Sixteen persons sat in chairs arranged in a circle at the Phoenicia Library on Main Street last Saturday morning and talked for an hour about what journalism could do to overcome the sense of isolation from their communities that people of all ages are experiencing — and as participant Robert Burke Warren put it, isolation from themselves.
The subject was appropriate for this particular group. Seven of the 16 congregants were, had been, or want to be associated with journalism. The journalists and the non-journalists sang the same song in different registers.
The session had been organized by The Overlook, a nascent Woodstock-based journalistic enterprise with high-falutin ambitions to assemble a readership in Hunter, Hurley, Olive, Saugerties, Shandaken and Woodstock “who share a perpetual curiosity about local concerns as well as cultural, environmental and political issues.”
“Its energetic staff embrace qualities such as clarity, integrity and accuracy,” The Overlook promises in its mission statement. Since collective noun typically use a singular verb, the word “embraces” would have been more accurate.
Why do these journalists do what they do? Their task is “casting a light on what matters.”
The session, guided by editor-on-chief Noah Eckstein, elicited many expressions of the sense of community whose absence was so missed. People chuckled in appreciation at each others’ wry comments.
One person worried that Main Street had several vacant stores, “lots of missing teeth.” That drew a reply from another participant. “Like so many people living here,” he said. The median age of Phoenicia residents is 55, and there aren’t many dentists in the mountain towns.
Ending about 15 years ago, the hamlet of Phoenicia, with a population of fewer than 300 souls in a township, Shandaken, with fewer than 3000 residents, had been blessed with its weekly newspaper, Phoenicia Times, the brainchild of the visionary Brian Powers. Several participants in Saturday’s conversation remembered that community-building organ with great fondness. Was it possible they could ever have a newspaper like that again?
Eckstein asked the attendees what they wanted most to read about in a local news source. The answers were all over the lot: nature, community characters, reliable cellphone service, education, local people’s thoughts and feelings, meetings, local history, environmental problems, visitors and second homers, etc.
Editor-in-chief Eckstein is an experienced young journalist. Having served stints at the Hudson Register-Star, Hudson Valley 360 and Semafor, among other places, and has had other pieces published at a variety of respectable publications. His writing and tech skills are excellent. He has earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism from University College London and a master’s degree in United States history and politics from the same institution. His native language is Spanish and main language English,
Everybody at the December 7 session in Phoenicia agreed that the hamlet and the surrounding Town of Shandaken are unique. They readily admitted that all area communities possess different resources, different histories, different cultures, different economies and unique populations. High-quality journalism seeks to recognize and celebrate these differences.
Those journalistic goals are just words, carefully expended in ink on fancy paper. When one has not yet begun an intended publication, it’s easy to say what it proposes to be and proposes to do. But it’s the nitty-gritty of doing that work that really tests one’s mission and principles.
The Overlook, a nonprofit enterprise that its founders say will sell advertising, hopes to begin publication next month. It will inaugurate its website and deliver emailed newsletters to its intended audience. Content will expand and deepen over time. Doing a printed paper edition will be considered in the future.
According to The Overlook website, Golden Notebook co-owner Jacqueline Kellachan and media investor Scott Widmeyer are the principals in the venture. William van Roden is doing the design and Elliot Toman is building the website.
The noon Phoenicia fire siren signaled the end of the session. The participants gave the organizers and themselves a deserved round of applause, and began to disperse to the bright and snowy outside. The Pine Hill Trailways bus to Kingston soon arrived and blocked traffic on Main Street.
The Overlook has announced a public meeting at the Olive Free Library at 11 a m, this coming Saturday, December 14.
Join the family! 
