Writer finds new frontier for his magazine on the Web

Saturday, Feb. 3, 2001 | 9:59 a.m.

Today, Christensen's Web site is finding the success that his magazine sought, at a fraction of the cost.

"This is a way to link the best material around and provide for readers without having to put it all together in a publication," he said. "It encourages people to go to the source, to books, to newspapers, to other magazines."

Christensen began his journalism career in the late 1980s in San Francisco. There he met and married photographer Kit Miller, who was raised in Washoe Valley. The couple returned to Washoe Valley frequently and moved there in 1990.

Specializing in environmental reporting, Christensen freelanced for a number of publications, especially Colorado-based High Country News, which depended on him for Great Basin coverage.

"I worked for them for about five years and after that I began to wonder what I was going to do," he said. "Would there be a place for a publication that would speak to the Great Basin? That's when I started the magazine."

Christensen corralled poet Gary Short to serve as poetry editor, and Charlie Buck, a writer now living in Maine, became fiction editor. They produced seven issues of the magazine.

"It was a fun, interesting adventure, but we couldn't sustain it financially," he said. "The Great Basin itself is still such a vast, sparsely populated region, it's hard to find an audience to sustain a print magazine. Urban centers, where you might have an audience, are completely different from each other. Reno, Salt Lake City, Las Vegas hardly have anything in common."

Counting printing and mailing costs and freelance story and photography fees, the magazine cost about $5,000 an issue to produce, he said. Online, expenses run about $20, plus freelance fees.

"The basic cost at this point is just the cost of hosting the site, which Great Basin Internet does for about 20 bucks a month, and my time," he said.

"It's really high on content and low on commerce," Christensen said. "Its not geared to make a lot of money. Its fair to say it's a nonprofit in the sense that it's not making any profit."

In spring 1998, the last quarterly issue went to press, but Christensen already was starting the Internet site with the help of local Web design company Sierra Wave Design.

Christensen now designs the site and writes most of the stories. Current content includes profiles and features, book reviews, links to stories from Great Basin newspapers and magazines, and breaking news.

The back issues of the Great Basin News are for sale on the site. So is Kit Miller's recent book of essays and photos, "Inside the Glitter: Lives of Casino Workers."

On the Web site now is a nine-part series of profiles, "A Day in the Life of Nevadans at the Millennium," including a woman detective, a young father, a country doctor, Nevada Gov. Kenny Guinn and a "punk" high school student. There's a book list, an introduction to the Great Basin and answers to frequently asked questions about the region.

Moving the magazine to the Internet probably was a smart move, said C.J. Hadley, publisher of Range, a local magazine with international readership and its own Web site.

"I think Jon's right in what he's doing," Hadley said. "Jon is a really good writer. I think he'll find a good audience on the Web. I think he'll do better there."

The good news is that Greatbasinnews.com isn't the same economic drain as the magazine. Yet, it still covers the issues and provides the literature of it's paper-and-ink namesake. You can't hold it in your hand while riding a bus or relaxing in your living room, Christensen said, but you can call it up from anywhere in the world on a computer.

"We're getting about 500 visitors a month to the site and they're from all over the world," he said. "From Norway, Brazil, Japan, Iran. I get e-mail from all over the world and people ask questions about the Great Basin desert. I get inquiries from students doing school projects on deserts."

At its height, Great Basin News had about 500 subscribers, most living in the Great Basin.

"The magazine was really for aficionados of the Great Basin," he said. "The Web site is more of an introduction, a first stop, a doorway to the Great Basin. Then, after the introduction, you can dive into other aspects of it."

Christensen has discovered that many people feel the Great Basin is a magical place. Readers seem pleased to find a site that reflects their feelings, he said.

"I sense there are a lot of people out there for whom the Great Basin is like a secret love affair."

On the Net: www.greatbasinnews.com