Tucson Weekly editor Jimmy Boegle will step down at year’s end to launch an alternative publication in Southern California’s Coachella Valley.

With the Coachella Valley Independent, Boegle will attempt to bring “honest-to-goodness ethical” journalism to the areas surrounding Palm Springs:

Boegle, 37, has seen the impact of alt-weeklies, both while growing up and working in his hometown of Reno, Nev., and during his 10-year stint with the Weekly, a publication he argues has played a significant role in Tucson’s arts community since its launch in 1984. He hopes the Coachella Valley Independent will be the publication that helps spark a similar blossoming there.

“The area doesn’t have a true weekly like the Tucson Weekly,” said Boegle, who has been considering the venture for the past five years.

Boegle is AAN’s Diversity Chair and also serves as a member of the organization’s Editorial Committee. He spearheaded the creation of a Diversity Best Practices document for the industry as well as the first-of-its-kind survey of alt-weekly staff demographics.

In an Editor’s Note on the Coachella Valley Independent‘s recently-established website, Boegle lays out a mission statement for the new publication:

We believe in true, honest journalism: We want to afflict the comfortable, and comfort the afflicted. We want to be a mirror for the entire Coachella Valley. We want to inform, enlighten and entertain.

We will never let advertisers determine what we cover, and how we cover things. In other words, we will always tell it how we see it. For example: Some other publications in this valley do puff-piece reviews or feature stories on advertisers to make said advertisers happy. We will never, ever do that. If we lose an advertiser due to an unflattering story, a negative review or something else, so be it.