The donor-driven Sahan Journal, an online news source covering communities of color in the Twin Cities, and Listen Up! Youth Radio have found new homes in St. Paul subleasing from the St. Paul Neighborhood Network, a cable access station located in the Midway just off the Green Line.

It’s a promising collaboration, albeit borne of necessity. When Xavier Vazquez became director of the St. Paul Neighborhood Network last summer, he inherited a major funding problem. As customers cut the proverbial cable television cord in favor of streaming services, they’re no longer paying cable “PEG” fees, which help fund the five public, education and government cable access channels in St. Paul.

SPNN, which is based at Vandalia Tower, runs four of those five channels, and it’s doing so with less and less money each year from cable access charges.

“It’s been an annual loss of 7%,” said Vazquez on Monday, “and it’s looking closer to 10% for next year.”

In response, SPNN has been working with Compass Pro Bono and the Carlson School of Management’s Graduate Volunteer Consultants, which have donated their expertise on business and marketing strategies. Beyond video production, the cable access station has found it has a key asset it can leverage: 15,000 square feet of physical workspace.

The ample room has lent itself over the years to community collaborations, such as school board and city council candidate forums, and now new roommates of sorts. Listen Up! Youth Radio, which launched in 2018 and features radio segments produced by youth and young adults in the Twin Cities, recently became a tenant. On Feb. 1, the Sahan Journal moved in, bringing with it some 22 staffers who had previously worked remotely or shared co-working space in downtown St. Paul.

“It’s an initiative we have to bring other organizations that are mission-driven and mission-aligned, and we found Sahan Journal to be the perfect fit,” said Vazquez, who is careful to note that the growing partnerships are not mergers, though the likelihood of working together on writing, video and radio projects is high.

“There was a lot of collaboration anyway between Sahan Journal, SPNN and other media organizations,” he said. “We wanted to reinforce that. Having both organizations in the same place, you can have that synergy.”

Vazquez foresees more collaborations ahead. In January, SPNN’s gallery featured the photography exhibit “Lessons on the Road to Peace” by John Noltner, who has traveled four continents shooting pictures related to the theme. Vazquez hopes to use the cable access channel’s physical space to promote drag shows, fashion shows and other creative, in-person happenings.

“We literally have a red carpet,” he said. “We have a ton of space, and I want to make sure that we use it for our community.”

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