In this world there are people who communicate much of the time with grunts and gestures. Then there are those who speak in terse words and clauses. Normally-communicative folk largely employ simple declarative and interrogative sentences.

Cathryn Harding speaks in paragraphs. And when she talks about C-Ville Weekly, she is firm and clear.

She has been the editor since January of 2002 and we spoke with her at her office on April 1. We asked her for her views of the paper--as it is now, where it's going and what has changed since the departure of long-time editor Hawes Spencer in January of 2002.

The Mission

She starts off with a well-rehearsed definition. C-Ville is "a journal of quality about our area." It is addressed "to a highly intelligent readership." And it should convey information and opinion "in a compelling way."

Cathryn Harding on the porch of 222 South Street.

To provide a self-guide for accomplishing this weekly mission, the people at C-Ville have come to this formulation: "to bring to the reader a product each week that satisfies the reader's urban instinct."

This instinct, we are told, is "the mindset that reflects a city-dweller's point of view--they want to know, 'who's in charge?'--names--'what are the hot spots?' 'who's in and who's out?' '

Ms. Harding sees Charlottesville (and the surrounding area) as quite unusually urban, for its modest population and relatively low density.* She feels that lot of people are here because they like that feeling, and "they want to cross paths with others who have selected to be in this environment."

"The other piece that informs what we do is, we try to write up to the reader, not down. We write for people who are in on the joke--not, 'you're outside of the club.' We want to be inclusive but we know we're not for everybody." A small, self-selected survey of readers in 1998 showed over 90% with some college, and most graduates--many with advanced degrees.

Rhetorically Harding asks, "what is a C-Ville story? It's in the way we report--our point of view about journalism--the goal is not simply to report facts--to chronicle--[it's not just] a series of quotes--you know, who did what--but to make meaning of the facts.

She does not want us to confuse a writers 'take' on things with an opinion. It's not, 'this is what I think about what just happened.' But 'take' is 'this is what I take from what just happened.'

She explains, "A lot of people go to city council meetings but not everyone will have the same take. John [Borgmeyer] covers council and has the freedom to not use [everything]. Or Kathryn Goodson--at the Board of Supervisors, she's not compelled to cover every issue--she's free to select--according to what actually took place [because] she has … understanding and can put it in context.

"Another thing that is different about C-Ville now is about the reader--[we constantly ask ourselves] is the reader going to get into the story? [We write with the reader in mind but] not always to make the reader comfortable--and this is a balance that is recalibrated every week."

Mentoring the staff

"I'm comfortable with my background." Originally from New York City, Cathryn Harding has a Masters in Journalism (from NYU) and has taught feature writing and dance criticism at the college level. She's also been a researcher, writer and editor for book, magazine, newspaper and financial publishers over the past 16 years

"In a market this size you have to know that a big piece of the job is mentoring because you know [if they're any good] they'll outgrow it….we've grown the staff 40% in the past year--I strongly believe in staff writing."

"And we've deliberately put all three [staff writers] in the same room--that synergy continues to happen after [the weekly] staff meetings--they talk, help each other…."

An Alternative Weekly

Harding wants it understood that C-Ville Weekly is an 'Alternative Weekly.' It shouldn't be classified as a community newspaper like the Daily Progress or the Observer, and it's not 'niche-specific' like the vegetarian Echo, More Monthly for seniors, or (sister publication at Portico Publications) Blue Ridge Outdoors. She's proud of C-Ville's acceptance for membership in the AAN, the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. "For one thing, it means that we're audited." The circulation figures used to sell advertisers are based on actual counts, not estimates or press runs. "You can print as many as you want (C-Ville Weekly prints above 20,000 each week--varying seasonally--with an audited circulation of just over 17,000)--it's how many people actually read it that counts."

And Harding feels strongly that "every successful alternative newspaper carries the stamp of its editor--[maybe they're] not personality driven, but [there's] definitely a person [running things]."

[So since Hawes Spencer left] "we see change of direction--[but] that said, we have not abandoned our original mission….[but certainly because I'm the editor now] "the further articulation [of the mission] has changed."

"I know the writers feel a greater sense of purpose. Our senior staff writer (John Borgmeyer) was hired at end of the previous tenure (late '99) and has been here throughout. The proof is in the pudding. We've had a staff award for in-depth reporting (to Borgmeyer) from the State Press Association.

Another proof of positive change that she sees "is the high volume of fiercely engaged letters--unsolicited reader response. And we've introduced 'The Rant'--telephone call ins where people can say what they want--and it's filled to bursting--we have a backlog, we can't publish them all.

"All of this is an indication of greater level of reader involvement."

Room for how many?

Given the opportunity to be directly competitive with The HooK, her initial answer is diplomatic. She says that, each week "it's not, did they cover the same things we did but how did we cover them? I don't feel that there is somebody breathing down my neck."

But, pressed about her competitive feelings, she points out that "according to the AAN, in every market where a competitor has sprung up, the established paper has won out. C-Ville has 14 years of solid ... has thousands of business contacts--years of working things out and establishing roots…."

She thinks The HooK has "a preponderance of one-source stories." She offers a mother's analogy (she has two sons in City schools): "It's like having Twinkies in the cabinet, not bread -- you know they like to have a Twinkie once in a while, some Cheese Doodles--speaking as a mom… they can't have the Cheese Doodles all the time; they need to have good nutritious bread. (Dave Sagarin, April 4, 2003)

* Note: In a recent compilation the Charlottesville MSA (Metropolitan Statistical Area, including Albemarle, Greene and Fluvanna populations) ranked 198th of 273 such in the U.S., nestled between (197) Monroe, Louisiana and (199) Panama City, Florida. Persons willing to venture opinions about the urban-instinct-satisfaction levels in those places are invited to do so.