Building your community newspaper

When people ask me what I do for work – you know those odd courtesies we find ourselves in during social encounters – I usually say I am a story teller. Sure, I can impress them by stating I work for an alternative weekly newspaper, or declare I am an award-winning journalist, or even say I am the paper’s new editor. Those are all different ways to describe what I do, but when you get right down to the nuts and bolts of my job, I tell stories.

I don’t tell my stories. I tell your stories.

From new tax laws that affect same-sex married couples to the gay appeal of Dorothy and friends, the contents of this publication reflect you, your community, your country and your world. The San Diego LGBT Weekly represents all the news and all the fun of living in the local LGBT community. We print the joys and the sorrows, the challenges and the victories, the good news and the “oh gurl, what were you thinking” news.

I can’t tell the story alone. I need your help.

One of my first goals as the new editor of the LGBT Weekly is to involve you, our readers, more and more with each issue. That means I need your help. What stories catch your attention the most? What are we missing that you would love to read? What topics are you tired of seeing in our paper?

Do you want serious and breaking news? Are you interested in local entertainment events or gay celebrity shenanigans? How about sports coverage, business reviews, local deals, pet care, fashion, historical notes and social events? Should we be hard core or should we be – well, gay?

I rely on your involvement to make the LGBT Weekly a true paper of our community. I am working with a great team of writers, columnists and designers here, and we have a plethora of concepts of how to grow, expand and evolve your newspaper. However, we need more personalized input. We can come up with idea after idea of cool and innovative features, but they are meaningless if you don’t like them.

I invite you to share your ideas – your stories – with me. Send me an email at editor.lgbtweekly@gmail.com. You can even catch me on Facebook.

You are not only the readers of these pages. You are also the stars of my stories.

JONATHAN YOUNG, Editor
San Diego LGBT Weekly