Arts Alive! podcast: Ray Roa, Creative Loafing Tampa Bay

Today’s guest on Arts Alive! is Ray Roa, editor-in-chief of the bay area’s long-running “alt-weekly” newspaper Creative Loafing Tampa Bay.

A mix of local news and politics, coverage of restaurant comings and goings and local arts events, Creative Loafing strikes a unique balance.

Roa, who was the paper’s music editor (succeeding Leilani Polk) before moving into the top spot, is particularly proud of his publication’s steady, unwavering gaze on local bands and musicians.

“A basic understanding between us and the reader is that we enjoy live music,” he says. “Sure, we enjoy recorded music but for us it’s about being in the club, being wherever, enjoying music in person. Making those connections. It is a hill that I’m going to die on.”

Much of the discussion concerns arts coverage in the bay area, what Roa sees as its strengths and it weaknesses, and Roa’s wish list for the future.

As for the Creative Loafing reader demographics: “Anecdotally, I feel like our audience reaches a wide swath of people across demographics,” Roa says. “I mean, I’ve been reading it since I was a teenager.”

He adds: “A lot of people like to paint Tampa and St. Petersburg as these really big, growing places – but in a lot of ways, they’re still both kind of small towns. (And) there’s not enough publications to serve them.”

Click on the arrow to listen to the interview.