Tommy Washbush
A collection of Isthmus bound volumes.
Large, bulky and precious, the bound volumes of Isthmus are an important source for the paper’s undigitized stories.
The way Vince O’Hern tells it, he and his business partner, Fred Milverstedt, independently came up with the name “Isthmus” for their new entertainment weekly. It proved popular.
“When we started this publication three years ago few people knew what an isthmus was, much less that Madison was located on one,” O’Hern wrote in Making the Paper, his column that opened the paper. “Last week we were told that the winning entry in the contest to name the new Civic Center thrust theater was, of all things, the Isthmus Playhouse.”
“You can’t read a daily paper these days,” he added, “without coming across the word isthmus in references to the downtown area.”
Local businesses also glommed on. We’re looking at you Isthmus Wellness, Isthmus Eats, Isthmus Engineering, Isthmus Hardware! The list goes on.
Other than “isthmus” entering the local lexicon, what else has Isthmus, the newspaper, meant to Madison and vice versa? It was a question we thought of often as we contemplated what to do for this month’s 50th anniversary edition.
It felt overwhelming and nearly impossible to try to take stock of 50 years of content — more than half of which is not online and available only in large bound volumes — in any comprehensive way. We knew we’d fall short from the start. Instead, we opted for a snapshot approach: 50 moments in 50 years.
We looked for stories that reflected some big themes in Madison’s history and evolution: the construction of Monona Terrace and Overture Center, and Epic Systems’ decision to relocate from Madison to Verona. Also, stories that had big impact — Bill Lueders’ relentless reporting on “Patty,” who was ultimately exonerated after being accused of filing a false police report about being raped — as well as coverage that reflected the paper’s desire to help drive the conversation on important topics — a 1993 opinion poll commissioned by the paper on racial disparities, for instance.
There was a lot we left out and important contributors who weren’t mentioned.
And there are those who never get bylines or photo credits but whose work behind the scenes is critical to keeping a news organization afloat, taking care of the day-to-day, or making the paper look fabulous.
Isthmus was blessed with many loyal, multi-decade staffers who fell in this category, including associate editor Michana Buchman, administrative director Kathy Bailey, office manager Julie Butler, administrative assistant Carla Dawkins, associate publisher Linda Baldwin, designers Todd Hubler and David Michael Miller, creative director Ellen Meany and sales manager Chad Hopper.
Circling back to that question of impact.
In preparing for our semicentennial anniversary, we surveyed our readers, asking among other things, what they valued about Isthmus. There was a common theme.
“I feel connected to my home area and I find restaurants to visit, art to see, events to attend,” said one.
This respondent began reading Isthmus in college, in the early 1990s: “If you wanted to know anything about Madison, you have to read the Isthmus.”
This same reader acknowledged what we all know — the elephant in the room. Isthmus, like all local media, is not as robust as we once were. We are all much smaller and are still searching for the holy grail — a sustainable solution to supporting the expensive process of gathering and reporting the news. This is true even as readers are more voracious consumers of information than ever.
But, we’re not going to end on a down note! “Instead of mourning, I should celebrate,” this same reader added. “You are still HERE. You are still community-centered. You are still trustworthy. And you bring people together. My friends and I can still talk about what we read in the Isthmus because you are still easy to access. My husband and I actually set out to find a paper copy of you a few weeks ago because he craved it. Celebrating that you are here, doing your good work.”
We, in turn, celebrate our readers and our sponsors for sticking with us over these many years. And we thank the members of our board of directors for helping steer the ship now, as a still new nonprofit organization. Now it’s time to party.
I hope you’ll join us for our Isthmus 50 Fest on April 18 at the Atwood Music Hall. It’s a celebration and a benefit for Isthmus, featuring a reunion of the New Breed Quintet, with special guest Ben Sidran, and Mama Digdown’s Brass Band. It’s a full circle moment — as you will read in this issue, Sidran gave O’Hern what sounds like the nudge he needed to move the idea of Isthmus to reality, just 50 short years ago.
We are also having a trivia night at the High Noon Saloon on April 21. Test your knowledge of Madison and Isthmus trivia. How many businesses were named Isthmus in the 1977 phone book? I think you might know the answer to that one now.
