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<b>The Bay View’s not dead! We’ll see you on the web</b> <br>
<b> </b> <br>
You’re looking for the paper – the Bay View in print – and you can’t find
one since the July 2 edition. You’re wondering why no one’s told you
what’s wrong. <br>
<br>
The quick answer is that yes, we ran flat out of funds or any source to
tap and had to suspend printing the paper, at least for now. And that
tragic decision set so many things in motion we haven’t yet been able to
get to a lot of the basics, like telling our dearest friends and most
faithful readers what’s up. <br>
<br>
<b>How you can learn more and give us a hand</b> <br>
<b> </b> <br>
<b>Meetings:</b> If you’re in the Bay Area – and please forward this
invitation to Bay Area residents you know – come to one of two meetings,
in San Francisco and Oakland, that Minister of Information JR is planning
to announce and discuss with the community the Bay View’s “next steps.”
With enough community support, we hope to find a way to print the Bay
View monthly. We also need your help to make
<a href="http://www.sfbayview.com/">www.sfbayview.com</a> more
interactive and to campaign for internet access for everybody. <br>
<br>
JR explains: “We think it is important for the community to be forward
thinking when looking at the demise of the SF Bay View newspaper print
edition. We want to come together with organizers to discuss the future
of this Black led alternative independent media crew known as the SF Bay
View newspaper and discuss some future plans that lie on the horizon and
get concrete commitments from supporters. <br>
<br>
<b>“The meeting is Thursday, July 24, ‘08, 6 p.m., at 1095 Market St.
#307 off of Seventh in downtown San Francisco, by Civic Center BART. All
are invited.”</b> <br>
<b> </b> <br>
<b>Save the date of Saturday evening, Aug. 9, for the Oakland meeting,
which will feature a media panel and a party along with the grassroots
discussion and planning. The Black New World, 836 Pine St., West Oakland,
is the place. We’ll be looking for all our East Bay readers – everyone’s
welcome! More details soon.</b> <br>
<b> </b> <br>
I just got two calls – there have been many, as you can imagine – one
from a young teacher and one from an elder, saying how “distraught” they
and those around them are not to be able to hold a Bay View in their
hands. I surely feel their pain (this is editor Mary Ratcliff); the
paper’s been my entire life 24/7/365 for over 16 years of editing every
word in 697 editions – and I’ve loved every minute. <br>
<br>
At the top of the home page at
<a href="http://www.sfbayview.com/">www.sfbayview.com</a>, you’ll see the
headline
<a href="http://www.sfbayview.com/News/Display_Front_page/San_Francisco_Bay_View_The_end_of_an_era_the_dawn_of_a_new_day.html">
San Francisco Bay View: The end of an era, the dawn of a new day</a>.
Some of my thoughts about the Bay View’s transition to publishing online
only, at least for the moment, are there along with a Block Report Radio
interview by Minister of Information JR with Bay View publisher Willie
Ratcliff that was broadcast on Flashpoints. <br>
<br>
Now it’s your turn: Whether or not you can attend the meetings, please
email your thoughts and suggestions to
<a href="mailto:editor@sfbayview.com">editor@sfbayview.com</a>. <br>
<br>
<b>Readers in prison: </b>The printed Bay View has literally been a
lifeline for people without internet access and most of all for
prisoners. Our mail is heavy every day with letters from every
concentration camp in the country, many prisoners saying, “The Bay View
keeps me alive.” <br>
<br>
Until we can afford to mail the sad news – or, hopefully, a monthly paper
– to them, <b>you can help by telling all the prisoners you talk with or
write to and ask them to spread the news. Tell them we care about them as
much as ever, that we’ll continue to post their stories and pen pal
requests on the website (volunteers are badly needed to type a huge
backlog of requests) and that we want to join them in campaigning for
internet access behind enemy lines.</b> <br>
<br>
Eugene Thomas, an amazing young man in a Georgia state prison who won his
fight to legalize cell phones, is now pushing for permission to upgrade
to phones with internet access. And some federal prisons now give
prisoners access to the web. The prisoners themselves have kicked off
this campaign. Let’s follow their lead! <br>
<br>
<b>Web advertising and traffic: </b>Whatever opportunities the future
holds for the Bay View and other alternative media will cost money, and
income for most media, whether in print or online, comes primarily from
advertising. When we had to suspend printing the Bay View, my first task
was to tell our advertisers the sad news and ask them to move their ads
to our website. Most agreed to do so or at least to consider it. <br>
<br>
Knowing very little about web advertising, especially how to price it and
what options to offer, I’m afraid our website, like the print edition,
could be starved for funds. <b>If you or someone you know has expertise
in web advertising to offer, please email me at
<a href="mailto:editor@sfbayview.com">editor@sfbayview.com</a>. <br>
</b> <br>
Maybe <a href="http://www.sfbayview.com/">www.sfbayview.com</a> can earn
enough to help put the Bay View back in print! The traffic to our site,
which already draws over a million hits a month, is bound to increase.
<b>You can help build the
<a href="http://www.sfbayview.com/">www.sfbayview.com</a> readership by
spreading this Bay View Alert far and wide.</b> <br><br>
<br>
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