For some reason, as the editor of the Weekly, I tend to hear questions and comments in thematic bursts. I won't get a certain type of complaint or remark for awhile, but then three people will out of nowhere pop up to ask what happened to a comic that stopped running two years ago. Life can be strange.
This last week, the theme was "Who are you trying to reach with the Weekly?" I probably should have a stock answer for that question by now, but in all honesty, I'm probably still working on one. The simple answer is probably "anyone, although I'd prefer only adults if they're going to read Savage Love," but generally the person asking is looking for some sort of specific demographic answer. Honestly, however, I'm constantly surprised by the wide range of Tucsonans that seem to read us each week, whether in print or online. I spent a weekend in a tent at the Festival of Books earlier this year and spoke to a ton of people 50 and up who love the paper (especially News of the Weird, for some reason). A few of my best conversations about what's in the paper have been with college kids. It's all over the place.
So, I guess the answer I'm going to stick with is to say that I'm trying to reach people who care about Tucson. People who want to understand what's happening in their community, people who want to know what there is to do, what to eat and drink, the music to listen to, etc. Or, in the case of our website, people who want to complain about what Tom Danehy said this week.
Sure, there are going to be people in town who are turned off by the political lean of our news, and, even more surprising to me, people who check out because we actually seem to believe Tucson is a place worth living, but there are still a lot of people who care about Southern Arizona left to reach. Hopefully, we found a few more this week.
Dan Gibson can be heard on Fook Music Mornings on 92.1 FM KFMA most Tuesdays around 8 a.m. and on the John C. Scott show Thursday afternoons on 1030 AM KVOI.
