[RP TownTalk] Riverdale Park Communications, the Town Crier, and the Hyattsville Experience: A Proposal

[The Curries]

As an interested neighbor in Hyattsville, I followed the TownTalk discussion
a couple months ago about the Town Crier and then more recently on ways to
improve Town communications with residents.  During the earlier
conversation, my former City Council colleague Stuart Eisenberg had this to
say about Hyattsville's recent experiment in civic communications:

 

"Almost two years ago, some neat, retired Hyattsville businessmen got
together to propose the development of an all-volunteer newspaper to the
City.  They were tired of all the negativism, and lurid headlines in the
Gazette, and wanted to focus on positive, real life profiles of residents
and organizations. They developed a business model and plan, and presented
it to the City Council.  Their idea was to propose the monthly publication
of the City's Newsletter, 'The Hyattsville Reporter,' as an advertising
supplement inserted in the newspaper, through a contract agreement.  
 
"Now, once a month the Reporter is a stand alone mailer printed on
distinctive green paper, and once a month it goes in the newspaper.  The net
result was two-fold.  First: the initial contract got the paper on its feet,
while it developed an advertising base. Second: the newsletter publication
and distribution costs to the City actually lowered.  The next year's
contract lowered the advertising fee further, and it's possible that
eventually this paper might wean itself entirely from its reliance on a City
advertising contract, or further lower the publication costs of the
newsletter.
 
"So now, once again we have a local paper, 'The Hyattsville Life & Times.'"

 

Now nearing the end of its second year of publication, the Life & Times has
been a great success from a business perspective, and it's likely that next
year's advertising rates for insertion of the City newsletter will fall
again.  It fills a previously unmet need in local commerce, allowing small
businesses an affordable opportunity to reach City residents and those same
residents information about the local merchants.

 

Moreover, the paper helps build community identity and pride, develop social
capital, and create a better informed citizenry.  And it allows an outlet
for airing viewpoints and telling stories so that the "government organ",
the Hyattsville Reporter, can focus on providing information on municipal
services, Council actions and City events.  The Life & Times tries to steer
clear of charges of partisanship by publishing letters and opinion columns
by residents and City officials but not endorsing candidates or taking
positions of its own on City issues.

 

I think some of the tensions regarding the Town Crier might be eased if some
of the creative editors and writers of the Crier were able to direct their
energies and talents towards a similar volunteer newspaper in Riverdale
Park.  I realize that there have been independent newsletters in the Town
before, but what I'm proposing is the more synergistic model that
Hyattsville has pursued - and one that is financially sustainable.

 

I recently had the opportunity to talk with the business manager of the Life
& Times about the conversations I've observed on this listserv.  His
response was that the Life & Times might well be interested in partnering
with an interested group in Riverdale Park to help produce a Riverdale Park
newspaper.  There would be advantages for both papers in a joint-operations
arrangement with separate publications in each City but shared advertising,
layout and printing operations.  For example, some businesses in each town
would likely want to buy space in both publications, while costs of
recruiting and producing ads would decrease.  

 

Also, the combined resources of both papers might make it possible to hire a
part-time managing editor to provide increased reliability and
sustainability to the publications.  However, each publication would have
its own governance, policies and standards - each uniquely meeting the needs
of its own community.

 

I imagine the Town Council might see some advantages in reduced publication
costs for the Town Crier and fewer disputes over content (since
non-government communications would appear in the independent newspaper
rather than the official town newsletter).  

 

Would town residents welcome such a newspaper?  And if so, would there be
volunteers to help edit and write for it?  I have no idea of the answers to
those questions - only an observation that there seems to be a keen interest
in civic communications amongst the members of this list.  

 

I would be interested to see comments about this proposal on this listserv,
if there are any.  Or anyone may contact Hyattsville Life & Times Business
Manager Steve Clements at sclements55 at earthlink.net to discuss.

 

Best wishes for continued success in your community-building efforts -

 

Chris Currie

 

 

 

 

 

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