Evanston restaurants.
A practical approach is to use the RoundTable or Evanston Now for government, the Review for a weekly roundup, the Daily Northwestern for anything touching campus, and Chicago outlets for dining and the arts.