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About Street roots. (Portland, OR) 1998-current | View Entire Issue (April 1, 2014)
street roots 2 April 1, 2014 We’ve got this, all of us, together A* 'f you’re going to get into social criticism with absurdity and satire, you can’t be __ politically correct when you do th a t” Mark Twain? Shakespeare? Jon Stewart? - Nope. John Cusack. Wait, what? Seriously? John Cusack. This is actually the second column this year in which J’ve quoted John Cusack. How does that happen? You’ve got I We’re changing what you love to make it faster, shorter! hank you, readers, for tuning into another edition of $treet Roots. We know you love our journalism, our commentaries, and of course our slick newsprint presentation, so we’re making changes to serve you better. The Street Roots Content Actuarial Bureau in Sweet Falls, Idaho, has been working this past year crafting ways we can more effectively package our product, in a more timely fashion, to maximize throughput by bundling our synergies into a more productive delivery B system. Our w riters and staff are excited by the changes. We know you will be too. It’s all an effort to We know yon want to look generate a greater at something while you're impact using our our at work, just not for very core competencies, . long. with objectives and goals to m eet your, the reader’s, needs. You want it fast, fresh, and raw, so we’re focusing on all of that, and letting the rest rely on your waning discretion. Because that’s what journalism is about, these days. And we can’t let the competition at The Oregonian pàss us by. Starting soon, our reporters will be posting thingies , online a minimum o f seven, times daily, reporting on stuff one minutia at a time, but at breakneck speed, “breaking” news as we read about it wherever, whenéver. We’U be launching several new mini-projects \ of repurposed news structured in a way that’s digestible for our varied m arket price points. We’ll be incentivizing b e s t p r a c t i c e s an d o ffice-driven, titilla tin g play-by-play in a w ay few m e d ia o u tle ts h a v e c o n s id e re d in o rd e r to b e tte r m a n a g e y o u r fo cu s of a tte n tio n a n d so cial — o utlook. You can expect salacious lead paragraphs with no more than 15 words, a pithy quote by the third (one- sentence-only, of course) paragraph, and a minority voice within the top four inches of any copy. And don't worry, you won’t have to read and read and read. Gosh, that’s tiring. We’U he keeping all stories to a maximum of 500 words. Because w e know you w ant to look at something while you’re at work, just not for vèry long. And to ensure that our reporters feel confident about their production, our crack team of content managers in Instanbul will be monitoring keystrokes with a supportive output algorithm, ensuring that no moment is wasted on backspaces or thoughtless hesitations. We’re moving forward. How will we know it’s all worth it? Through a series of. reviews, evaluations, judgments and money Crunching, we’ll be able to détermine if we’re reaching our goals, hitting our core competencies and making news — well — just plain better. We’re calling this new approach our new approach, or NA. Because we know, what you know, that journalism isn’t an art. It’s a science. And that’s why you tune in, turn on and tough it out. executive director o f Street Roots. You can reach him a t israel@streetroots.org or follow him on Twitter @israelbayer. LETTERS Readers keep us grounded, in fo rm e d on w h a t we’re doing wrong D e ar S tre e t R oots, WHAT DO YOU THINK? Send questions and comments anywhere but . editor@streetroots. org for serious consideration Our mission Street Roots creates income opportunities for producing a newspaper and other media that are catalysts for individual and social change. Street Roots publishes every tw o weeks, launching on Fridays, and is available exclusively through our street vendors or by subscription, W e are proud members of the International Network o f Street Papers, l l B I l l - S llli ll( ll Street Roots 211 NW Davis St. Portland, OR 97209 503-228-5657 Fax:503-227-3117 streetroots.org news.streetroots.org O ¡3 Executive Director Israel Bayer israeltstreetroots.org Managing Editor Alan Smithee alantstreetroots.org Vendor Coordinator Cole M erkel coletstreetroots.org ' Operations Director Sarah Beecroft Program Assistant Grace Badik, Jesuit Volunteer, gracetstreetroots.org Development Director Sarah Cloud Office Assistant Am ber Bielman Reporters Jake Thomas, Alex Zielinski, Nathan Gilles, Sue Zalokar, Ann-Derrick G aillot Photographers Kristina W right, Christopher Onstott Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. or Mother Terresa to frame a social justice issue. Apparently, I quote John Cusack. No wonder some people in the community , aren’t taking me seriously. Whatever. f If you’re confused, which we usually are at Street Roots, don’t be. Street Roots publishes an annual April Fool’s edition of the newspaper that mocks Portland and \ everything on planet Earth. Someone, somewhere with some kind of wisdom named it satire. If you’ve been heralded or belittled in this edition, both a congratulations and an apology are in order. Honestly, some days I wake up and' don’t know how or why they trust m eto do •-* anything at Street Roots. No wonder it has taken the organization 15 years to think about going weekly. That reminds me. Did you know.Street Rootsis trying to go weekly in the winter of 2014-15? It’s true. What if I were to tell you a story about a firSt-time anonymous donor who approached us about helping out. She told us of her love for Street Roots and how' much she would like to give to an organization in which her family’s money was going directly to support people. Here Was a place where it would help vendors increase their income dramatically with a weekly publication. She humbly offered $10,000 and asked if readers and supporters would match that amount during the month of April. “Would readers feel inspired to give knowing that others believed in the organization?” she asked.; / ; My response was, “Yes, we know that Street Roots readers want a weekly newspaper. I know the vendors want it more than anything.” Inside this satirical edition of Street Roots, you’ll find an envelope. By giving a one-time or online recurring donation your support will go directly toward helping Street Roots go weekly. And that’s no joke. We can provide the support to vendors and give Portland quality journalism with . your support. Dig deep, friends. With your support, we’ve got this. After all, we are the little train that could, and we can and we will get up that mountain. We can do : this. . I would really consider donating to your organization if, you took a firmer stance on panhandling downtown. My checkbook is waiting. - do morgtQ help support the fluoride Campaign. I would give you a donation if I thought you would actually do more to support our children in the community. - PROUD READER LOCAL BUSINESS OWNER Dear Street Roots, Deaf Street Roots, I really want to support Street Roots, but < ' I-really appreciate your newspapers, but really feel that you’ve become too close to wish you would cover more about the police, thé business community. I’ll be sending my Central America, the drug war, the donation elsewhere. - SOMETIME READER recession,'Old Town, homeless policy, global warming, domestic violence, health care, Dear Street Roots, early-childhood-poverty, Ike, the Blazers, the I’m really disappointed that Street Roots Timbers, beer, bikes, immigration, access to ' supported putting fluoride in our water. sidewalks, tourism, surveillance, culture, ice What were you thinking? I ’m canceling my cream, food justice, the environment, tyranny monthly donation immediately. Thanks and in general and Matt Damon. Possibly, if you goodbye. — LONGTIME REAbEK prioritized some of these issues your vendors would sell more papers and people would be more respofisive to the newspaper. Dear Street ,Roots, . —SUGGESTING SUCCESS I’m really appalled that Street Roots didn’t Board o f Directors Venders Bruce Anderson (Chairman), Michael Anderson (Vice- chaimian), Heather Stadick (Treas.), Eddy Barbosa (Sec.), Rich Rodgers, Brad Taylor, Leo Rhodes, Nora Coon, Darren Alexander, Amber Bielman - Street Roots vendors buy the newspapers for 25 cents each and sell them for $1, keeping the 75 cents in profit for themselves. In order to keep the cost low to Volunteers our vendors, we receive additional support from donations and in-kind contributions. Jan Bayer, Lisa Waldo, Elizabeth Tierney, Rob Shryock, Ann-Derrick Gaillot, Stacey Heath, Vinnie Kinsella, Michelle Breslau, Paula Cracas, John Barker, Mary Locke, Lucas Manfield, Jessie Carver, Cherie Vedal, Sam Bouman, John Yohne, Isaac Hastings Hauss, Emily Green Street Roots Rosa City Resource Street Roots publishes the Rose City Resource, a comprehensive booklet o f services for people experiencing homelessness and poverty. To inquire about getting guides, call 503-228-5657. Resources are also available onlineat www.rosecityresource.org. 75c goes directly to the vendor who sold you the paper 25c goes toward printing costs Vendor orientations are at 1 p.m. every Monday, W ednesday and Friday at the Street Roots office.
