Recently, we had the chance to discuss Alternative News Weeklies with Folio Weekly’s editor Anne Schindler located in Jacksonville, Florida.

Can you define what an alternative weekly is? What separates it from a daily?

Alt weeklies can be different things in different markets. Generally, they're known as irreverent, mouthy, lefty outlets for long-form journalism.
Here, in a market with a poor daily paper, which is seeing its circulation decline, Folio Weekly has increasingly become a paper people look to for original investigative reporting and behind-the-scenes insights into politics and public affairs.
We also devote a lot of ink to A&E coverage, and consider ours the best in the area.

How did you become an editor of an alternative weekly? Did you start out as a freelance writer?

I started as an intern at an alt weekly in Minneapolis (the now defunct Twin Cities Reader), then became a contributing writer. I was offered a staff position right when I made the decision to move to Florida, so I never worked there full time. When I got to Jacksonville, I met with the editor of Folio Weekly, and he hired me as a staff writer in 1995.

I have read that alternative weeklies are great places for a freelance writer to begin her/his career. Is this a true statement in your opinion?

Alt weeklies are a great place to begin a career, freelance or otherwise.
Not only do you earn your journalism chops, but you get opportunities you wouldn't get at a daily, including helping to fashion your own "beat" and find creative ways to tell stories. Probably 60 percent of our content is written by contributing writers -- some occasional freelancers, some under contract with us to write each week.

Would you rather print syndicated columns or stories written by local writers?

We use syndicated columns pretty infrequently -- mostly things like News of the Weird, which has a passionate local following, even though Chuck Shepherd lives in Tampa. Given a choice, however, we would -- and do – use local writers.

(In terms of an alternative weekly) Should freelancers concentrate on hard or soft news? Local or National?

We get a lot of inquiries from people who want to write TV reviews, advice columns and essays about how to stay fit, etc. That stuff has it's value, but my bias is for news -- reported stories about current events. We publish a lot of arts and entertainment stories, but even those have a "newsy" edge. You'll notice that we don't do album reviews, for instance. We'd rather write about a band coming to town or a local music trend. Our focus is almost exclusively local. We do not seek out, and almost never run, purely "national" stories. Freelancers can expect to earn money writing for alt weeklies, but it's not a living. Most of our freelancers do other work as well.

In your opinion what would you consider to be the 3 most important things a writer should keep in mind when trying to get published? (This question can relate to any publication.)

Keep it simple.

Provide context.

Know your audience.

Just for fun. What do you think is the biggest national/worldwide story so far this year?

-- and for years to come -- Iraq.