Racket (Minnesota)

Racket is a writer-owned, reader-funded website founded in 2021 by a group of former City Pages editors: Jessica Armbruster, Jay Boller, Em Cassel, and Keith Harris. Racket focuses on local news, politics, music, arts, culture, food and drink, and theater in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area.
The previous funding model used by Racket's predecessor City Pages, as well as most alt-weekly newspapers, depended largely on advertising, but Racket's founders felt that this model was outmoded. Instead, it is funded largely by reader subscriptions, a model inspired by the earlier success of Defector Media. Racket reported in 2024 that it had generated $322,000 in revenue over the previous year, including $242,000 from subscriptions.
In 2024, Racket won five Page One Awards, given annually for outstanding journalism by the Minnesota Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. These included first-place wins for Best Interview and A&E/Culture Criticism/Reviews. Racket also won four Page One awards in 2023, including first place for Arts & Entertainment Reporting.