With zine 2, we’re getting more connected to the community

It’s been several breathless weeks of distribution getting the latest issue of our zine out into San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood.

We’re continuing to develop our approach: We’ve partnered with businesses and organizations to make this and future issues reliably available in more locations. You can find the list of distribution partners here. We’re very excited about that, as well as the fact that the list is growing — people are reaching out with offers to help our work get into the hands of more readers.

Some really wonderful partnerships have blossomed in recent weeks. Working with the San Francisco Public Library in particular has been very exciting, because their ground floor information kiosk sees a lot of foot traffic (so we need to restock often, which is excellent).

Some nonprofit local housing providers are also letting us put stacks inside their buildings’ entrances, to reach tenants.

Then, just this week, a community member approached us and asked if her building, home to seniors, could become a distribution location. We were delighted.

There are a few more spots where there’s a good chance San Franciscans will be able to find a copy, but where we aren’t able to closely monitor supply. For example, we’re very appreciative that staff at the Heart of the City Farmers Market have allowed us to keep a stack on offer at the tent where credit card and EBT customers get tokens with which to buy produce.

If you’re far away, or you simply have a desire to DIY a copy, feel free to print your own! The printable PDF file is here, or if you prefer to read on a screen, check out the digital version here.

The immediacy of physical media

We continue to feel that we’ve got something special with this zine, primarily because of reader reception. Compared with its predecessor issue, we’ve so far printed 30% more copies for Issue No. 2 — and we keep running out. If demand keeps rising, and if we can find a financial supporter (could it be you?), we may start paying to print these at a shop. That’s because, while printing and assembling at the office has been both fun and frugal, printer troubleshooting and resupplying has become a serious time commitment. 

The reactions of readers who get this in their hands have kept us buoyant through some stressful times (readers of this newsletter already know that starting a newsroom is tough). We and our contributors really pour our souls into this work, and it seems readers feel that. The tangible product has a gentle immediacy that web articles lack; you don’t need to remember to check it out “later” on the same device that houses all of your stress and distractions. The zine speaks for itself, and it doesn’t alert or buzz like your phone does. It just beckons you in and welcomes you to stay awhile. 

Local News Day

We also have good things to report from Local News Day, a nationwide day of action to connect newsrooms and communities. The Tenderloin Voice did a one-day multi-platform campaign asking people to introduce us to neighbors who might not know about us yet. That netted us some new email subscribers and some online attention, which is great, but the truly stunning part was what happened when we specifically solicited testimonials. 

The words people are using to describe us are fulfilling our wildest dreams: 

“They are doing really cool and crucial work.”  

“TL Voice is the neighborhood media that the Tenderloin has deserved for a long time.” 

“... my favorite local news publication.” 

“... about fostering connection and understanding across difference.”

We are honored and humbled. 

Issue No. 3 of the zine is in the works, along with some other exciting new initiatives. More soon!

Laura, Daphne, and Noah