Potrero Hill, San Francisco

You might not know it, but Potrero Hill is a two newspaper neighborhood.

You’re probably familiar with the Potrero View, but there’s also ‘The Hill’ - a newspaper for kids of all ages which contains poems, drawings, articles and fun things to do.

It’s publisher is Oona Robertson, age 13, who has lived on Potrero Hill her entire life. According to the newspaper masthead, Oona enjoys “reading, writing, climbing trees, fencing, playing, eating and being in nature. I write about what interests me. I homeschool. I live with my dad, mom, sister, brother, fish and cats.”

I recently had the opportunity to interview Oona:

What inspired you to begin publishing ‘The Hill’?
I had noticed that there weren’t any kids newspapers. Just dry and hard to read adults ones. I thought it would be cool for kids to get to read the newspaper too.

When did you start the newspaper?
My first issue of The Hill was published in October 2004 but I had started thinking up ideas before that.

How do you put together the newspaper?
I type everything out except for the handwritten things and the drawings. Then I paste them into the newspaper and copy it on a copy machine. The things in every issue are: a comic, drawings, a review of some kind and poems. The amount of articles, activities and such vary.

What aspects of publishing the newspaper do you like the most?
The comics are really fun and I also like writing articles about things I like to do.

Who else contributes content for the newspaper?
I get articles and drawings mostly, from kids living on Potrero hill. It’s really great to have other people’s work in my newspaper and I am really happy when I get entries.

How many copies do you publish each month?
I normally make about 55 (40 for Christopher’s Books, 10 to deliver and 5 for me as record.)

Do you have any favorite articles that you’ve published?
It’s hard for me to remember what articles I published awhile ago, but I really like the Survival series I am in the middle of right now.

What inspired you to write the Survival series?
My survival series was inspired by a class that I was taking called Nature Studies. The once a week class was held in a huge park and taught all kinds of survival skills and other interesting things. i really liked the class and the idea of writing a survival in the wilderness article.

Do you have any thoughts about what career you’d like to pursue?
I don’t know. I like to write, but that would only be a part time job so i guess i will just have to wait and see.

What do you like most about Potrero Hill?
I really like that everyone knows each other and we are more like a community than a neighborhood. I also like all the shops and interesting poeple who live here.

The Hill is available at Christopher’s Books for 50 cents and is published monthly.