Welcome to JPR’s new member magazine, The Jefferson Journal! We consider The Jefferson Journal to be a natural evolution of The Jefferson Monthly, a publication JPR has produced and published since April, 1993. Going back to the JPR history vault even further, The Jefferson Monthly was the successor to The Guide to the Arts, which JPR first began publishing in March, 1977.
As we step forward toward a new transition, we'll continue to strive for excellence in the pages of The Jefferson Journal.
The Jefferson Journal will be published every other month beginning with this inaugural March/April issue and will continue to include the columns and features readers of The Jefferson Monthly have told us they enjoy most. The Jefferson Journal has been completely redesigned graphically and is also printed on higher quality paper (still recycled) on a state-of-the-art digital press.
By shifting TheJefferson Journal to a bi-monthly publication it is our goal to reduce the cost of postage which has risen significantly over the years. Since most of the journalistic work we’ve done in The Jefferson Monthly has not been time sensitive we can include more editorial pages in The Jefferson Journal over time while still cutting our postage costs nearly in half. We are also working hard to increase the advertising revenue in The Jefferson Journal and providing more time between issues will help us accomplish this goal.Welcome to JPR’s new member magazine, The Jefferson Journal! We consider The Jefferson Journal to be a natural evolution of The Jefferson Monthly, a publication JPR has produced and published since April, 1993. Going back to the JPR history vault even further, The Jefferson Monthly was the successor to The Guide to the Arts, which JPR first began publishing in March, 1977.
JPR has always done things a bit differently -- publishing a monthly magazine was no exception. The idea was born when most non-profit organizations produced regular newsletters which they mailed to donors to keep them abreast of their work and when most public radio stations mailed program schedules to their members to inform them when programs would be broadcast. JPR always felt that if it were investing the time, energy and resources needed to mail a simple newsletter and program schedule it might as well leverage that work to create a publication that really offered something of value to its members.
Over the ensuing years, JPR’s monthly publication covered a variety of topics that reflected life in the State of Jefferson. From the arts to the environment, we worked to tell the stories of the people, places and issues central to citizens of Southern Oregon and Northern California. We thought of it as public radio for your eyes.
As the Internet age emerged and access to the Internet became ubiquitous, public radio stations around the country abandoned print completely and focused on disseminating information to their members on their websites. While JPR was at the forefront of this movement, launching one of the first websites in public radio in 1995 and earning an Associated Press award in 2007 for the best website of any radio station in Oregon, we never gave up our commitment to telling stories via the printed word.
The Jefferson Journal continues this tradition. In the upcoming issues of The Jefferson Journal you’ll learn about why Del Norte County has the highest rate of domestic violence in California through the very personal lens of one family in a powerful piece written by JPR’s Emily Cureton in partnership with the Del Norte Triplicate newspaper. You’ll learn about what’s being done to avoid another costly wildfire season through the investigative journalism of JPR’s Liam Moriarty in collaboration with the Seattle non-profit InvestigateWest. We’ll build on the work that we create for radio and also be able to include material that’s been left on the cutting room floor.
In announcing the evolution of The Guide to the Arts to The Jefferson Monthly in the final issue of The Guide in March, 1993 former JPR Director of Broadcasting, Ronald Kramer, wrote:
“We have always tried hard to achieve excellence and relevance in all we do at JPR. How do you craft an excellent set of public radio services in small-town America? In a region which is not particularly wealthy? In an area defined by challenging, mountainous terrain which plays havoc with radio signals? Part of the answer lies in what one doesn’t do. You don’t say, ‘We’re too small, this is too difficult. Other communities our size can’t do this so probably we can’t either.’ You commit yourself and your resources to worthwhile, albeit difficult, goals, strive for excellence, live wisely and a bit frugally, and keep trying to build upon, to pyramid, your strengths and successes. That’s been our approach in broadcasting and for The Guide to the Arts. And it remains our approach in launching The Jefferson Monthly.”
I can’t say it better myself. As we step forward toward a new transition, we’ll continue to strive for excellence in the pages of The Jefferson Journal. We’ll build on the in-depth, contextual journalism that is embedded in the DNA of the JPR newsroom. We’ll share our love of music and the arts in new and compelling ways. And, we’ll live wisely and a bit frugally by maximizing the value of the funds you generously give us throughout the year.
