How to stop hating the media and become the media?

[genstrike]

So, long story short, my campus paper is not worthy to wipe my ass with and chock full or right-wing bullshit. I've been floating the idea of creating some sort of campus alternative media, and it does seem like there is some sort of demand for it, at least in some circles. I think there is a good chance that I will be able to find enough writers and I think there is an audience out there looking for something like what I have in mind, but I just have one problem.

I don't know what the fuck I am doing.

I have no journalistic experience and no plan to raise the funds necessary to actually print whatever we come up with, and even if we do get it printed, I have no distribution strategy.

Any ideas of where I should start? Tips? Anything?

[Wild_Fire]

What alternative are you planning to produce? :confused:

Without you being specific, I'm guessing you want to get a Leftist Paper/Periodical going?;)

My advice, Call yourself an Editor, get your 'writers' to submit relevant information on the views you wish to express. Get Microsoft Word going, collate the pieces, add a heading and the publishing information. Print off a few copies, hand them to your 'audience' and change what doesn't work with the next edition.

Now with out sounding rude, it is that simple.
Use what you've got Comrade.:cool:

[Nothing Human Is Alien]

Use InDesign or QuarkXPress to do your paper layout. If you need info on printers you can PM me.

[Darkeye]

I concur, put an advert up for writers, you'll probably find a lot of people keen to write for you, maybe even here.
You could start it as a blog and put up posters advertising it, then if interest gets big then aim to try and publish it on a small scale maybe charging pocket change at first, then increasing the price as your costs increase. The final thing is the name; which should be, IMO :), 'The anti ( whatever your campus paper name is)'
The main thing is to start small and build it up as interest grows. HTH.

[genstrike]

Okay, the ball has started rolling, I'm planning a meeting for people interested, and someone is looking into the actual printing for me. I've had some people say they are interested in writing, and figure I can pull something off by the time classes start up again (having a massive political crisis in my country which will drag on into January helps).

On the minus side, the actual campus paper is aware of this (that's what I get for using facebook to organize shit), and some people who I wanted to get to write for/support this thing and try to get their views in there so we have a diversity of left views have basically said that it is a stupid idea and I don't think they want any part of it.

I'll try to check out some layout programs tonight and try to get more people in on this. The way I see it, it is too early to tell but this is either going to be really awesome or a huge clusterfuck and public embarassment. But either way, it's going to be an experience.

[Killfacer]

Try and make parts of it funny, nobody wants to read something which in unrelenting serious left wing propaganda. Make people laugh and the rest should come more easily.

[Dr Mindbender]

Try and make parts of it funny, nobody wants to read something which in unrelenting serious left wing propaganda. Make people laugh and the rest should come more easily.

yeah, and while you're at it put in some page 3 totty and football results at the back if you really want to up the ante in the opportunist journalism stakes...
:glare:

[Holden Caulfield]

Try and make parts of it funny, nobody wants to read something which in unrelenting serious left wing propaganda. Make people laugh and the rest should come more easily.

i agree with this, i read a fair few anarchist papers that i get sent, user K.Bullstreet is a contributor to one of them, and I find their lighter approch to things easier to read for enjoyment, hence why i write the 'opposition' entries in such a 'tounge in cheek way'. If you can rip the piss out of your opponents while making sound political statements and comment then you will have a winner, i suppose the only problem would be getting the balance right

I do read my own parties Trot papers and as informative as they are, i think most people my age who are not already 'converted' would prefer to read a 'lighter' paper

[Wanted Man]

Write from the point of view of your target audience. For example, if you're writing for youths, your writing style and content should be geared towards them. Some other basic points: http://www.howardowens.com/2008/ten-things-journalists-can-do-to-reinvent-journalism/

Experience is the best way, really. You'll get better at writing as you go, especially when you take it seriously and get feedback from other people who are also trying to get better. I'm a Journalism student, but the few things that I really learned from it so far could also have been learned in any other discipline with these same points. We work with an elementary book on journalism, maybe such a thing exists in English too. Also, do independent media centres like Indymedia publish anything on the subject?

[Killfacer]

yeah, and while you're at it put in some page 3 totty and football results at the back if you really want to up the ante in the opportunist journalism stakes...
:glare:


Dont be so stupid. I'm not saying make it a comedy magazine, or a left wing version of nuts but simply that a good way of appealing to a wider audience and getting them involved is by making parts of it funny. Whats wrong with putting in football results anyway? If that's what appeals to people then put it in. Socialism shouldn't always be bearded old men or student kiddies writing deadly serious articles about how the capitlist world is crashing down. In fact its important to appeal to normal people, not just people who are already socialist. Hence why the SWP fail.

If you can create a magazine that appeals to more than just current socialists, then you have made it easier to win people over. I get the feeling that the snobbish attitude of people like you has held back the left for far too long.

Obviously it is important not to take this too far and end up with a magazine which just makes jokes but if you get the balance right, then it's a glorious opportunity to bring more people over to the cause.

[danyboy27]

killfacer got a point, humor is a good weapon, and it should be used.
its a good tool to spread a message, especially amongst the working class.

not all worker are ardent socialist or marxist, so you have to use the proper way to wake up leftism inside their mind.

distributing flyers with soundbites like: rise! revolt! wont do shit, all it does is spread the stereotype that we leftist are violent.

[Rascolnikova]

Please don't use microsoft word--openoffice.

Also, you might want to put out a blog of the process and the things you publish at the same time--could help you attract other interested parties.

[Dhul Fiqar]

You really REALLY need to find someone around there who has some solid experience. There is just no substitute for it and in my experience the more enthusiasm you have the more experienced oversight you need - and you're bound to get a lot of enthusiastic writers.

Don't let this thing blow up in your hands in the first issue, there are tons of people around who have worked on this kind of thing and you just need to put a bit of energy into finding them.

Spelling, grammar, layout, verbiage are just a few of the issues to be considered before publishing any article. There is also the issue of sources and not getting your ass sued.

In any case, if you have any specific problems I'd be glad to attempt to answer your questions, I have published (and, in one case, attempted to publish) a couple of school papers.

--- G.

[Verde]

I'm firmly in the online publishing camp. It's free, it's accessible, and you shouldn't underestimate the "viral" ability of a funny, interesting online alternative to a print-based medium. The internet is made for niches, and, let's face it, if you're on campus it's likely that your intended audience is going to be people who will have no trouble accessing a website.

If you must go print-based from the offset, aiming for quality over quantity is fairly obvious advice. It'll be cheaper to print, and the audience will have a much better experience if they don't feel the urge to skip over a lot of the content.

It would also be worthwhile to identify your final aim for the paper. If your main aim is to combat the poor quality of the official paper, I'd agree with Killfacer and Holden Caulfield: A (heavily) left-leaning alternative to the current paper that offers some lighter, more "standard" elements. You might find that simply better journalism and more interesting content would do more for spreading the word than a paper that the layperson isn't going to want to pick up because it's overly verbose and unrelentantly presenting left-wing arugments. On the other hand, that approach involves sacrificing space for arguments and taking a less hard-line attitude. As editor, it's your call.

Personally, I've always found the soft-launch to work, gathering momentum and writers as people discover it. But that might not work for your own situation. The most important thing is to make the damn thing, no matter what the format or flavour.