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 Happy Birthday, Tucson Weekly! By Douglas Biggers Energy is eternal delight. William Blake In the words of Greg Brown, who woulda thunk it? When the first flimsy issue of the Tucson Weekly appeared on the streets of our desert burg on February 22, 1984, delusions of grandeur were the currency of the day. It was pretty much "hey, kids, let's put out a newspaper," make a million bucks, and take the town by storm. Launched with about $5,000 begged and borrowed from a few kind-hearted souls, The Weekly has always been about beating the odds that an independent, locally owned, scrappy little newspaper could survive and thrive in a place like Tucson. In the 15 years since that first 12-page issue made its debut, the history of the paper is replete with anecdotes of the near miss and the death-defying stroke of dumb luck. Time and again, we should have been a footnote in Tucson journalistic annals, but when the sun rose the day after yet another seemingly mortal blow, the next issue would appear and the journey would continue. Thank god, perhaps, for the relentless momentum of the deadline.
As we begin our 16th year of this journalistic experiment, I hope the paper remains as unpredictable and maddening, and as consistent in its paradoxes, as it ever was. Fifteen years is a decent enough milestone, but as any adolescent knows, there's still a long way to go until you're all grown up and really able to kick some righteous ass. In case you were wondering, we're just getting started. Tucson Weekly has a unique relationship with nearly 200,000 of you readers (according to our reputable sources of quantified demographic information), and it's my qualified assumption that we must be doing something right to earn your continued patronage. Naturally, it's our advertisers who pay the bills, and for their growing support, our gratitude is boundless. I like to think it's a reciprocal relationship: we deliver a decent product to our gentle readers who in turn have the opportunity to patronize our loyal advertisers. It's a simple enough concept, but so difficult to implement week after week. To the hundreds of contributors and employees, past and present--and to the angels who have written the big checks over the years--it has been a privilege to share with you the ups and downs, the headaches and triumphs, of running this most unusual of enterprises. After fifteen years, the state of the paper is strong, and we look forward to our continuing evolution as we observe and react to, pontificate about and question, challenge and celebrate all that is good and evil in this sprawling mass of contradictions known as Tucson, Arizona. Thanks again for the ride. More than anything, it's been a lot of fun. Douglas Biggers
Editor & Publisher
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© 1995-99 Tucson Weekly . Info Booth |
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That we've been able to do some good journalistic work, contribute
to a myriad of community causes along the way, and create a workplace
that provides a livelihood to some 30 people and scores of part-timers,
is a feat that still astounds your humble publisher. And for that,
I am grateful, indeed.
