The Joan De Arc    

“All the fits that’s news to print “   Crusader  Founded in AD1968    $1.00

  Phoenix, Arizona  ¨     Wednesday, July 15, 1998     ¨  ã 1998 by JPB Ltd.

Crusader Turns 30

 Founder Looks Back on Three Decades of Award-Winning Journalism

Note to Readers: The Joan De Arc Crusader today celebrates its 30^th birthday, so executive editor and founder John Bueker recently took a fond look back on this famous publication’s humble origins. What follows is Mr. Bueker’s personal account of the genesis of the Crusader, as related to guest reporter Jason Beaver:

Beaver: What is your earliest memory of the Crusader ?

Bueker: Well, I remember creating a newspaper on the family typewriter called “The Sloppy Gazette,” no doubt inspired by a similar activity that my father and/or siblings had been carrying out at the time. Anyway, the year was 1968, a year I well remember, and so then Dad suggested “The Joan De Arc Crusader” as a suitable name for my local newspaper, and that was it.

Beaver: So you essentially jacked your old man for the name of this rag, is that what I’m hearing?

Bueker: Essentially.

Beaver: So what kinds of articles ran in the paper back in those early days?

Bueker: Oh, man…we were strictly cutting edge, baby, strictly cutting edge, and at a time when “cutting edge” meant something. I mean, we were so cutting edge, we got cut.

Beaver: Give us an example.

Bueker: We were the first newspaper in the nation to come out against material inexactism, and damn proud of it, buddy.

Beaver: What in the hell is “material inexactism”?

Bueker: Geez…only a material inexactist would even ask such a question. We also did a great piece on the excesses of TV coverage of assassinations and funerals of political figures. Politicians are always expendable, “Laugh-In" was not. I think we were way ahead of our time on that one.

Beaver: Yes, and well done. But many charge that the Crusader  has long since become a bitter, mean-spirited platform for, shall we say, fairly unpopular viewpoints voiced by a singularly unstable person, namely yourself.   

Bueker: Well, I’m certainly bitter, there’s no question about that. But mean-spirited? I don’t see that. We just report news about the street and the people on it, along with some editorials and features.

Beaver: Yes, but your “news” about the street and its people is usually derogatory and a work of complete fiction.

Bueker: Look, man. The last time I checked, the 1^st Amendment was still in force. Are you familiar with the 1^st Amendment, Jason?

Beaver: Does it have anything to do with material inexactism?

Bueker: Absolutely. But you’re not ready for MI. Freedom of speech, baby! That’s all.

Beaver: The Crusader is questionable journalism at best, Mr. Bueker.

(Interview continued on page 5)