Is the Independent Press Telling Better Stories?

MODERATOR

Thom Clark, President
Community Media Workshop

PANELISTS

Jorge Mederos, Executive Editor
La Raza Newspaper

Silvia Rivera, General Manager
Radio Arte

Alden Loury, Senior Editor
The Chicago Reporter

PROGRAM SUMMARY

Thom Clark (from left), Alden Loury, Jorge Mederos, and Silvia Rivera. Photo by Ted Lacey.

By Sue Masaracchia-Roberts

News does not always yield itself to being reported through conventional, mainstream channels. At the recent Publicity Club of Chicago luncheon, representatives of local independent media were featured, including Alden Loury from the Chicago Reporter, Jorge Mederos from La Raza and Silvia Rivera from Radio Arte. The panel moderator was Thom Clark, President of the Community Media Workshop at Columbia College.

Thom Clark, President, Community Media Workshop

Co-founder and president of the 18 year old nonprofit Community Media Workshop, Thom Clark teaches journalism at the Workshop, Columbia College Chicago, as well as produces and hosts the weekly Chicago cable show Community, Media & You. The Workshop is responsible for the publication of Getting on the Air and Into Print: A Citizen’s Guide to Chicago-Area Media and Newstips, a sheet for Chicago-area reporters, editors and producers.

Clark indicated that independent media seems devalued. However, it advocates a point of view to accomplish specific objectives and needs to be viewed in that light.

Alden Loury, Senior Editor, Chicago Reporter

After spending three years covering city government and social services at the Champaign-Urbana News Gazette, Alden Loury became the senior editor of the Chicago Reporter. Receiving most of its information from the community at large, the Chicago Reporter, which focuses on Chicago-area race and poverty issues, generates most of its stories in-house, according to Loury. Some of its stories in the recent past, for example, have dealt with ethnic dolls at K-Mart, discrimination in the workplace and why it is a worthwhile risk to come to America as an illegal Mexican immigrant.

Begun in 1972, the Chicago Reporter specializes in the topics of race, economics and poverty in the broader world. It helps train reporters to think on their toes about these issues and how they relate to the news stories they find. It is most interested in knowing about trends.

“Most newspapers have editorial pages, not an objective voice of the paper,” said Loury. “Our stories will have an objective tone. We make the argument that most newspapers for those of color have a different focus than those in other communities. It would be equivalent to reading a foreign organ. Journalists need to be fair and balanced.”

The paid circulation is less than 1,000 for the Chicago Reporter; however its controlled circulation brings the total to approximately 5,000 plus its website, which gets approximately 1200 hits a day. Some of its stories, like the one about the high cost of loans, have gotten national pickup.

He needs time to dig into most stories before they are actually written. He prefers a variety of voices be reflected in these stories.

Loury recommends that stories submitted to this publication come in by e-mail first and then are followed up with a phone call. His number is 312-673-3861.

Jorge Mederos, Executive Editor, La Raza Newspaper

Owned by the Canadian Intermedia Corporation, which also owns La Opinion and Hoy, La Raza is Chicago’s leading Hispanic publication, with a weekly circulation of more than 200,000. Executive editor Jorge Mederos is very conscious of the fact that the daily paper has been diminished as the primary news source for most consumers, but he believes by publishing six editions weekly, the paper can appeal to the metro-Chicago Latino population. They are not only surviving against the Tribune, radio and television for advertising, but are growing.

Mederos believes the publication’s success is due to its focus on local issues and social features relevant to the Hispanic community. His most difficult task is “finding reporters fluent in Spanish and English. Most of those working here emigrated from South America. They cover stores in Spanish but,” he explained, if they are “attending a press conference with the Mayor, a city council meeting or speaking to the police, they need to understand English. One reporter I had could speak fluently in both English and Spanish but could not write in Spanish. That was a problem.”

La Raza covers about four stories a month. Mederos explained the publication pays by the story and does not pay much, but he will cultivate talent if he believes the person will make a good reporter in the future and will hire talent when he has an opening.

Mederos indicated that a new Web portal will be opening and they will be revamping the paper. He wants to know what is happening and why, and include videos, pod casts and other technology not available to papers. He also expects those pitching him to be able to put a “face” on their stories.

Because the publication is a weekly, Mederos needs the story the week before it will run. Despite the fact that he works with only five people and has no assistants, he prefers pitches come through him, not the publisher. “The publisher will say yes to a story and then forget,” he explained. He prefers to be contacted by e-mail, even though he claims to receive thousands of e-mails a week. “Phone calls can sell a story, but if I’m swamped or on deadline, I don’t have time to take calls. However, the best day to call is Friday.”

He can be reached at 772-273-2014.

Silvia Rivera, General Manager, Radio Arte

General manager of 90.5 FM/WRTE radio, Silvia Rivera is a key player in the station’s successful trajectory. With her focus on issues of interest to young people, like their integration into American society and the role of Latinos in the military. Her commentaries have aired on various nationally syndicated radio programs.

A 10 year-old public radio station, Radio Arte is owned by the Museum of Mexican Art. Covering a 14 mile-wide expanse of the region’s southwest side, it broadcasts on a 72 watt radio frequency. Appealing to young people who are feeling marginalized, it allows an outlet for those stories not covered by traditional media. “Hyper-local and youth-oriented,” said Silvia Rivera, “we help youth find a voice, training young people between the ages of 15 to 21 to craft stories from a first person perspective and bring an awareness to the next generation.”

The station subscribes to the philosophy that “if there are more stories of triumph and less about gangs, there would be more optimism,” said Silvia Rivera. Therefore, they do not carry “sexified” stories but put a face on a story, such as the Latina mother who took refuge in a Humboldt Park church to avoid deportation.

Rivera indicated that “conservative talk radio is one-sided. Ours counteracts the negative spin. We are invested in the issues and highlight aspects we deem appropriate and make no apologies for pushing our agenda. Independent media is important to cover stories as a role model for getting other stories out there.”

Their website garners between 1500 and 2000 hits a day as she works with video and audio resources to create an online community.

She advises PR people to find out who the audience is as well as the types of shows they produce and stories they cover before pitching her ideas. And don’t stalk or badger her. If she is interested, she will be in touch!

“I am open to stories that fit a multilayered audience, specifically stories on issues,” she explained.

Contact Rivera by e-mail; if she likes the story, she’ll pass it on to the program director. More information is available on the station’s Web site. Her phone number is 312-455-9455, ext. 101.

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