The Gazette's Publisher, Justin Pardee, egregiously smiling in conversation with Dean Baquet, former executive editor of The New York Times and now leader of the Times' local investigative fellowship initiative, about his recent talk at the launch of the IE Journalism Innovation Hub+Fund. (Courtesy LION Publishers)
Sunday Gazette: September 22, 2024
Two weeks ago, I attended the 2024 Independent News Sustainability Summit (INNS), hosted by LION Publishers in Chicago, thanks to the generosity of 73 Gazette readers who contributed $3,745 to help fund my trip.
I am so grateful for the experience and left with so many takeaways. The opening keynote, titled Next Gen News, addressed the question of what news consumption will look like in 2030, and I was absolutely inspired to think and dream more freely about the future of this publication.
The Raincross Gazette (RG) started publishing in January 2021, and many of you have been along for the whole ride, but 90.36% of you have joined us on this journey in the last 18 months. For those who don't know the backstory, RG is a passion project birthed out of my experience as a Riversider in 2020. I have no formal training or work experience as a journalist (my professional background is in education, technology design, and communication). For most of this effort, I have felt woefully inadequate to be doing this important work that our city deserves.
I have wasted so much energy trying to get Riverside to perceive RG as a legitimate news publication so that sources would call us back for interviews, people would share leads with us, and Riverside would welcome our efforts. Sadly, I have neglected what is unique about me and failed to think innovatively about how RG can be different from legacy newspapers and meet Riverside's growing information needs. My experience at the INNS woke me up, and I am so excited to refocus my energy on building a newsroom for Riverside's future. Thank you to those of you who sent me to the conference; I can't wait to share more exciting news and developments about our work in the coming months!
PS. I'll be holding office hours tomorrow morning at Condron Coffee on Sunnyside Drive from 7:30 to 10:00 a.m. If you'd like to stop by and chat about Riverside's news needs or how we can better serve the community, I'd love to meet and hear from you!
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Thank you to the Subscribers who became paid supporters this week: Charlene Ballard and Betsy Manouchehri. Your ongoing financial support is vital to our success in serving Riverside with the news it deserves!
The Sherman Institute's football team, thriving in Riverside since 1902, proudly dominated the early 1900s and was celebrated as the champions of Southern California.
With the football season well underway, this is an excellent time to look back at an early Riverside Championship football team. In 1902, the Perris Indian School relocated to Riverside and became Sherman Institute. Sherman Institute was different than the present Sherman Indian High School in that it served a broader range of students and concentrated on teaching trade skills. One similarity to today, though, is the value of sports in the students’ lives as an outlet for their energy and individual personalities while also building teamwork and physical skills.
Football was one of the more popular sports at Sherman and was very successful in those early years. The team had high expectations as they began play in Riverside, as the Perris Indian School had been declared the Southern California Champions the previous year. All the team except for one player returned. The player-coach as the season began was Joe Scholder from Mesa Grande Reservation, who had previously played for both the Carlisle and the Perris teams.
Each week, we will introduce a new neighbor. This is not a who's who list. These are regular Riversiders doing exceptional things.
(Brenda Flowers)
I have lived in and loved Riverside for more than 35 years. During that time, I enjoyed supporting several community groups, non-profits, and faith communities. The thing I learned early on was to say Yes. Yes, to community cleanups with Keep Riverside Clean & Beautiful. Yes, to getting involved with the Riverside Neighborhood Partnership development. Yes, to attend Mayor’s Night Out or Councilmember chats to learn more about what the City does for me and how I can get involved. Sometimes, it means saying yes to cleaning up my neighborhood, even if it is by myself. Saying yes has provided new opportunities and friendships.
A prompt to encourage your practice of creativity this week from Riversider and local author Larry Burns.
Welcome back, fellow creatives! Last week, we stretched our imaginations with rubber bands, discovering the playful potential within elasticity and resilience. Did you create a symphony of twangs and plucks, or perhaps construct an intricate geometric pattern of colors inspired by a spider's web? Maybe you even rediscovered the simple joy of launching rubber bands over your cubicle walls – and flagrantly denying your involvement in the ensuing chaos. Whatever you did, I hope it was a little bit selfish and a few minutes of fun.
This week, we're shifting our creative gaze to a more stable object in your environment: a glass jar. Odds are, you have several of these lined up in your pantry or serving as makeshift cups and flowerpots. Better yet, take a peek in that blue recycle bin of yours that is still sitting at your curb and make this creative nudge a carbon-neutral reuse activity.
