THE WEST SIDE’S MOST POPULAR
& WIDELY READ NEWSPAPERS ARE THE VOICE OF THE PEOPLE
The
mayor says he reads it. Cops and crooks don’t always like it, but they wouldn’t
miss an issue. A generation of West Side schoolchildren grew up on it. All
contenders for local office make it their first stop before announcing their
candidacies. And, for more than two decades, it has been the source of
assistance and advocacy for readers seeking help with all manner of problems.
THE
AUSTIN VOICE, the crusading newspaper that won the Ethics In
Journalism Award from the Chicago Headline Club for exposing chronic
corruption in the 15th police district resulting in the conviction
of officers known as the Austin 7, built a reputation since its
founding in 1985 battling drug dealers and violent street gangs in the face of
police and political indifference on Chicago’s tough West Side.
“We
are the people’s voice on the West Side,” says founder and publisher Isaac
Jones. “That’s why we started THE AUSTIN VOICE and that’s our most
important role today, even as issues change.”
It
is as the people’s voice that THE AUSTIN VOICE is the only newspaper
ever presented the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Drum Major
For Justice Award by the Southern Christian Leadership Council.
In
January 2005, THE AUSTIN VOICE opened s new chapter, launching a sister
newspaper – THE GARFIELD-LAWNDALE VOICE – and began a weekly publishing
schedule for both newspapers. “Although THE AUSTIN VOICE has served East
and West Garfield Park and North Lawndale since the beginning 21 years ago, the
dynamic growth of these neighborhoods makes it appropriate for them to have
their own newspaper with its own name,” says Jones.
THE
VOICE Newspapers are often referred to as models of the new, interactive Civic
Journalism concept for its involvement in West Side affairs as a
partner and advocate of its readers in finding solutions to community problems.
In
addition to fighting drug dealers, gangsters, and dirty cops, THE AUSTIN
VOICE was the first West Side newspaper to warn readers about the impending
AIDS epidemic about the engulf its readership. Chicago’s West Side communities
have some of the highest HIV infection rates in the city. THE VOICE founded
the Westside HIV/AIDS Regional Planning Council (WHARP) and served for four
years on the city’s HIV Prevention Planning Group (HPPG), battling for money
and programs to protect its readership against the deadly disease.
THE
VOICE is also a founding member of the 25th District Police
Steering Committee, pressuring the city to crack down on illegal private clubs,
unlicensed taverns, in addition to freeing neighborhoods of the ever-present
drug dealers and violent scourge of street gangs.
THE
VOICE joined ministers and civic leaders in forming OPERATION
SALVATION to provide support and advocacy for youth at risk. Newspaper
staff members taught life experiences classes to Austin High School students.
“We want to be involved in everything worthwhile in our community,” Jones says.
Most recently, THE VOICE put its editorial muscle behind efforts to
build the city’s first Wal-Mart store in Austin, against stiff union
opposition.
The
African American owned VOICE Newspapers were founded by ten local
residents without personal wealth at a time when no one was investing in any
projects on Chicago’s West Side, especially in a risky newspaper venture. “We
started the newspaper on faith and a shoestring,” recalls Jones. “Each edition
was paid for by small black and white business owners buying advertising. The
advertisers had to pay the freight because we had no other money.”
It’s
still the same today: small West Side businesses dominate THE VOICE
Newspapers with their ads because ads in THE VOICE make their cash
registers ring.!
At
the beginning, even their printer gave THE VOICE less than a 20% chance
of succeeding. Jones notes that 20% was still higher than the odds the
newspaper’s founders gave themselves. “Some force must want us to accomplish
something,” he says, sounding almost like a preacher. “Whether this is
spiritual or not, I don’t know. But, it has brought us this far and it keeps us
going day by day. Now we’ve doubled our bets by publishing two newspapers
instead of one and we are printing them weekly. So, we don’t have a lot of time
for looking back; we are too busy telling the great stories of the people of
the new West Side!”