'Freedom' Anarchist newspaper under threat

[Blake's Baby]

The Anarchist newspaper 'Freedom', established by Kropotkin and friends in 1886, is under threat of closing this October after a legal battle has financially crippled it.

For those who don't know: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_Press and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_newspaper

From the Freedom website: http://www.freedompress.org.uk/news/2012/07/19/the-future-of-freedom/#more-25719

LibCom article and discussion about the situation: http://libcom.org/blog/freedom-must-be-saved-19072012

[The Idler]

Would be more of a loss than the Morning Star. Anyone else noticed how much less hand-wringing over Freedom than the Morning Star troubles. Was reading about De Leonist groups recently and its more of a shame none of them exist as active organisations any more.

[The Jay]

Would be more of a loss than the Morning Star. Anyone else noticed how much less hand-wringing over Freedom than the Morning Star troubles. Was reading about De Leonist groups recently and its more of a shame none of them exist as active organisations any more.

I agree, it's especially so since several used to have branches in my city. If only I was political a decade or more ago. Then again I would have been in high school or younger.

[TheGodlessUtopian]

I didn't know Anarchists had regular newspapers... I thought that was primarily a Trotskyist thing.

[Blake's Baby]

Would be more of a loss than the Morning Star. Anyone else noticed how much less hand-wringing over Freedom than the Morning Star troubles. Was reading about De Leonist groups recently and its more of a shame none of them exist as active organisations any more.

That's more or less my view. Its continued existence is, in my opinion, more important than whether or not I agree with its 'line' on anything in particular.



I didn't know Anarchists had regular newspapers... I thought that was primarily a Trotskyist thing.

Are you serious?

[TheGodlessUtopian]

Yup,I have heard nothing but condemnation from Anarchists in reference to Trotskyist newpapers. Surprise surprise that both have them.

[Blake's Baby]

Yup,I have heard nothing but condemnation from Anarchists in reference to Trotskyist newpapers. Surprise surprise that both have them.

Man, there's so much wrong with this post.

I suspect that what you have heard from Anarchists is condemnation of the practice of some Trotskyist groups which seems to be to get new members involved in selling papers for the organisation instead of actual political activity or indeed critical thinking. Of course, they could be complaining about the quality of the journalism.

Freedom predates the two main Anarchist groups in the UK by nearly a century: the ACF (later AF) was only founded in 1985, and SolFed in about 1998. So, no, in this case 'a group' doesn't have 'a paper', the Anarchist movement has a paper (actually it's more of a monthly journal now) but it's not formally connected to a particular group, and therefore there's no little cadre of Freedom paper sellers (which, ironically, is one underlying reason it's failing).

In the US I don't know any Anarchist groups or newspapers, but in the UK there are several groups, and several publications of those groups, and others, like Freedom, which is not connected to a particular group. Pretty mcuh all political organisations have a paper, journal or bulletin. A quick list of non-Trotskyist ones would include: Anarchist Federation - Resistance, Organise!; Solidarity Federation - Catalyst, Direct Action; IWW - Industrial Worker, Bread and Roses; Socialist Party of Great Britain - Socialist Standard; ICC - World Revolution, International Review; ICT - Aurora, Revolutionary Perspectives; CPB - Morning Star ('Britain's only Left Wing Daily paper'); and I'm sure that I could come up with others that were 'non-Trotskyist'.

The point is not whether a group has a paper/bulletin/journal as most groups do, or whether a paper exists unconnected to a group as Freedom does; the point is the conveyer-belt system that seems to exist in some (particularly Trotskyist) groups where new recruits are locked into increasing paper sales at the expense of anything more useful or fulfilling. I think that's what Anarchists (and the rest of us) are criticising.

Unless all the Anarchists you're talking to are complete tools, and merely enviously slagging off the Troskyists for being better organised and have more new recruits, of course.