Community Alliance Newspaper Celebrates Ten Years of Publishing

Community Alliance Newspaper Celebrates Ten Years of Publishing
By Mike Rhodes, editor

What have we learned by publishing the Community Alliance newspaper for 10 years? The first edition, of what was then called the Labor/Community Alliance, was printed on September 20, 1996. The six page photocopied publication was the project of the Labor Party, which was an attempt to build an alliance between organized labor and the progressive movement in Fresno. The Labor Party’s call to action was “The bosses have two parties - we should have at least one.” The paper was distributed through the offices of many unions and community groups. The need for such a publication immediately resinated with readers - there was no other paper in town that included information from a wide range of groups working for peace, social, and economic justice. We found that the calendar was particularly well liked and important - it linked organizations that were doing similar work and helped avoid scheduling conflicts.

As the Labor/Community Alliance grew in size and circulation, it experienced growing pains as the extensive coverage of peace and social justice issues was not in sync with the Central Labor Council (CLC) in Fresno. The CLC decided to put their efforts into publishing The Valley Labor Citizen, which focused more exclusively on economic issues related to labor unions. The result was two publications.

The Community Alliance experienced a surge of support, through both an increase in advertising and subscriptions, during this transition period. The articles and photos in the publication covered stories missed by the local corporate media and community activists were empowered and their work validated by the recognition they received in these pages. The progressive movement grew and expanded.

In June of 2001 we made a major change in the format of the paper. Elfie and Maia Ballis became the designers of the publication and we became the Community Alliance magazine. The creative energy they put into the magazine electrified the progressive community, making the work everyone was doing look spectacular. It was at this time when we won our first award for an in-depth article. The story was written by Scott Moore and entitled “2,000 Sheep and a Shovel Toilet.” Scott’s article was about the plight of sheep herders in this area and the award was from New California Media for Central Valley Reporting. Some of the information in the article was used to influence legislation in Sacramento that helped improve the working conditions of the sheep herders.

That was not to be our last award for outstanding journalism. I was awarded the Project Censored award for the 16th most censored story in 2005. This story was about the infiltration of Peace Fresno by an undercover law enforcement officer. Because of the power of the alternative/independent press, this story reached a much larger audience - it was featured in Michael Moore’s movie Fahrenheit 911, heard on Amy Goodman’s Democracy Now! radio show, and seen on Bill Moyer’s PBS show Now.

By the summer of 2004, at a retreat for the staff and volunteers of the Community Alliance, we realized that we had reached a plateau in our distribution. We agreed that we wanted to reach beyond the choir of committed activists currently reading the magazine. The solution was to change the format and in December 2004 we became a newspaper with a full color cover and twice as much room for content. The newspaper was a hit and in the next year we went from 2,000 magazines to 10,000 newspapers a month. Our goal is to be a weekly newspaper, but we are not ready for that transition yet. Maybe in a year or two.

We are proud of our achievements over the last ten years and thank everyone who has been a part of this project. The community is invited to join us as we celebrate ten years of publishing. I hope to see you there (see the details below).



Sunday, October 15
6 PM
The alternative/independent Community Alliance newspaper celebrates 10 year of publishing. There will be music, food & drink, a movie, and keynote speaker at the Full Circle Brewery, 620 F St. in downtown Fresno. $10

* Keynote speaker: Journalist Conn Hallinan will speak on the importance of alternative/independent media.
* docu-poem video compilation of local actions for peace and justice by Elfie and Maia Ballis
* Movie: Independent Media in a Time of War (produced by Amy Goodman).
* Music: The Urban Nomads (Middle Eastern music)

Progressive community groups are encouraged to set up a literature table (no charge).