There’s an old saying within Downtown Devil that our coverage isn’t very wide (Seventh Street to Seventh Avenue, McDowell Road to the railroad tracks, to be more specific), but it’s very deep.
That’s exactly the angle we’re working this year: deep coverage.
The 3-month stretch of summer and our staff being scattered across the country made for less regular coverage of downtown Phoenix, but it also allowed for time to strategize how we could improve our publication upon our return.
And it’s a good thing summer’s over, because we can’t wait to get back to delivering the content downtown Phoenix residents look to us for.
When many Downtown Devil staff members left Phoenix in May, we had accomplished a series of goals for the growth and sustainability of the publication. We’ve come back — better than ever, I might add — with more ways to improve the quality of our content and expand our organization’s reach.
Our core goal remains the same: to cover downtown Phoenix better than anyone else. We strive to be the place the community goes to for downtown Phoenix news. The place readers know will give them the whole story. The place that adds value to information that’s already out there and goes beyond a press release or other announcement. We strive to be the front page of downtown Phoenix.
But we’ve expanded on that goal. We want to add value to our content and give readers the depth and context they need to truly understand what is happening in their community.
It’s a community that we care so deeply about and are truly invested in. We want that community to know how much we value it, which is why community engagement is another focal point of the year. Rather than just reporting on what’s happening, we want to spark discussion about issues downtown Phoenix residents should know about and get to know the people involved.
As readers, you can expect the downtown Phoenix news coverage Downtown Devil is known for, but you can also expect more special projects, explanatory journalism, multimedia and community engagement events. We want to tell downtown Phoenix’s stories in new and innovative ways, and be not only a resource for residents, but a platform for discussion as well.
Downtown Devil has grown in size this past year, and the members of our staff have grown with the publication. But we want to grow in the quality of our work and grow our footprint in Phoenix’s urban core so we can better serve its residents. Because that’s what it all comes down to: serving the community we call home.
Contact the reporter at pkunthar@asu.edu.
