Our first editorial—December 1987
To kick off this blog, I thought that I'd reprint the editorial from our first issue. I wasn't involved with the Voice back then (I started writing for the Voice in 1990 as a diversion from grad school, and became the editor and publisher in August 1993). A lot has changed since the Voice was founded. We added a Silver Spring edition; computer technology has eliminated "cut and paste" as our production method; and the Internet has revolutionized our relationship to information.
So, here at the Voice, we continue to explore and expand our idea of community journalism. I invite you to join the discussion. Send us a private
--Eric Bond, Editor
Welcome to the Takoma Voice. We’ve taken on the challenge to provide Takoma Park with an independent free press. We have a vision of what that means. First, we will cover the news in the city, whether it is about azalea planting or traffic plans. The Voice will take an active approach to news gathering. We will make the phone calls, set up the interviews, recruit the writers, sift through the details. Whatever it takes to produce a vibrant readable newspaper with interesting articles and useful information worth saving all month.
The focus of the paper is the Takoma Park community. It is not limited by the city’s boundaries. What is Takoma DC? A severed limb? A separate community? The Voice will cross the line. The cultural bonds of the Latino and Asian communities extend far beyond Takoma Park’s borders. Their perspectives and achievements are valuable components of our local identity.
The Voice will strengthen our community by giving each of our various members an opportunity to share information and points of view. Seventh-day Adventists once comprised the majority of the city’s government. What is their role in the community now? Have the current baby boomers affected local lifestyles, the local economy, the city budget? What do they want and need from their city? According to the 1980 census, Takoma Park has a 42 percent minority population. This is a major increase from the small but stable group of black freemen whose ties to Takoma Park predate B. F. Gilbert’s Victorian suburb by several decades.
We will add to the commercial surge which must come to Takoma Park in order for revitalization to make sense. We are a tool of local businesses to reach their clientele. Individuals will be able to buy and sell services, merchandise or real estate. Even lost dogs, free refrigerators and teenaged babysitters will have a rosier future.
Like other businesses in Takoma Park, we will depend on you to keep us going. This is where we differ from the Takoma Park Newsletter, the monthly published by the city. The Newsletter is funded by all of us through our taxes and is both a public forum and a vehicle for news from City Hall. We think that there is a need to keep the press and state separate.
We like to think that small business has a special role in society. The process of starting and growing a business is enriching for everyone involved. We know that this business will grow to the extent that it is supported by you, the community.
It’s easy to lose track of what community means. How do you get it? Can you buy it? Does the government give it to you? Can you tune it in on a TV or radio channel?
Perhaps a community is that group of people closest to us beyond our family and circle of friends.
One reason that it is easy to lose track of the meaning of community is that long-distance communication has become so accessible. The Voice represents something different. When you pick up this paper every month, remember that you could have visited anyone mentioned in the pages without the use of a car, phone, television, radio, computer or VCR. That’s what makes the difference. We are the Takoma Voice.