When I arrived at Arizona State University in the fall of 2008, my goal was to report for the school newspaper as soon as possible.
I remember meeting the State Press editor a few days into the semester and running as fast as I could back to Taylor Place to grab my resume for him.
Soon enough, I was a reporter for the State Press. I loved working for the publication, but after a few weeks I knew I needed something different.
All the stories I pitched were about the Downtown Phoenix campus, and, understandably, that annoyed my editors. They wanted Tempe news. ASU’s nearly 70,000 students didn’t care much about what was happening at the university’s smallest and newest campus.
However, several other eager freshmen and I could tell special things were happening at our campus. The news downtown might not have been important to everyone in Tempe, but it was news that would matter to a great deal of people.
So we took the abundant free time that only freshmen have and began making a website that we thought, perhaps, we might use one day.
I suggested we post our stories on MySpace, but my co-founders fortunately shut that idea down right away. Instead, we built a WordPress website, thought of a catchy name, designed a cool banner with the Phoenix skyline and left it ready for whenever we might need it.
The day came on Feb. 5, 2009. Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio planned to march undocumented inmates through downtown Phoenix. It wasn’t news to the State Press, but it was news to us.
We wrote a story, shot photos, put it all together and before we knew it, we had launched an online publication. There was no grand opening, no tweet commemorating our birth or any introductory editorial. We hit “publish” for no other reason than because we were eager to start working and we cared about our community.
We started at the Walter Cronkite School during one of the worst times in journalism. Our professors told us we could make a difference and begged us to be innovative.
We lived in downtown Phoenix just as it was maturing into a place with its own identity with the campus. Those at the school and outside of it pleaded for ASU students to immerse themselves in the community.
We were young, naive and believed that we could make a difference in the campus and community — and we did.
It’s been five years since the day we launched, and that same spirit still carries the Downtown Devil.
We never imagined the Downtown Devil could become what it is today. From five students in a dorm room back in 2008, the organization has grown to several dozen dedicated members.
As the community and the campus have grown, we’ve grown with it.
That growth has allowed us to continue to write hundreds of stories each year about the news the downtown Phoenix community cares about.
It’s been nearly two years since the publication’s founders left the day-to-day operation of the Downtown Devil to current students. They carry on the spirit that started the Downtown Devil: They care about keeping their community informed.
They work countless hours chasing sources, editing stories, snapping pictures and meeting every week to cover downtown Phoenix better than anyone else.
It’s not easy, especially when you have to balance the Downtown Devil with classes, internships, jobs and a social life, but these students continue to care. As long as there are students like them — motivated young people who understand why journalism is necessary and who believe they can make a difference — the Downtown Devil will continue to exist.
There’s little in life that I am more proud of than being involved in the creation of the Downtown Devil. It gave me journalism experience that I still use to this day, it gave me countless memories that I cherish and it gave me friends whom I love and hope to keep until the day I die.
Thank you for reading us these past five years, and may there be many more in store for the Downtown Devil.
Contact the writer at sal.rodriguez19@gmail.com
Salvador Rodriguez is a publisher of Downtown Devil.
