2 January, 2012
MEDIA RELEASE
Statement of closure: OffStreet Press
In the six months since the closure of Rave Magazine, OffStreet Press has endeavoured to maintain diversity in Brisbane arts and music journalism. OSP has also supported the vibrant, vital and extraordinary artists and musicians who work in and visit Brisbane — a city we are proud to call ours.
It is with sadness that we announce the closure of OffStreet Press. It has been a busy and exciting six months for our volunteer editors and assistants, with nearly 150 interviews and reviews published. We are especially proud of the quality of each OffStreet article.
In July of 2012, the enthusiasm of our volunteer staff — the OffStreet Pressgang — got OSP off the ground, and gave it a name and a voice. Thank you — you worked tirelessly, and with passion.
We have been humbled by the support we’ve received from readers, artists, media representatives, venues, theatres, and our brilliant writers. Thank you.
We are delighted to report that OffStreet has been a very successful project, delivering free arts and music journalism to Brisbane. As a downside, OffStreet has become too big for its boots — a project simply too large for its small team of volunteer editors. (On that note, we would like to apologise if you haven’t heard from us in a little while.)
Thus we have decided to close up shop while the going is good. We are proud of the six months of love, energy and time we have dedicated to OffStreet Press, and to Brisbane arts and music. And we will always be grateful that you believed in us.
See you on the flipside.
Zenobia Frost
Arts editor
Denis Semchenko
Music editor
Download media release as PDF: OffStreet Press Farewell
OffStreet Press 
Zenobia/Denis/all the off street crew – sad to hear the news but thank you all for your hard work and quality arts coverage with a local twist – I, for one, will miss it. Zenobia, maybe you should come into the ZZZ’s and give us an on-air review or two! Eleanor
Posted by some lady | January 2, 2013, 9:27 amThank you, Eleanor. It means a lot.
And that’d be super! I’d have to work on my sexy radio voice though… 😛
Posted by Zenobia Frost | January 2, 2013, 1:34 pmYou ALREADY have one!
Posted by some lady | January 3, 2013, 12:20 pm😉 !
Posted by Zenobia Frost | January 3, 2013, 2:10 pmYou did good, people. Sorry to see it go.
So what’s next for indie media in Brisbane?
Posted by Chris Harms | January 2, 2013, 10:34 amThanks, Chris. ❤
Good bloody question!
Posted by Zenobia Frost | January 2, 2013, 1:35 pmSorry to hear the news – a loss for Brisbane’s artists and creative culture.
Posted by Richard Watts | January 2, 2013, 2:14 pmOh that’s very sad to hear. I hope to see you all very soon again… fingers crossed! You all did a fantastic job, thank you so much for your efforts.
Posted by Daria | January 2, 2013, 9:50 pmSad news, if understandable–I wrote and edited reviews for free for a while. So soon after Theatre Notes closing, too.
Critical feedback is such an important part of a healthy artistic community. As much as arts organisations are worried about their own funding, and the issue of editorial independence is fraught, support for criticism is something the arts industry needs to look at, especially as it dries up in the print media.
Hopefully the second coming of micropayments (e.g. http://www.tinypass.com/) will make a difference, though I wonder whether Brisbane will ever be big enough. Big enough for 21000 hits in six months, at least.
I’m curious: where do you all go for your Brisbane arts reviews?
Posted by Chris Lynch (@thecityhermit) | January 3, 2013, 12:37 pmGood question. I read a bit of everything, usually starting with Googling what I’ve just seen. I always read The Usher (http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/blog/the-usher) until it too got the chop, and nowadays I flit between ArtsHub and Theatre People. I pick up Time Off when I see it.
Posted by Zenobia Frost | January 3, 2013, 2:13 pmCool, thanks–didn’t know about Theatre People.
Posted by Chris Lynch (@thecityhermit) | January 5, 2013, 10:36 pmOh no! Can someone take it over? That’s a real shame. xx Sally
Posted by Sally Browne | January 12, 2013, 7:22 pmI wish we could have, but we thought it best to make a clean break.
Posted by Zenobia Frost | January 12, 2013, 7:27 pm