Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 1, 1994 TAG: 9406010066
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By BETTY HAYDEN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BLACKSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The Asylum, a biweekly newspaper, makes its debut Friday and will be followed by four additional issues.
Mike Rowland, the business manager who helped found the newspaper, said most of the seven staff members and six writers work on campus newspapers and wanted to continue coverage throughout the summer.
The Asylum will target 18- to 25-year-olds and expects a circulation of nearly 3,500. The free publication will be distributed on the Radford and Virginia Tech campuses and at several locations in downtown Blacksburg and Radford.
Rowland said The Asylum will cover issues relevant to students and local events but will place more emphasis on analysis than on timeliness. The newspaper also will feature stories about outdoor activities and movie, music and restaurant reviews. He said the staff shares a common belief in the ideals of journalism.
"It's going to take news on from a different perspective," he said. Once readers pick it up, they'll want to see subsequent issues, he said.
Start-up funds, used for equipment and supplies, came from Rowland's business, Design Systems. The paper plans to operate on advertising revenues.
The Asylum will have bureaus in Blacksburg and Radford, with computer equipment scattered among various staff members and a darkroom setup in someone's bathroom.
"We'll be transporting a lot of floppy disks," Rowland said.
Rowland, a 30-year-old economics major at Radford, said the newspaper is only a summer project for now.
"If this is a successful product, it's going to be hard to keep it on the shelf for very long," he said.
Staff members kicked around several names for the paper before deciding on The Asylum, Rowland said. Asylum was chosen for its meanings of shelter and as a place where people seek help.
Rowland said the staff will measure the paper's success not by dollars but by their happiness and satisfaction with the product.
"It's not designed to make a ton of money," he said. "If we break even and pay the staff, it will have been a worthwhile experience."
Rowland hopes The Asylum, put together with two months of planning, will be a true entrepreneurial project - "taking a small amount of capital and the right people to put out a good project."
by CNB