We the editorial and journalistic staff

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Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology & the Ancient World
Brown University
Box 1837 / 60 George Street
Providence, RI 02912
Telephone: (401) 863-3188
Fax: (401) 863-9423
[email protected]

The decision making power of the journalist cannot be underestimated. When asked for a definition of "news," NBC newscaster Chet Huntley responded that "News is what I decide is news." (qtd. in Vivian 237). This statement has a ring of truth to it. A story becomes news only when it is reported on. The stories that we consider to be newsworthy are in fact those stories that have been sifted out by journalists scanning their environment and making active decisions. This is a modern approach to reporting, as the earliest newspapers often waited for stories to come to them. The old approach was not conducive to diversity, and resulted in several major publications heralding the same headlines. Marshal McLuhan summarizes the shift from autonomy in reporting to diversity in newsprint publications as follows: “As soon as the press recognized that news presentation was not a repetition of occurrences and reports but a direct cause of events, many things began to happen… from the endless resources of available events, an endless variety of mosaic effects can be obtained.” (285)

On my visit to the Providence Phoenix offices down town, I was surprised to find that there are only two editors employed by the Phoenix full time. This means that out of all of the Phoenix staff members who work 9-5 at the Chestnut Street office, only two are responsible for producing textual content. The rest of the staff consists of sales and production managers, a credit/collections supervisor, an associate publisher, and a slew of retail account executives. All content not written by news editor Ian Donnis or Managing Editor Lou Papineau is written by freelance and contributing reporters. Among the Phoenix's contributing writers are Rudy Cheeks, Bob Gulla, Brian C. Jones, Bill Rodriguez, Johnette Rodriguez, Pam Steager, Steven Stycos and Chip Young. The illustrators, photographer and graphic artists are all contributers rather than full-time staff members. Imagine a bustling office buzzing with cubicle banter not between Phillipe and Jorge--contributing Phoenix personalities who readers know so well--but between advertising executives who carry out behind-the-scenes work and are invisible to the casual reader.

One dilemma facing alternative newsweeklies today is the difficulty of hiring young, diverse reporters. It is a fact that many alternative newsweeklies spring up in small communities that have trouble fostering diversity. Created in 2003, the Association for Alternative Newsweeklies Foundation promotes the recruitment, training and hiring of minorities at alternative publications. As a non-profit it works in conjunction with the Academy for Alternative Journalism, a sector of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. Academy cofounder Mike Lenehan believes that his project is necessary because "... we're not telling the story in places where bright young prospects are looking for jobs." Stephan Garnett, the Academy's lead lecturer, goes a step further in stating that "I don't think many minorities are aware of the alternative press." (www.aan.org) While large-scale daily publications attract young prospects with the promise of positive exposure, many alternative weeklies do not have the means to catch the eye of young journalists looking to jump start their careers.

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