Staff/Board of Directors

January 20, 2002

Co-Founder/Publisher (1990-1996)

Wm. A. Smith, Jr.

Co-Founder/ Publisher/ Editor-in-Chief (1990-2001)

Charles F. Smith

Board of Directors

JoAnn Cardenas Enos,
Mary Kay Kennedy,
Kay Willshire,
Kelly Matter,
Tom Squire,
Peg Thomas,
Sue Warner,
Mark Siegel,
Mike Chevrette

Editor

Tim Benjamin

Editorial Assistant

Derek VanderVeen

Cartoonist

Scott Adams

Production

Ellen Houghton at Presentation Images

Webmaster

InfoArchitect@odensville.com

To inform the disability community about topics of concern to us and to provide accurate information about disability issues to the general public. We exist to be a catalyst for discussion of critical issues facing the community and to bring together the diverse voices of the community to promote equal access for people with disabilities in all areas of life.

General information

The first issue of Access Press was distributed May 1990 and it has been distributed on the 10th of every month since then. Access Press is one of only twelve such newspapers in the US. Access Press is published by Access Press, Ltd., a non-profit, 501 (c) 3 organization, located in Saint Paul, MN. The newspaper is funded by individual contributions and through grants provided by local funding organizations in Minnesota. Another sources of funds are subscriptions and paid advertisements. Access Press is available in a printed paper format as well as audiotape format which can be accessed on a special radio channel so that the visually impaired persons can listen to it. Active steps are being taken now for more spread through the internet. I have been asked to design the web site for Access Press. I feel it's a big responsibility but proud that I will participate in doing such a meaningful thing.

Access Press is published to serve persons with disabilities. 11,000 copies are printed per month, but its exact readership is not easily determined due to the high level of "recycling" of copies among friends and relatives. The news paper staff often receive calls and inquiries from recipients of these recycled copies. Therefore, they realize that for a fact that it occurs, but do not have an accurate count as to how often. The paper is distributed in several ways including: Approximately 235 drop locations around the Twin Cities area, for which a distribution company drops bundles of 25-100 per location. These are free to readers who get their copies at these locations.

Approximately 525 subscribers receive their issues at their home address-for an annual subscription of $25. Several friends and supporters of Access Press take 10-30 copies to distribute at meetings, seminars, special events, etc. Boxes of 100 papers are shipped to nine cities: East Grand Forks, Hibbing, Duluth, Mankato, Marshall, Fargo, Rochester, St. Cloud, and Willmar.

© All rights reserved to Access Press Ltd.
Last updated on June 20, 2004

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