The Stand’s History

The vision for the South Side Newspaper Project emerged in September of 2006 from a flash of serendipity. During the previous year, Prof. Steve Davis gave his class an assignment to create a newspaper focused on stories from Syracuse’s South Side.

The result was an impressive 36-page publication that circulated the city and received positive feedback.

Later, Davis contemplated creating a community newspaper that would be the work of South Side residents and students.

During the same time, members of the Southside Community Coalition — a group of citizens dedicated to the economic and cultural revitalization of the South Side — discussed creating a community newspaper to herald neighborhood news from a community perspective grounded in truth, diversity and creativity.

Once news spread of the similar ventures, several people from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and the Coalition met and decided to create a partnership and join Syracuse University’s South Side Initiative, SU’s multi-faceted plan to rejuvenate its nearest neighbor.