PUBLISHER
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EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
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ADVERTISING MANAGER
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AD SALES REPRESENTATIVES
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Jean Scherwenka

 
ONLINE EDITION
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ACCOUNTING SERVICES
Brian Dettmering

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER
Bill Morder

COPIES PRINTED
10,000

The Riverwest Currents is a monthly newspaper appearing in print and online. It is produced by local residents for local residents in Riverwest and surrounding Milwaukee neighborhoods. Copies can be picked up free of charge at most public locations in Riverwest, Harambee, Downtown Milwaukee, and the East and Lower East sides. If you are interesting in writing for or working with the Currents, please contact us.

Our Mission 

The Riverwest Currents is dedicated to writing about issues and events important to those who live, work, and play in and around the Riverwest neighborhood. We believe Riverwest is a good place to make a home or set up a shop. We want to help promote a safe and affordable neighborhood, to embrace urban aesthetics, to respect diversity, and to make Riverwest residents aware of the opportunities available to them.

Our History 

The Riverwest Currents was first published as a neighborhood newsletter for three years, starting in 1999. It was begun by Vince Bushell, a community planner, and Jeanne Geraci, a community organizer for the YMCA. A grant from the Milwaukee Fair Housing Council's H.O.M.E. (Housing Opportunities Made Equal) program enabled the Currents to become a monthly newspaper in 2002. Now, since 2003, the newspaper is operating as an independent for-profit business, Currents, Inc., which is comprised of a group of worker-owners.

In late 2003, Currents, Inc. helped launch and began to do bimonthly production work for a new Milwaukee neighborhood newspaper, the Washington Park Beat. Since then, the Currents has also helped launch the Bay View Compass (now independent), Sherman Park Today, and the Undercurrents.

Our mission has always been to promote fair housing and to encourage the preservation of diversified home ownership in Riverwest. But there is much more: we will keep you informed about events going on in or relevant to the Riverwest neighborhood area. Each month's edition will include news and views by and about a variety of Riverwest residents, a calendar of local events, a local business spotlight, housing opportunities, Riverwest Neighborhood Association (RNA) news, Children's Outing Association (COA) news, a naturalist's column from the Urban Ecology Center (UEC), health and wellness articles, church and education-related news, and more. We always welcome your letters and opinions. 

To learn more about independent community newspapers, read this article at the National Housing Institute: "The Power of the Community Press: Community-based organizations create their own newspapers to inform and organize."

• Citizen Journalism (Wikipedia)
• Citizen Journalism Resources (OurMedia.org)
• Recent History of Citizen Journalism Online (MediaShift / PBS)
• We the Media: Grassroots Journalism by the People, for the People
• Citizen Journalism Myths and Realities (The Editors Weblog)