Taking on liberal newspapers

What about getting national news? Does it cost a lot to get an AP or Reuter's feed? Seems like most of what our local rag does is reprint AP/Reuters articles, then throws in a bunch of ads and some clueless local reporting. Oh, and the "human interest" stuff. If I read that paper, its for the classifieds, and the comics. The rest is fish wrap or bird cage liner.

One of the local stations has had some run-ins with the dem Mayor. Its made them a little popular with the locals, and the bane of the rest of the broadcast industry. There's definitely some anti-mayor sentiment, which could easily be turned into anti-dem sentiment, even in the land of Kookcinich.

I got a call from the Memphis Communist "Commercial that is" Appeal months ago asking if I took there papers, I advised no I found it too liberal. It has no house columnists with a conservative bent, just an occasional Cal Thomas piece which is supposed to create balance in their eyes I guess. There political guy is a Gore yes man, with that being ALGORE's home state.

For national news, I could see all the college Republicans, for example, setting up a private, members-only website and pooling their local sources. That is what a wire service does.

You need to emphasize your strengths, which will be local/state/regional. Network among other schools or activists in your area. People will have connections to others and that is how you organize a network. Recruit folks who have contacts overseas: foreign students from the formerly communist countries in the EU, Latin America and Asia, for example. They will have contacts, will be able to read the foreign language press and have insights that are not available to Americans. Start with your city and work outward, using an *each one, reach one* approach to recruiting staff and stringers.

AS for human interest and lifestyle: don't discount it. It will draw in readers and advertisers who are not political. Ex: I did a column on how to do various crafts, emphasizing independence from prepackaged kits. This was at the time when the very 1st crafts fairs were being organized as an alternative marketplace. The paper issued me press credentials and I attended several trade shows to that industry (craft and hobby). I obtained samples of various DIY kits, analyzed them for how much you could purchase the supplies for if you bought them individually (big savings, BTW) or recycled them or used household articles. Then, this was a lame market, devoid of creativity. My most popular column was one on using a paper cup, an old Hot Wheels motor that still worked, a couple of batteries and a marker to make a robotic gizmo that *drew* on its own on big sheets of newsprint or brown paper. Sounds dumb, but it drew in what we now call SAHM and today would appeal to homeschoolers who needed to keep kids 5 or so occupied while teaching older kids, or a way to keep them away from TV (we didn't have video games or even home video players, then). I got the idea by asking readers to write in w/their own homemade toys and games and craft projects. This involved readers. All of this attracted advertisers who sell various items we mentioned.

Frugality is another column idea, as is how to live media-free to as great an extent as possible. Don't ignore music that is pro-American or artists who are not America-haters.

Back then, many hippies dropped out and homeschooled their kids. That was the base of many of today's leftwing activists who are in now their late 30's/early 40s. They grew up in communes and did demonstrations, protests and boycotts all their lives.

Alternative media involves an entire alternative movement. Keeping this aspect in mind will not only grow your paper, it will grow your audience, your advertisers and your movement itself. Maybe you could even just do your *paper* on disk and distribute those or a subscription website. You need to be creative and think outside the box, not just do a conservative version of the same old news. That is covered by mature online media like WND or NRO, for example.

We aimed our product at the young people who comprised the *youth movement*. It was where you learned about demonstrations and protests (like today's ProtestWarriors or various mass activist ventures). Where you do real news is locally: someone who works for a politician or someone who is on the take or a stealth agenda masked as something benign. Not everyone spends hours a day online. A bulleted weekly column of sites of interest or actions of interest, like the September 11,2004 March to Support the WOT, is an example of something that needs publicizing. Interviews w/returned Iraq vets is another story idea. We eventually attracted national media attention, mainly because of the psychedelic graphics, but also because of the information that was not available elsewhere.

Cartoonists are also invaluable.

The guy who edited our paper was a journalism major, at the time. We were lucky to have him. He wasn't a political activist, but he valued truth and freedom from propaganda. Someone like this, who can write and edit and who understands how to cover news live is invaluable. We weren't one of the flashy, notorious papers, but we were actually credible.

This brought back memories! It was fun!

Thank you for the valuable information and the benefit of your experience!

At least you have some refuge with the Register. Up here we ain't got nothin'.

Thank god for the internet and freerepublic!