Eastside Media
by Lee Nichols
Kathy Vasquez (center) and her staff at La Prensa
photograph by Jana BirchumThere has always been a need for an alternative press. While the dominant culture gets its own conventional wisdom reinforced by the daily papers and major TV and radio news channels, any out-of-step perspectives risk getting completely trampled under without a messenger.
Nowhere in Austin has an alternative press been more necessary than in East Austin. Not merely out of step with West Austin, the area's historically minority population has been outright shunned and attacked by a racist culture ever since city leaders first pushed non-whites east with zoning laws and intimidation in the early part of this century. Communication was vital to keeping a sense of community alive.
Although racial tensions have improved, the old zoning laws have been abolished, and the mainstream press has slowly begun to acknowledge the news concerns of East Austinites, community news sources are still critical, because needed changes are still far from complete.
In keeping with the theme of this issue's Eastside Guide, "Media Clips" presents an overview of some of the alternative media sources that operate east of the freeway.
Capital City Argus The Argus was a 100-eyed creature of Greek legend known for being a vigilant, watchful guardian. Nobody has been keeping watch over East Austin longer than the Capital City Argus, which began operation in 1962, founded by local dentist Everett Givens. From him, the paper passed into the hands of Arthur and Lois Sims in 1968, and Charles Miles took over in 1980.
Miles admits that "the amount of money in running a community paper is pretty marginal," and he doesn't depend on its profits for survival (he also runs a consulting business called Capital City Communications). So why does he do it?
"I've always been involved in community affairs," Miles says. "I'm always trying to influence the African-American community."
Despite all the changes in Austin over the last 36 years, Miles says, "the mission probably hasn't changed a great deal. We're just trying to get news of importance to the African-American community. We haven't tried to expand outside of that realm. It's always been very independent."
One thing that definitely hasn't changed is the importance of churches to the black community, and that's where you're most likely to find the Argus. Although it's not a religious newspaper, "it's easy to distribute there. More people will see you there. Almost everyone that lives outside east and northeast Austin comes back for church," says Miles.
The Villager Running second in the longevity derby is Tommy Wyatt's The Villager, which is similar in mission to the Capital City Argus."We're a 'good news' paper," says publisher Wyatt, who just celebrated his 25th year of business. "We print the good news and we are highly positive. We keep the community apprised of things of interest to them, some good, some bad. We needed a strong community paper," Wyatt says. "We [African-Americans] are in a very unique situation, only peculiar to us. The daily does newspapers for the overall community, but they feel that much of our news isn't important to the rest of the community. We need a paper to publicize our graduates, our announcements, our issues. You see this in other parts of town with community papers in Westlake or other parts of town, too."
Wyatt also stresses that he doesn't want to just be pigeonholed as an East Austin paper, though. "We appeal to the black community wherever they live. We have as many readers in Southwest Austin as in East Austin."
Nokoa -- The Observer Akwasi Evans also takes pains to avoid being pigeonholed. Not only does he shun the label of an "East Austin paper," he also refuses to be a "black paper" as well. Instead, his NOKOA is intended for the progressive community ó in fact, the masthead boasts that it is "Austin's Leading Progressive Weekly Newspaper." And NOKOA, derived from the Swahili word, to watch or to observe,is not the "good news" paper; it is filled with highly charged political news and opinions.
Akwasi Evans of NOKOA-The Observer
photograph by Jana BirchumEvans started NOKOA in 1987 to fill an underserved niche. "I saw a need for a paper to serve the progressive community," he says. "I don't think anyone was serving the multicultural, peace activist community in Austin."
Now that may sound strange to anyone aware of Austin's progressive reputation, and the tons of peace activist literature available at just about any coffee shop, but it's that "multicultural" word that Evans says separates his paper from anything found west of I-35.
"There are many people on the West side that we have worked with for years," says Evans. However, "We're progressive, but our lighter-hued friends have painted us into a black corner."
And Evans has never been afraid to stand in direct disagreement with West side progressives. NOKOA was openly critical of the S.O.S. Ordinance, and, although Evans claims to also serve gays and lesbians, he prints the opinions of the Rev. Frank Garrett, who has been attacked as being homophobic and racist. Evans gives a rather tortured response to such criticism:
"I disagree," says Evans. "Garrett is very progressive. I don't recall him being anti-gay, depending on what you consider 'anti.' He said it's a sin and an abomination.... That's what I expect from most Southern Baptist ministers. But I've never heard him say anything about a particular person. He condemns the practice of promiscuity, but I've heard him say the same thing about heterosexuals."
On the other hand, NOKOA also carries such syndicated national columnists as Dr. Lenora Fulani, the two-time independent presidential candidate whose progressive credentials are impeccable. Her most recent column took both the U.S. government and the Human Rights Watch activist group to task for not being stringent enough in putting human rights at the forefront of foreign policy toward Congo and Indonesia.
Evans says the biggest challenge to staying in operation is "convincing advertisers to use NOKOA to reach the leading consumer population in the city. There's an aversion in this city by people in business and government to support most initiatives of black people. Even when we show that we can provide a better product, we still don't get the business. They will do anything to avoid us. Many major [entities] that do business with us are forced to do so by the government ó some state agencies and the state lottery. We had to get the state Legislature to call a hearing to force the lottery to rationalize why they had so many minority players but weren't advertising in minority papers."
Arriba Romeo Rodriguez started Arriba, a paper of Latino business and arts news, in 1980. "It was a project of necessity," Rodriguez says. "I was a grad student in sociology at UT at the time, and at that period there was not too much coverage of Latino artists, educators, and leaders. It started mostly as a monthly, or whatever funds would allow, but then in '88 I felt that there was enough support to make it a business. With my savings from being a deputy campaign manager for the Texas Jesse Jackson campaign," he says, "I got enough funds to make it a sustaining publication."As an example of why Arriba was necessary, Rodriguez says, "In 1980 I had to plead with the Austin American-Statesman to get things covered. I asked them to cover a benefit that Little Joe was playing at, and the woman who was music editor then said she didn't know who he was. I said Little Joe plays to more Texans every year than Willie Nelson, but she refused to do the story."
Eventually a friend inside the Statesman helped push his cause, and the Little Joe story got in ó but Rodriguez had to write it. "The response to the story showed me there was a hunger for this stuff," he says.
Arriba prints almost entirely in English. That's because, Romeo says, "It's focused on the Mexican-American community. We can speak Spanish, but we were brought up in an English education system and it's easier to read English." However, Rodriguez says, he includes some coverage for Mexican nationals and immigrants, as well.
KAZI (88.7FM) Although its offices are now outside the I-35/Town Lake/Airport Boulevard triangle on which our guide focuses, KAZI is indisputably still the radio voice of the African-American Eastside. Before moving to its current address of 8906 Wall St. in northeast Austin, the community station began 15 years ago at Manor & Airport, and later moved to Loyola & Springdale.KAZI (Swahili for "work") was the brainchild of Dr. John Warfield, a professor of African-American studies at UT, and like other community stations, depends on listener contributions, underwriting, and grants to stay afloat.
"We are for the community and report on what is really happening in the community without being skewed or biased," says news director Jerry Callahan, who has worked for the station for 11 years. "We don't have to portray a national picture that most media adhere to."
Callahan says that KAZI provides diversity, education, and training for the community. "Not many African-American students can go to a station like KLBJ and learn hands-on. They wouldn't welcome them with open arms, but we do, and we train them."
Given how community stations in general must struggle to keep operating, one might think that one which serves a minority community would have an even tougher time. "No," says Callahan, "because we're not just serving the African-American community. One of Austin's big problems is it's culturally illiterate. We're not only serving our culture, we're serving the community at large, explaining how we are culturally to other open-minded people as well, and that can heal societal scars. People of other races appreciate that."
KAZI has a diversity of programming, starting with gospel in the mornings. Musically, there's a heavy R&B component ("No rap!" says Callahan), but in the evening there are specialty programs with blues, reggae, and jazz. Also, there are talk shows (including the previously mentioned inflammatory comment of Rev. Frank Garrett), poetry and news, including the left-oriented, nationally syndicated Pacifica Network News, which KAZI recently picked up after Pacifica and KOOP parted ways after a much-publicized fight.
La Prensa Cathy Vasquez-Revilla's name should be familiar to those who follow community affairs, as she recently served on the city planning commission. In fact, participation in city issues is the very reason she started La Prensa in 1986."You know how you look for what you are supposed to do, what will fulfill you and become a career? I became an educator and got involved in political campaigns... but then I got involved in a Spanish newspaper in Houston. I was asked to write a column about women. Then I got into the advertising part and loved it, then I got involved in the production room and loved that, I loved it all, and I knew that this is what I wanted to do. With a paper I can really communicate. I can give information and wait and see if it inspires people to take action."
La Prensa began as an all-Spanish paper, but in 1988 it became bilingual. However, "We remain true to our foundation, helping new citizens adapt to American society, providing information on immigration services, social services, career services, and news from home. But our other function is to celebrate Hispanic life in America... I'm a fifth-generation Texan.
"Our main issue is East Austin and where it stands in the shadow of West Austin and what its future will be and what will happen to its people."
El MundoEven monolingual readers can figure out quickly what the Angulo family's El Mundo is about ó it claims to be Austin's "Leading Weekly Spanish Newspaper."A look at the May 28-June 3 issue shows it has a bit more of an international focus than some other community papers, and is especially heavy on news for immigrants. The front page had stories on the INS deporting 1,000 immigrants, the legal abuses that spouses of immigrants can face, the exchange rate between dollars and pesos, and the tobacco settlement fight between Attorney General Dan Morales and Gov. George Bush. Inside, one finds news of American and foreign Latino entertainers, and full coverage of the World Cup.
"Media Clips" was unable to contact or find a copy of El Norte newspaper, and we're certain there may be other Eastside media sources that we may have missed. If you know of one, call Lee Nichols at 454-5766x239, or e-mail to lnichols@auschron.com.
