11.30.06
Upstart newspaper offers ‘alternative’
Upstart newspaper offers ‘alternative’
BY ERIK LOYD, Californian staff writer
e-mail: eloyd@bakersfield.com | Wednesday, Nov 29 2006 7:20 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, Nov 29 2006 7:33 PM
The publishers of Bakersfield’s newest free newspaper are feeling pretty good about Random Times a week after its debut.
“(Feedback) has been pretty positive,” said James Mongold, founder and editor of the independent tabloid, which hit the streets Friday. “People are excited that there’s an alternative view out there.”
“Reader feedback has been very good,” said A.S. Ashley, a local artist and Random Times writer. “People like the layout. They like the look of it.”
Random Times succeeds The Blackboard, which succumbed to financial shortfalls in September after five years in print. The goal, Mongold said, is to fill that alternative-press gap with work by local writers and to publish monthly.
“I’m interested in absolutely everything,” he said. “This paper is not about me. I want people to contribute so we can put up something that is diverse.”
The first issue features opinion pieces on downtown violence related to the nightclub scene, a bartender profile, film reviews, recipes and a look at a local band. Advertisers include The Empty Space theater, Going Underground Records and Bakotopia.com, an online publication owned by Mercado Nuevo, an affiliated company of The Bakersfield Californian.
Mongold, 30, is a clerical worker with some student journalism experience at Bakersfield’s East High School and Mount San Antonio College in Southern California. He has no illusions about making a buck or becoming a media powerhouse.
“It’s all in good fun,” he said. “I’m not trying to win a Pulitzer or anything like that.”
He said he’s passionate about politics but isn’t interested in muckraking, finger-pointing and promoting wild conspiracy theories, as is often the case with independent papers. What he wants is thoughtful, well-written and relevant journalism, and Random Times will accept anything from anyone — for free, of course.
“There will never be anything in there that serves no purpose,” Mongold said. “There will never be anything in there that is malicious.”
Mongold hopes to have the second issue out on Dec. 22. The paper is available at 25 locations throughout Bakersfield.
To inquire about submitting material and advertising rates, e-mail Mongold at randomtimeseditor@yahoo.com.
Random Times is available at these locations:
Russo’s Books in the East Hills Mall and The Marketplace; World Records; Downtown Records; Rockit Records; Going Underground Records; Borders Books; Dagny’s Coffee Co.; Gigantic Vintage; Jerry’s Pizza; 17th Street Cigar Co.; Front Porch Music; The Spotlight Theatre; Kosmo’s; The Empty Space; Posh; Starbucks (2701 Oswell St.); Outer Limits; Extreme Fashion; A Different Hue; The Grenadier; The Sandtrap; The Silver Fox; Bakersfield College; Cal State Bakersfield; The Mint.
On the Web: www.myspace.com/therandomtimes
www.bakotopia.com/home/user/RandomTimes
e-mail: randomtimeseditor@yahoo.com
