I’m writing this from Charleston, S.C., at the AAN Publishers conference. What was originally known as the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies was founded as an organization in 1978 for print newspapers that served as an alternative news source to the usual daily newspapers and mainstream media that often did not tell the whole story. (Sound familiar?)
These days, we’re simply known as AAN Publishers, with many of us serving as at least one paper of record for our towns or states. From the start, membership in AAN has been competitive with the quality of writing and reporting not found in other news source a key reason for being allowed to join the organization.
Long-time AAN Publishers member Fran Zankowski talks at the organization’s Thursday, July 11, 2024, solutions circle in Charleston, S.C., about revenue solutions while holding his group’s talking stick. Photo by Donna Ladd ” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MFP-AAN-Solutions-Circle-07112024-4_cred-Donna-Ladd.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MFP-AAN-Solutions-Circle-07112024-4_cred-Donna-Ladd.jpg?fit=780%2C520&ssl=1″ tabindex=”0″ role=”button” src=”https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MFP-AAN-Solutions-Circle-07112024-4_cred-Donna-Ladd.jpg?resize=780%2C520&ssl=1″ alt class=”wp-image-44706″ srcset=”https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MFP-AAN-Solutions-Circle-07112024-4_cred-Donna-Ladd.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MFP-AAN-Solutions-Circle-07112024-4_cred-Donna-Ladd.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MFP-AAN-Solutions-Circle-07112024-4_cred-Donna-Ladd.jpg?resize=768%2C512&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MFP-AAN-Solutions-Circle-07112024-4_cred-Donna-Ladd.jpg?resize=400%2C267&ssl=1 400w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MFP-AAN-Solutions-Circle-07112024-4_cred-Donna-Ladd.jpg?w=1200&ssl=1 1200w, https://i0.wp.com/www.mississippifreepress.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/MFP-AAN-Solutions-Circle-07112024-4_cred-Donna-Ladd-1024×683.jpg?w=370&ssl=1 370w” sizes=”(max-width: 780px) 100vw, 780px” data-recalc-dims=”1″>Long-time AAN Publishers member Fran Zankowski talks at the organization’s Thursday, July 11, 2024, solutions circle in Charleston, S.C., about revenue solutions while holding his group’s talking stick. Photo by Donna Ladd
I love AAN. I didn’t always. For years as the associate publisher of the Jackson Free Press—an “alt weekly” of the highest quality—I was often the only Black person at AAN conferences. I live in the Blackest state in the nation; 36% of Mississippi identifies as someone of African descent, so it weirds me out when there aren’t at least a handful of Black, Brown or beige people in the room.
I stopped attending AAN conferences in 2013 until my friend and colleague John Heaston, who passed away recently, pulled me back into the fray in 2020 with Donna Ladd’s urging of me as a board member. Upon my return, I found changes afoot. There were incredibly earnest people pushing for diversity and inclusivity, more young people like Sayaka Matsuoka, managing editor of Triad City Beat in North Carolina, asking hard questions and
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