On Monday, Downtown Devil will have a new slogan. The current “News for the Urban Sun Devil” will be replaced by “The Front Page of Downtown Phoenix” at the top of our website.
While this change only directly impacts the top 100 pixels of any given webpage, it is representative of the growth and development “DD” has gone through since its launch more than five years ago.
Above all else, Downtown Devil is, as it always has been, committed to providing the absolute best possible coverage of downtown Phoenix. Our new motto showcases that commitment front and center.
Parts of Downtown Devil occasionally feel like a balancing act. We balance our desire to cover everything happening right this minute in downtown Phoenix with our desire to produce longer, broader trend pieces. We balance our dedication to effective, timely coverage with our dedication to helping all of our staff members learn and grow as journalists and as individuals.
The way to balance all these elements is by doing them all. If we can’t do everything today, we have to try again tomorrow. That’s what it takes to be “The Front Page of Downtown Phoenix,” and that’s what we’re set out to do.
We strive to produce stories and multimedia pieces as diverse and interesting as the community that we live and work in. We strive for thorough, accurate coverage of all things downtown Phoenix.
There are times we fall short of those goals. But we can often follow up with an article or a shift in our coverage plans moving forward. Issues of factual inaccuracy are dealt with immediately and transparently, with our Corrections and Clarifications page serving as a collection of how we’ve learned from and amended our mistakes.
That spirit of learning is one of many ways that the “urban Sun Devil” is still incredibly relevant to Downtown Devil. Most of our reporters, editors and staff members attend ASU’s Downtown Phoenix campus, and many of our readers are Sun Devils as well. Downtown Devil is fully independent from ASU — while our staff may go to school there, the publication is not funded, organized or managed by any ASU professors or faculty.
Despite this, Downtown Devil remains a place for journalism students to learn their craft, whether they’re pursuing a formal degree in the field or not. Every interview, story or event is an opportunity for growth for everyone involved, from our reporters to our editors to our managing board members.
We’ve certainly grown so far. What started as creation of students in a dorm room has become a publication capable of putting on community events, producing long-form pieces showcasing downtown’s intricacies and keeping up with the constant stream of action in Arizona’s heart.
With that growth comes change. So, we say goodbye to “News for the Urban Sun Devil.” It has certainly treated us well. Now, we’re looking forward to the places we’ll go in our quest to truly be “The Front Page of Downtown Phoenix.”
Contact the author at jdchesl@asu.edu
