How to start and publish an independent Newspaper

Free Republic ^ | 09/21/2003 | Chad Fairbanks

[Chad Fairbanks]

How To Start An Independent Newspaper

First off, let me be blunt: The last time I was involved in anything like this, was during the 1980s when I helped create and distribute a ‘newsletter’ – a cheap little ‘paper’ printed by a friend at a local print shop in the middle of the night, and distributed by hand in school during the day.

As such, I am posting this article from a perspective having a distinct lack of experience, in order to spark discussions, to learn from others more experienced than I, and to hopefully spark some creative ideas, solutions, and information from other FReepers.

So, without further ado, allow me to lay out some ideas, concepts, and such in order to begin the discussion.

What is an Alternative newspaper?

An Alternative Newspaper is a newspaper that provides news, opinions, or information that one would usually not find in the many mainstream daily newspapers which are published in cities and towns across the country. The term ‘Alternative’, is a word in modern parlance that is now devoid of any true meaning. What was once considered ‘alternative’ is now part of the mainstream culture. For our purposes, the word ‘alternative’ means something that is different than the mainstream liberal publications, as it pertains to print media.

Why would I want to start one?

Have you ever been at a bus top, subway station, or a music store, and seen free, independent ‘alternative’ newspapers sitting in racks? Have you ever noticed how often they are left-wing publications? Other than being more extreme, they are often not all that different from the mainstream newspapers. Wouldn’t you like to see one that espouses a conservative viewpoint for a change? Well, that’s not going to happen by itself. Someone needs to step up to the plate and get involved.

You may love to write, or perhaps you want an outlet for other creative ideas, such as cartooning. Perhaps you are tired of the local mainstream daily newspaper ignoring stories of local importance, or covering it with an obvious bias?

The simple answer is simply, “Why not?”

What should I do first?

Plan, plan, and plan some more. Creating, publishing, and distributing a newspaper is not any easy job. You must create a plan that will help you determine your goals, what you hope to accomplish, and how you are going to achieve what you set out to do. Much like a Business Plan – not only will this plan help to keep you on track, it may also help to secure funding.

Find a group of like-minded people in your area to help you. As you begin to plan, determine what skills they have, in order to determine what their responsibilities and duties will be. Each person will bring unique abilities to the table, and you must find a way to tap into those strengths.

What will your paper be called? What will its focus be? How often will you publish? How will you fund the publishing and distribution? How will you distribute it?

All these question, and many more, will need to be answered in your plan.

How will I pay for it?

Without a secure reliable source of revenue, you will never get your paper off the ground. The best plan in the world will not help you, if you are unable to implement it. So, how would you go about securing the funding necessary to launch your newspaper? There are many ways, and how you go about it may be different than how others do. You may choose to raise money through bake sales, or by approaching small businesses in your area to run ads. You may secure grants through sympathetic foundations or organizations, through donations from private individuals, or by paid subscriptions from readers.

How you intend to fund the venture should be a major part of your plan.

How will I publish my newspaper?

How you choose to print and publish your newspaper is important. Anyone can run to Kinko’s and run off 100 copies of a piece of paper. Actually publishing a newspaper, on the other hand, requires a little more work and planning.

One option is to approach a small local newspaper, and pay for a printing job. Many small newspapers perform third-party printing work in order to make extra money. You will be required, usually, to provide a camera-ready work for them to print. There are some software packages that can assist you in preparing a camera-ready work. An example would be Quark XPress, which can provide camera-ready artwork in PDF format.

How you prepare your newspaper copy will be determined by your printer. Many will have specific requirements, and when choosing a printer it is important to determine what their requirements are and whether you are able to meet those requirements.

How will I distribute my newspaper?

The manner in which you distribute your newspaper will again vary, depending on your needs, circumstances, and locality. You may be able to negotiate a deal by becoming an insert within another published paper. Another option would be to pay for placement through a company in your area that provides this type of service. The next time you are in a supermarket, or at a bus stop and you see the newspaper racks, check it out and find the information about the company that provides the racks and the space. Contact them and find out about placement for your paper.

Another option would be mail-order, home delivery, or you and some friends could hand them out to passers-by at a local shopping center.

When distributing, be creative. The more you distribute, the more people you will reach with your message.

A word of warning: Liberals, being intolerant as they are, have been know to steal and destroy as many copies of conservative papers as they can get their hands on. Depending on your area, you may need to take this type of activity into account. Secondly, they have also been known to slip inserts into other newspapers. Again, this may be something you need to watch for.

What are the legal issues involved?

This is a good question – one that I have relatively few answers for. The obvious one, which revolve around Libel, is something that I hope any lawyers here can answer. Other issues may include incorporating, LLCs, etc. which vary from locale to locale.

[Chad Fairbanks]

I will keep you posted. I'm going to start work on a plan, submit it for comments etc... then, I guess we'll see :0)

[Chad Fairbanks]

Thank YOU, and you are, of course, most welcome!

[Chad Fairbanks]

How about a Blog in printer friendly format?

That would be a good idea, but there are so many blogs already out there - heck, even my kids have blogs - so I don't know if that would have much impact...

[holyscroller]

Focus, focus, focus. The only point in doing this is to educate and inform . If we start wasting space on puzzles, trivia columns, sports, etc. there's nothing to be accomplished by publishing. People can get that stuff anywhere. Let somebody else waste their time and money on blather. FOCUS ON CONTENT WITH VALUE.

[Chad Fairbanks]

I din't necessarily say trivia columns, but rather a few minor things that DO educate, but you point is well taken, and I understand - sometimes too much IS too much :0)

[rwfromkansas]

Make sure to be as anal as you can be about copyright.

You don't want to be sued. Only use royalty-free stock photos for those pictures not taken by you or a staff member unless you get written permission.

Do not reprint written work unless you get written permission or it is in the public domain.

[rwfromkansas]

As for libel, state standards vary, so check your own statutes.

[smith5460]

Another idea for a regional paper would have the main office put together the "national" part of the paper with a fixed format every day.

As the "national" part of the paper is being written and formatted, the local bureaus in each community would put together its "local" part.

When it comes time to actually publish the paper, the local bureaus would put together the "national" and "local" parts and create the actual newspaper for the day.

Each bureau would download the "national" part via website or e-mail, paste the "local" part, the print out the next daily edition of the newspaper.

This way, each bureau's edition would be localized to their communities but also focus on the national news.

P.S. One possible name for the paper: The Daily American

Just a thought

[Bob J]

Thanks a good post but I'm working on broadcast.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Cool... I guess I'll have to ping you when I post my 'How to create and produce a television show' thread ;0)

[Bob J]

Ha! Do that...television is in the plan.

[Chad Fairbanks]

And a good thought - I don't know if I have the energy for a national thing, but you never know what will happen. Thanks for the ideas!

[Chad Fairbanks]

Thanks for your input, rwfromkansas!

[Chad Fairbanks]

Well, I've signed up for some free workshops via the local public access channel to learn as many aspects of it as I can. FReeper TV LOL

[Sir_Ed]

We had a county-wide monthly here in Grants Pass for a couple of years...it was fun, but grueling.

Ed

[snopercod]

?

[freeangel]

Bump

[joesbucks]

BTW, the most sucessful and actually looked for "freebie" in my area has articles that are written with a certain "bite" or attitude to them. Among my friends, we say that they "bite the people they write about, but don't leave teeth marks." I know that may be hard to understand unless you know our perspective. I guess the best way to say it is they "make fun" of the establishment and tweak them pretty good but leave them with some dignity. It's fun to read but you don't leave feeling like they are vindictive. Check out www.theotherpaper.com for their online version. It's not a political paper, but reports stories that are sometimes off the beaten path or they expose more than what the mainstream press is willing to go.

[Seeking the truth]

Hey Jack, didn't you think of doing this last year?

Maybe you can impart some info here.

[Fearless Flyers]

I believe alternative papers market to young audiences and it’s not necessarily their editorial content that gains the heart of the regular readers. What they have always offered is a calendar of events that promotes the younger generation’s artisans.

Mainstream papers generally publish these calendars once a week on Friday in small sections of the newspaper, by the time Monday rolls around there is hardly a mention of these events in the publications. The calenders the mainstream publish is usually generic and doesn't always offer the diverse artists of the local music scene.

Alternative papers are available all week long and the calendar of events is dispersed throughout the paper. They are cultural papers targeting young audiences who are traditionally viewed as revolutionary.

This is because the younger generation throughout history has wanted to make their own way and be noticed for their own accomplishments that can be easily differentiated from that of their parents.

I believe a conservative alternative is possible today for precisely this reason. The older generation currently in power is decidedly liberal and has been successful in eliminating many of our constitutional freedoms. The alternative that would allow the younger generation to be easily differentiated from their elders would be Constitutional and there has never been a more revolutionary document than our Declaration of Independence.

A publication that embraces and promotes the art of the younger generation, while at the same time educating the public about the Nations founding documents through its editorials, should have the appearance of a true revolutionary and counter culture alterative.