20 YEARS OF
WORKS IN PROGRESS

Dear Olympia,

Thank you so much for supporting us for the last 20 years. You are the paper. These 20 years have entirely depended on local submissions and the large cast of volunteers who have worked behind the scenes to put your words and stories into print. We are consistently pleased with what the community has given us. You are the fuel for our Works In Progress flame.

It's truly remarkable for this paper to have existed for 20 years. Based on the simple premise of creating an alternative press that focuses on the perspectives of those who would have no forum otherwise, WIP has survived through two decades - a time in which plenty of well-meaning alternative community papers throughout the United States were not able to last (including some here in Olympia). The stories of those beautiful failures likely share a combination of public apathy, insufficient funds, and internal fatigue: problems found insurmountable by the low-paid workers and volunteers who ran those papers. But time and again, even when things looked their bleakest, Olympia refused to let WIP fall permanently into the pages of history.

Currently, the corporate newspaper industry rots away, still profitable, but no longer profitable enough to justify capital investment. Media consolidation and outsourcing continues, eliminating what little viewpoint diversity was left. The Olympian withers in its well-earned descent into oblivion, functioning now as a local branch of the Tacoma News Tribune (itself a clone of the McClatchy model). If you had told us 20 years ago, when our very first issue began, that WIP would one day outlive The Olympian, we would have told you to keep dreaming. Now, it doesn't sound so outlandish at all.

The following section, compiled by WIP's 20 year team, contains a variety of news reporting, personal experiences, and independent analysis from 20 years of Works In Progress. By no means are these selections a comprehensive account of the events of two decades, or even a "best of" collection. Simply consider it a photo album of words. While it may be incomplete, there's plenty to reminisce, to recollect, and for some of us (including some of us on the 20 year team) to learn for the first time.

We encourage those who enthusiastically delve into these selections to read closely and see how similar the struggles of the past are similar to the struggles we face today. It was sobering for the archival team to read optimistic proclamations in the early WIP years of a better society just around the corner. In many ways, the struggles have only grown larger. And at the same time, we see that some things have tangibly changed for the better. This is because, despite the odds our community has faced, our determination, our hope, and our spirit have never waned.

With this project complete, and with our fire renewed, the vast archiving project which began here continues. Our website, though updated, is missing most of these 20 years. Corporate newspapers like The Olympian see fit to delete articles after two years, thus quietly washing away the history that's so crucial to understanding the events and challenges of today. We have no intention of emulating this model. An understanding of history is imperative. Our short-term goal is to have every issue in WIP's history scanned as images and available online. Long-term, our goal is to have every word that's ever graced WIP's pages posted on our website.

We have enjoyed immersing ourselves in this invaluable, seemingly endless archive in the course of compiling this issue. We hope to share that joy, and the knowledge of our history, with everyone who makes WIP possible.

As the old saying goes, you don't know where you're going until you know where you've been.

Here's to the next 20 years!

Sincerely,

Works In Progress