A Letter from Jason Walker

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When SFR invited me to write about why my company, Monsoon Design helps support local journalism, I jumped at the opportunity. Monsoon Design is a local advertising, design and digital marketing company that has been supporting Friends of the Reporter for years. We believe that only local journalism can best represent and support the views and ideas that mean the most to those who live here. If we lose our local media outlets and journalists, we lose our local voice that makes us unique, creative and the world class destination that we all love. While thinking about the concept of losing such an incredible resource, our local journalists and the Santa Fe Reporter, I also realized that my personal love for the printing process also drives me to support the local publication that I so eagerly grab every Wednesday morning on my way to work.

For as long as I can remember, I have had a love for printed things. As a child, I would collect comic books and spend hours going through each frame, not just for the story or to admire the incredible drawing styles of some of the classic comic artists of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, but to also try and figure out how each frame was printed. This fascination with the printing process was fueled even more in high school when the opportunity to help run the school’s offset printing press became available. The vintage, two-color printing press that was donated to the school years before I attended had never been used since the donation. My teacher, who was a retired creative director from New York City, and a small group of students in my class got the press operational and we would produce monthly posters for high-school events, menus for local restaurants and a small flyer for the area Elks Club. They were all small projects but enough to know that design and printing would always be a part of my life.

Now, years later as Monsoon Design produces print ads, billboards, posters and business collateral for our clients, the love and passion for all things printed still remains. And, so does the support to our local news and culture outlet. From Best of Santa Fe banners to weekly production support, Monsoon Design is dedicated to the weekly publication and the responsibility it has to inform, entertain and support the Santa Fe community. We truly love our friends at the Reporter.

As times inevitably change, and technologies continue to make our life more efficient, we can’t lose the foundation of how the information and content are gathered, fact-checked and shared. We need our local journalists to do just that and they need our support.

As Wendall Philips, a lawyer in the 1800s once said, “What gunpowder did for war the printing press has done for the mind.” He was referring to how much the printing process helps us learn and share information. This concept still holds true, perhaps more now than ever before. As the Santa Fe Reporter continues to bring local interests and concerns to light, we need to support those who ask the tough questions, share the information and keep the local voice local.

As a local business owner and Santa Fean since 2006, I ask you to please help support our local journalists and publications. Become a Friend of the Reporter today and help keep this valuable Santa Fe institution alive and thriving.

Jason Walker

Monsoon Design

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This letter from Jason Walker is part of a series we are publishing about Friends of the Reporter, a new model for supporting our journalism mission. Visit sfreporter.com/friends, to make a one-time or recurring donation or via check at PO Box 4910, Santa Fe, NM 87502. The New Mexico Local News Fund will match up to $3,000 in donations received through the end of 2021. Our website and weekly print edition each Wednesday remain free to all readers.