Interview with a Journalist
FCNP’s Benton Visits Mason Journalists;
Shares Ideas on Politics, Publishing

By Rabita Aziz  and Eliot Hagen (April 15, 2005)

Nicholas F. Benton, owner, publisher, and editor in chief of the Falls Church News Press visited George Mason last Friday to share his viewpoints and ideas on journalism, newspaper ownership, and the state of Falls Church with aspiring young journalists.  The outspoken Benton shared stories about his early days as a journalist in the radical 1960’s atmosphere of Berkeley, California, his first experiences with running the News Press, and the pressures of publishing the local paper today. 

Early Journalistic Endeavors:

Nicholas Benton seemed to have been born with the desire to become a journalist, as he published his first newspaper, The Benton Star, at the ripe old age of 6.  He explained that he would “go around and sell this paper to our neighbors.”  (It’s telling that the only “prop” that Benton brought with him to the journalism class was a photo of him and his earliest newspaper.)

Benton graduated to new heights when he joined his high school newspaper staff during his sophomore year and became editor in chief his junior and senior years.  He then went on to be editor of his community college newspaper for two years.  He then continued on to Berkeley, California, in the 1960’s.  “I was in the middle of all that: the feminist movement, gay rights, the anti-war protests,” he recalled.  Benton worked for the Berkeley Barb, what he called a “radical, counter-culture newspaper.”  When talking of the Berkeley campus, he said, “There were communes, political movements, mass demonstrations, and things associated with that that brought people together.”  He went on to say that “The Berkeley Barb was the biggest, baddest newspaper in that day.”  He told the young journalists that the culture they live in today was significantly different from the one he grew up in.  “Back when I was growing up all the values had to do with equality, civil rights, and anti-war.  Today, the religious right is just the opposite.  It’s just a whole different world.”  The Berkeley Barb was also the first newspaper in the country to print personal classified ads, which were rare in those days, but which the Washington Post runs every week now.

Nicholas Benton, owner and publisher of the Falls Church News Press, holds a photo of himself as a six-year old  with the first newspaper he ever worked on, The BentonStar, that he wrote, printed, and sold himself.  Benton shared his ideas about the newspapering business with Mason's journalism class

The Falls Church News Press:

Mr. Benton first came to the Washington metropolitan area as a White House correspondent, and he explained that he “wound up landing in Falls Church by accident, and immediately when I came here I was fascinated by the independent jurisdiction and the small community.”  He immediately thought that this was a community that needed a newspaper.  In explaining why he had such a desire to publish a newspaper in Falls Church, he said “If there’s any bigger lesson in life to be drawn, you don’t run out of your foxhole and run as a one-man army fighting 10,000 people.  You run around and catch them from behind you, find their weak spots and use them.  It’s like finding a niche and filling it.  The FCNP found that niche and filled it.  That became obvious for me that there was that tremendous need to find that niche.  I made a decision one day that I’d push ahead and make a commitment to do it.  One of the things I did in that four month process to make the first paper, I came up here and met Mr. Hoover to talk about the Lasso student newspaper.  He’s written a column since the first edition of the paper.”

The first edition of the paper was printed 14 years ago, with a length of 16 pages and a distribution of 7,500.  Now it’s usually around 40 pages, with a distribution of 30,000 all over the Northern Virginia area.  Although the popularity of the paper has greatly grown since its humble beginnings, Mr. Benton is still cautious.  “The issue for me is getting next week’s paper out.  We’re still not so secure that I don’t have to work very hard just to make sure that the paper is financially sound so I can pay my bills and keep it operating.” 

He went on to reveal that running the News Press for the first couple of years was a struggle, and to this day, the main success of the newspaper is that it’s still coming out every week.  “Newspapers are a very tough business in this world; you’ve got television, internet, all sorts of things running against them.  My job for the last 14 years was not only trying to grow the newspaper and expand its influence but gaining the trust of my readers, which is important, and also just keeping my business afloat….Nobody believed we’d make it.  It was very questionable that we’d make it and if it wasn’t for my dear grandmother, who knows what would have happened.”

I think it's a good question to ask whether I am a news person or a political person who uses a newspaper to advance his views.  I think I am more of the latter than the former," --Nicholas Benton

When asked about the future of the paper, Benton said, “I’m going to be around in 20 or 30 years!”  He also explained “The explanation of the FCNP is one of two things: either I have ink in my veins or I just never grew up, so you decide.”  Readers of the News Press know how politically inclined Mr. Benton can be and even he made the distinction when he said, “For me, I think it’s probably a good question to ask whether or not I’m a news person or a political person who uses a newspaper to advance his point of view.  I think I’m more of the latter than the former.”

Benton then left a lasting impression on the Lasso Online staff members when he said, “I’m not just a journalist.  I’m not just a newspaper person.  I produce a product that gets into people’s hands that they use, and that’s more than just being a writer.  I write but I also print what I write, put it in a form, edit it, and produce a final product.”