I’d like to offer my design services to the Occupy Cardiff movement for the purpose of creating a one-shot newspaper for the protest. This would be a great way to connect with people outside of Cardiff, and those not wired in to Twitter and Facebook.
With some creative guerrilla distribution tactics, this could get a lot of information into a lot of hands.
Laying out a paper is a pretty big job, but a paper is nothing without content, so this project would require a commitment from a number of writers and artists before it would be worth making a start…
I have some suggestions for what kinds of content could be included:
- A clear statement about the reason for and aims of the Occupy protests.
- An opportunity to challenge the many misconceptions critics have.
- Original essays and printings of blog posts.
- Revealing infographics based on good data illustrating the gulf between the haves and the have nots. (I’m interested in producing these.)
- Calls to action for readers. (How to protest.)
- Design, illustration and cartoons.
- Posters to spread the message.
I would also be willing to publish this content on a dedicated blog.
There are precedents for this kind of citizen journalism from the more established protests. The Occupied Times got started with the help of a Huff Po blogger. The editor says “We thought it was important to challenge and offer a different narrative compared to the mainstream media. I’ve seen the coverage and it’s very subjective so it’s essential to have a voice from inside the camp.”
Then there’s The Occupied Wall Street Journal, which raised $75,690 on Kickstarter.
Which raises the question of money.
However funds are raised, I would want to know that the money was going to be available to cover printing costs so the time spent putting everything together was not going to be wasted.
My idea is to print using Newspaper Club, unless anyone has a contact at a print house. Prices vary, but 100 copies of a 12 page edition can be printed for £169.00 (£1.69 per copy), and 1000 for £656.00 (£0.65 per copy), etc.
I’m interested in any feedback, so please leave a comment if you think there’s merit to this idea. I’m also embedding a contact form below for anyone who wants to help out, or just wants to get in touch privately.
Update 2011.11.19: Contact form removed.
halfblog.net 
Nice idea, but the money would be a sticking point. You should produce some of those infographics and stuff anyway though, I’m sure they’d find an audience.
Hi, we had a chat about this at the last General Assembly…we don’t generate enough news to justify a 12-page weekly yet but we’ll keep you in mind.
Hi Edmund, thanks for having considered this idea.
In my post, I am suggesting a ‘one-shot’, not a regular publication. The contents would not have to be entirely ‘newsy’ – in fact, I was thinking it should be as much a manifesto as anything.
I would still urge you to consider such a publication, but I’m also going to withdraw my offer to produce it. If the value of a paper can’t be seen, I don’t feel I would be given the necessary input from within your ranks to produce something worthwhile.
Are these your designs? Really nice, especially the bull on the left.
No, they’re from Occuprint. If you click on the images above, they are each credited on their own pages.