Print media is dead, at least according to some. Don’t tell that to Jennifer Mills, a reporter for a small print newspaper in Brooklyn, New York, called the News. For the past 21 years, Jennifer Mills has produced the paper for the people in her community, faithfully, every week. She’s the only employee, and, thus, the writer, editor, and publisher. And, you might be surprised to learn, this teeny tiny newspaper has been the subject of an exhibition in Brooklyn honoring the work Jennifer has done, and it’s also been featured in a BBC documentary on small newspapers that have had an impact on their local communities. The New Yorker has interviewed her for an article.
She grew up in Minnesota, attended Concordia College, and she earned a MFA from the Art Institute in Chicago before moving to Brooklyn and continuing the paper she started at age 17 in high school. And today, Jennifer’s journalism hasn’t changed much since high school; she doesn’t lean heavily on hard news for its stories, no. You won’t find an international news section in the paper, for example. However, you will find stories on things that interest Jennifer herself. For the first 20 years of the paper’s existence, the masthead read, “News you can uze since 2002,” but that changed last year when she decided to go with, “Trusted Jurnalism Since 2002!” Jennifer believes that if the story interests her, it will also interest her readers.
Thus, you have stories that seem somewhat odd, such as stories on films people might like or recipes that they might enjoy. There is a section called Breakfast News which is, unsurprisingly, news about breakfast. There’s poetry. A section on social life. Shopping. Hygiene. And Jennifer is always sure to cite her source for each article. That’s part of the trust her readers have in her; they know that each story is true and carefully attested to.
Much time in recent decades has been dedicated to the subject of what makes something news. The old local TV adage, “If it bleeds, it leads,” has led to media following the most sensational, the most lurid, and, often, the most violent stories available in order to play on people’s fears. We’ve all heard the new teasers that run something like, “Is there something dangerous in your home? We’ll tell you about it on the 10 o’clock news!” That type of scare-journalism does bring in the viewers and readers because it does appeal to our desires to be safe. Jennifer Mills, therefore, goes against this type of “news.” To her readers, the news she reports on brings them joy, it’s refreshing, it’s uplifting, and it’s without any appeal to our baser instincts and is completely without violence. That’s why her little newspaper in Brooklyn has such a large readership. In a world where the overwhelming majority of news is negative, divisive, and often violent, Jennifer’s news is refreshing and happy. Where else can you read about the best pillow or a really good cabbage stew?
Oh, by the way, this newspaper is only one page. Each issue, she says, takes about 45 minutes to create and edit. She prints it where ever she can find a printer, prints it on standard 8 1/2 by 11 copy paper. And, so, for the past 21 years, every week, Jennifer produces her paper. The Breakfast News? That’s what Jennifer had for breakfast. The story of the best pillow? Jennifer bought one and wrote the story to tell people about it. The poems? Yep, those are by Jennifer and about Jennifer. The story with the headline “Woman Watches Two Basketball Movies in One Week,” was about, well, the fact that Jennifer watched two basketball movies in one week. And so on.
You might call it a newsletter, but her avid readers know it as the Jennifer Mills News.
The Rest of the Story 