The San Bernardino County Sun from San Bernardino, California • Page 177

a consultation," he said. "They're ahead of the business to the extent that they hire very capable, but unemployed minority journalists." Historically, Gannett has been "fairly responsive" in its affirmative action commitments, 4 Olson said. "So when NBMC proposed those things, they didn't recoil in horror," he said. Cannett's total minority news staff has risen from 2.4 percent in 1968 to 3.5 percent in 1973, to 5.4 percent in 1978, to 7.1 percent in 1979. (That is above the industry average.) But Honig still felt the agreement gave new impetus to the goals because Gannett would 4 have to return to the FCC in three years for its license renewals and prove that it lived up to the agreement.

In response, Quinn said, "Yeah, it is an added push, but since we didn't have it before and we were doing it, it isn't a big one." DENNIS KELLY WXmKtA mrmi a I I 111; Jiff "'-M 01 pi VV i 3 4 i Minority newspapers find a niche residents of San Bernardino and Riverside counties could be a good one if someone was running it who knew what they were doing. He says he doesn't. "I think if the Precinct Reporter were in the hands of a more competent person, this area could really benefit as a result of its existence," Townsend says. Is it all modesty or unnecessary self-criticism? Not entirely. Indeed, some journalists might view the weekly paper as leaving something to be desired, particularly in terms of graphics the placement of stories, photos and headlines.

And then the paper depends on press releases for much of its news rather than on coverage by its own staff, which numbers just four full-time employees. But the Precinct Reporter's objective is to be a voice for the black community an outlet which many minorities feel isn't offered by the white-dominated press of the area a voice that has won the respect of a number of black community residents and leaders alike. It is apparently not there to make money. In fact, Townsend says it loses about $10,000 a year, which he subsidizes with the income from his real estate business. According to San Bernardino City Library figures, the paper prints 37,500 a week, but only 7,500 go to paying subscribers.

The rest of the papers, which run about 10 pages each week, are distributed free throughout Riverside and San Bernardino counties. Those figures as with the totals for the other minority publications are based on non-audited statements made by the publishers. But owners of minority publications have other rewards. They are looked at often as leaders in their respective communities. Townsend is a central cog in the political and economic machinery of San Bernardino's West Side where his paper is located.

"I think it's kind of difficult to separate Art Townsend from the Precinct Reporter," he said while having lunch at a restaurant next to his office. "They seem to be one and the same in the minds of a lot of people. Even the so-called black leaders look to me as the Godfather. "Not only somebody who can get things done, but someone they can come and talk to." The Precinct Reporter got its start on July 29, 1965, with what seemed to be a bit of humorous irony. A bottom corner of the front page carried a drawing like one of those culled from an advertising art book of a smiling father holding a crying baby in his arms.

The man was labeled, Art Townsend, and the baby, The Precinct Reporter. But the man and baby were both white, perhaps a statement about the lack of recog- Continued, next page iin a giant I California market El Chicano publisher and editor Gloria Macias supervises paste-up of the paper ones include many thousands that are distributed free. Consequently, some of the smaller circulation publications make money while the larger ones do not. But money-makers or not, they still play important roles in their communities, observers say. "All three (minority newspapers) have a serious impact, particularly when it comes to issues and elections; they carry a lot of weight," said Bob Parker, a black San Bernardino businessman.

The minority papers have changed somewhat since their early days, but their owners still say they are in pursuit of the ideals that got them started. They still believe. Precinct Reporter They are the children of someone's idealism. They were born out of the feeling that a segment of a city was not being adequately I represented in the majority press. And today, they minority publications are growing.

San Bernardino County has five, of which three are newspapers the Precinct Reporter and the American, which serve the area's black communities, and El Chicano, which offers news of hispanic interest. Newer and less well-known are two hispanic magazines, Caminos and Somos, both produced by non-profit corporations that provide a training ground for young minority journalists and printers. While that may not seem like many, there are only 15 black-oriented and 18 hispanic-interest publications in California. "It just goes to show you that there's a big market there' said Frank Martinez, former director of the Inland Manpower Association. 1 Their circulations vary from about 2,100 to 37,500, but those figures particularly the high or someone who is a publisher of a newspaper, Art Townsend sure doesn't talk like one.

A quiet black man, Townsend says his Lt Precinct Reporter could be a money maker if someone would try to sell ads for it, which he doesn't. "I'm not a salesman. I don't have the patience for it." He says the newspaper which serves black The Sun San Bernardino 3(3.