With the Bay State Banner suspending publication I find myself in an interesting position. Since last year I’ve held at least three jobs at once, sometimes up to five. I’ve always been aware of the difficult economic times, but it wasn’t until the Banner suspended publications that the crunch of lost jobs hit home.
As a student/freelance reporter the closing of one writing avenue shouldn’t really slow me down as I am able to write for anyone. Newspapers are always looking for good writers that they can pay freelance rates. The irony is that it never crossed my mind that the Banner would shut down.
Helping edit the Banner every Tuesday allows me to see and read the paper before it comes out and see the length of the paper as well. It might not have been prevalent in my mind, but when the newspaper shrinks from 36 – 40 pages to 20 – 25 pages in a year there are problems.
Owner and publisher, Melvin B. Miller has stated that the suspension is due to financial issues coming from the fact that the paper has sold a diminishing number of ads. Honestly, it’s all above my pay grade.
I do hope the Banner will continue to publish. It’s a staple of the black community, the spiritual successor to the Guardian and one of the few newspapers that covered issues of importance to the black community and still maintained a global perspective.
Plus, I have several stories that I’m still working on and I’d like to get them published in the Banner!
BANNER STORIES AND OTHER STUFF
I know I’m behind in my updates. Some new developments with me have kept me from writing with regularity, but I’ll catch up with my updates and probably talk about the other stuff that going on with me. I appreciate your patience.
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