From its blistering editorials to its hilarious “Heap of the Week,” the

October 9, 2006 12:00 am
From its blistering editorials to its hilarious "Heap of the Week," the

From its blistering editorials to its hilarious “Heap of the Week,” the SOUTH SEATTLE STAR is no ordinary community newspaper. The paper reflects the activist aesthetic of Wallis Bolz, founder and publisher of the Star. The 40-year-old Madison Valley resident got her start at newspaper writing in 1998 by penning guest editorials for The Seattle Press, a venerable North End community paper, protesting the proposal to put a fence around the Arboretum and charge admission. Bolz had worked in publishing, starting at the small, feminist Seal Press, and did stints at Microsoft Press and Bay Press before finding herself out of work, writing op-eds, and dreaming of starting a community newspaper for South Seattle. After a stint as the editor of The Seattle Press and some time at home with her first child (she now has two sons), she put out the first 12,000 copies of the Star on May 8, 2002, thereby filling a huge gap in Seattle’s media market.

South Seattleites have long felt neglected by city government and the press. While there are several South End papers that focus on distinct communitiesThe Medium (African-American issues) and Northwest Asian Weekly, for examplethere was no paper, Bolz points out, that looked at the common concerns of people who live south of the Lake Washington Ship Canal. Two issues that unite neighborhoods from the Central District to Rainier Beach, Bolz says, are problems in schools and the dispersal of cultural communities thanks to development, waves of new immigrants, and population shifts as people search for cheaper housing.

Many community newspapers avoid controversy, opting to publish warmed-over press releases and crime blotters. The Star breaks news with well-written, well-researched stories. The paper is also chock-full of interesting commentary on politics and education. The recent primary-election endorsements were scathing, laugh-out-loud funny, and politically gutsy.

As she planned the paper, Bolz realized that not everyone was a news-and-politics junkie like her. So she dreamed up “Heap of the Week,” a regular feature about South End residents and their beloved rust buckets. The feature is a must-read because it captures an aspect of contemporary American life: people and their love affairs with old cars. It doesn’t hurt, as Bolz points out, that she has also attracted photographers “who know what to do with girls and cars.”

In fact, Bolz credits the lousy economy with her ability to attract first-rate photographers and writers for her modest payment rates. “We’ve had the ability to work with really good people because there is less money and jobs around,” she says. A prime example was when Bolz was able to hire respected radio and print freelancer Margie Slovan, a Mount Baker resident, as the Star’s editor last November.

The poor economy, however, has made it tough for a young business. Bolz says she and her husband continue to subsidize the paper but hope to start breaking even sometime next year. In the meantime, don’t expect Bolz to make the paper tamer to make it more advertiser-friendly. With characteristic bluntness, she says, “If what you are putting in the paper isn’t worth reading, you shouldn’t be cutting down the trees.”

The South Seattle Star is published every other Wednesday and is free at coffee shops and community centers and in street boxes throughout South Seattle. Mail subscriptions are $30 per year.George Howland Jr. 4914-B Rainier Ave. S., 98118, 206-721-7270; www.southseattlestar.com.

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