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| PaulR Taylor, volunteer editor of the Carnegie Newsletter |
In February 2012, the volunteer editor of the Carnegie Newsletter, PaulR Taylor, notified the Downtown Eastside community that the Gaming Commission had rejected the Community Communications component of the yearly application for refunding. For the past two decades, the printing costs of the newsletter have been mainly covered by these funds, with some individual donations. Its sister publication “Help in the Downtown Eastside” (printed twice a year until 2011) has been paid for with funds raised separately for its 21-year existence. This article is based on an interview with Paul in May 2012.
The Carnegie Newsletter got started on August 15, 1986. Its predecessor was the Carnegie Crescent, which had died out because there were too many editors at the helm.
In the case of the Carnegie Newsletter, Alan Mettrick was the editor for the first 7 issues. He left and a few who had contributed thought that this wasn’t that hard. The early issues were being produced on a typewriter, and having learned to type in high school I stepped into the role of editor.
The Carnegie Newsletter has been a space for people in the Downtown Eastside to write about politics and issues that are relevant to them. It raises what can’t be ignored and allows people to speak out. It shines a light on everything we are not being told in the mainstream media. Over the years, submissions have challenged the notion that it’s poor people’s fault that they’re poor, highlighted how legislation keeps people poor, and raised alarm bells about the hundreds of murdered and missing women in the DTES. The Carnegie Newsletter also hasn’t shied away from discussing issues such as the shortage of affordable housing, homelessness, drugs, sex, free trade, gentrification, marginalization, safety on the streets, kids at risk, and needle exchanges.
The Carnegie Newsletter turned 25 last year. It is published on the 1st and 15th of every month. Typically each issue is 16 to 28 pages and 1200 printed copies are distributed to readers throughout the Downtown Eastside. On average, there have been 23 issues each year.
Who is involved in the getting the Carnegie Newsletter out?
There have been over 1000 volunteers who have worked on the Carnegie Newsletter, some contributing their time for just one issue while others have been involved on almost every issue.
I volunteer as the editor, and various people have come and gone in working with me on the layout. Most volunteers help in the assembly of the newsletter. Often they are retirees who have worked in the DTES communities, but some people just come and ask “Can I help?” One of our volunteers worked for 30 years in a printshop in China; she could put together the newsletter faster than anyone. There’s this energetic banter that goes on back and forth between volunteers while assembling the newsletter. There are also volunteers who deliver the newsletters to locations around the community.
As for submissions, people sometimes write their poems or thoughts on napkins and slide them under the door. Others might come to the office and say “I’m a poet. Here’s my latest.” Poets/writers like Bud Osborn and Sheila Baxter began their publishing careers in the paper. Sandy Cameron, a well-known historian of the DTES, contributed to the Carnegie Newsletter for over 20 years.
What is the impact—short term and long term—of the government’s decision to cut the funding for the Carnegie Newsletter?
The short term impact is that we’ve had to put an appeal out to readers to help us find funds to continue publishing. The problem is that most of our readers don’t have extra money. Various people who have jobs have sent money. In general, the response has been good, but people are waiting for something or someone to make a higher financial contribution. There has been the suggestion of charging 25 cents for each newsletter. But then we would have to keep track of quarters. And the idea is that the Carnegie Newsletter should not cost you to use it.
The long term impact is that if the newsletter dies, it would be a blow to the community. For people who have their work published in the newsletter, it improves their self-esteem and confidence to see what they have written in print. People’s faces beam. Maybe they haven’t written anything in their life. Sometimes they ask for 15 copies to send back home to their family.
To the government, it’s just a newsletter, of the same genus as inhouse, online newsletters with schedules and announcements for content. But the Carnegie Newsletter is something much different.
Where to from here?
There is the Crude Cash Concert fundraiser on Sunday, June 17 from 7:30-9:30 p.m. at St. James Community Square (3214 West 10th Ave). There will be music and entertainment and a silent auction of artwork by First Nations artist Garnet Tobacco. Top price tickets are $100 with a sliding scale of what people can afford [basically choose your own price!]. We’re aiming to raise up to $10,000. After the fundraiser, we’ll re-evaluate where we’re at. The hope is that a larger permanent funder will be located soon. We also plan to re-apply to the Gaming Commission again in November.
What motivates you?
Volunteering is not a big deal for me. If you believe in something, you do it. One of my best memories of working on the Carnegie Newsletter was this guy who was learning how to read and write. He wrote out 4 lines and submitted it to be published. It was full of spelling mistakes, but what this guy wrote was genuine. And he didn’t give a damn what people thought. He got something down on paper that made sense to him and it was printed without correcting or editing. He was astonished. Now that’s really something.
