Last Thursday Sept. 15 my Writing for The Web class at Pima Community College met with Tucson Sentinel's Editor and Publisher Dylan Smith. We were required to come to class with three questions prepared. He was very short with his answers and he constantly wandered off to different topics. He also sat down in the front of the class so that no one could see him and he was very quiet while he was speaking.
1. Is Tucson Sentinel an online and print source?
-Only online. Smith said that it is too expensive to have delivery trucks and print on paper.
2. Since Tucson Sentinel is an independent nonprofit online news source, how do you make a living and/or pay your employees?
-99% of the employees are volunteers and the 1% that does receive money gets it for gas or absolute necessities. As for his living he has drained out his savings and is working on his retirement fund as well.
3. Who are the people that read your article the most?
-Southern Arizonan population.
Summary: Dylan Smith of the Tucson Sentinel was not a very informative publisher/editor. In my view he smashed journalism to the ground and made it seem impossible to make a career out of it. His website was extremely liberal in my eyes and his views on Fox news was very one-sided. He mentioned at the end of his discussion that we could intern for him but he made it seem like an absolute miserable time by saying that"if you want to get messed around with you can become an intern for us". Personally, I believe that Dylan Smith's presentation was extremely awkward and I would be perfectly content with never receiving news from the Tucson Sentinel again.
Wow, Aimee you pack quite a punch with this blog post. You certainly offer your personal opinion and a summary of the visit, and good that you include a link. Pay attention to your tone: readers might find it as one-sided as you say Smith was. If you make a strong statement like "his site is extremely liberal," you should back it up with an example--and a link, of course. I remember Smith saying the Sentinel does not endorse candidates or take political positions, so explain why you think it's one-sided. Also, it would make your critique stronger if you gave him *some* credit, said anything positive about the experience or the site. Also, you should introduce the questions in some way. Did you ask them? Are they a sample of what was discussed?
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