Setting up a local Newsletter

  1. ORGANISE A MEETING:

You've talked about it down the pub with a few mates. You all think it's a great idea. There are a few more people you can think of who'd be interested. So just get on with it - it's not going to happen otherwise. Fix a date, time and venue (could be someone's house, it's not a public meeting). Leave other possibilities wide open. It's important for everyone to have had a say in the shaping of the project from the start. (That way you can keep everyone involved and the same people don't have to do all the work.) Where we were a few of us had been talking about for a while, even went to a talk on it put on by the Porkbolter (a local newsletter in Worthing) but the thing that realy got us going, was having someone from the Porkbolter come to Norwich - and them basically saying it was very doable! (See Burgh Angel contact for Glasgow)

  1. GET IT ALL SORTED:

There's no point in having your founding moment and then coming away having vaguely agreed to do something soon. Probably. When we've got our act together. The minimum you should have agreed is a name and address, which will in turn enable you to set up a building society account in your newsletter's name. We use a PO Box, which costs about fifty quid a year. We had to chip in up front to start it but donations over the next 12 months covered the renewal (just). It would probably be better to have an actual local street address, not just to save cash but so people could drop stuff in by hand and bypass the official mail system. (A Post Office box is where your mail is stored untill you come and collect it) If you can find a way to do free photocopying, then you don't really need to have a bank account. Also, check to see if sympathetic groups in your area would be prepared to share a CO Box. In Norwich about 10 different groups share a CO Box!

  1. THINK OF A GOOD NAME:

OK, maybe you can't take that advice from a group with a title like The Pork-Bolter. But it is a genuinely historical nickname for Worthing people and the piggie identity has provided us with hours of puns. The main requirements are that it should be a local name and that it shouldn't put people off reading your stuff by being too overtly political. (That is not to say you shouldn't take on local issues and campaigns that are of importance in your area. These things may even be a reason to start a Newsletter.)

  1. THE NITTY-GRITTY:

Thinking of a name is the fun bit and may well take up 95% of your opening meeting (if you let it). But you've also got to start thinking about boring detail, like what size is the newsletter going to be, how often will it come out, how many will you get printed and so on. You'd be amazed at how much you can fit on a double-sided piece of A4. As far as frequency is concerned, once a month seems about right for us. Quantity is obviously limited by funds. Try getting 500 done to start with, then up it to 1,000 or more if your distribution is working. Another advantage of double-sided A4 format is that it is easy to photocopy and you may be able to supplement your print run with the help of office-worker volunteers (and various people will be busy copying and distributing them round their mates and colleagues who you won't even know about ...). Other things to consider are: What is this newsletter for? What are its aims?

  1. PRINTING:

Cheap photocopying/printing is hard to come by, but very useful. Don't just rush out to the nearest High Street print shop. Ask around for ideas about cheaper options. Try your local student union or college print department or local resource centre. If all else fails, why not bring out the newsletter at whatever cost and appeal to readers for leads on cheaper printing. You never know who may come forward.

  1. PAYING FOR IT:

You'll probably find yourselves fulfilling this role. But spread between the group members it doesn't come to much. If you meet at someone's home instead of in the pub, you'll have probably paid for the next issue from what would have been spent at the bar. Other costs may well be covered by donations/subscriptions once you've got going.

  1. GETTING IT OUT:

Distribution is a piece of cake when it's free. It's just a question of getting them all out into the hands of the local population. You can do that most directly by standing in the town centre and thrusting them rudely into people's hands (with a smile on your face). And you can leave them in public places like the library and town hall (small amounts but frequently - they tend to get removed). Ask in shops if you can leave a pile on the counter. And in pubs. You'll be surprised at the positive reaction to a lively local newsletter. Keen people should also be able to subscribe for a small charge to cover postage (though since they're local you could drop them in by hand and save the stamp). Chippies seem to be one of the best places!

  1. CONTENTS

You'd forgotten about that small detail, hadn't you? What do you put in the thing? This should not really be a problem for anyone who's got as far as even thinking about doing a newsletter. First of all you read all the mainstream local papers. And then you get very angry with all the stuff the council's up to and the MP is spouting on about. And then you don't just forget about it and resolve not to read annoying local papers anymore, but instead you cut out the relevant bits and bring them along to the next newsletter meeting. And everyone else says how rubbish the council is and takes the rise a bit and someone else has cut a bit out of The Big Issue which sort of fits in.

Meanwhile, a person with biro-manipulating skills writes down the best bits. And lo, the contents start to emerge. Add in your own little campaigns (anti-GM, anti-CCTV, anti-negative attitudes etc), plus titbits about worthy local groups (Friends of the Earth, animal welfare, etc, etc) and you've got a newsletter. Currently we've got a rotating editorship though at the start we didn't. Originally we had one person (me!) who could do the desktop publishing stuff (I have some CDs with it on if you want it!) and ended up kind of editing, but each time we've been opening it out.

Each time we put it together we get a new person in so that they learn how to use the software. Sometimes we have an editing meeting, sometimes we don't. Sometimes we have lots of submissions and the type gets small, and other times we have hardly any and have to write things to fill gaps when putting it together. We go roughly monthly. I like it to include a bit of humour, either just in a few captions to pictures, or an entirely humorous article. I think it can draw people into the news stories.

  1. CAMPAIGNS:

Gives a positive focus amidst all the sniping from the sidelines. But obviously depends on what's happening locally. And what you're into. It's worth approaching local campaign groups and asking for them to write about their campaigns. It's generally best to steer clear of political parties because in most cases they'll want to hijack your newsletter to promote their party.

  1. KEEP IT LOCAL:

Forget the recommendation to act locally and think globally. You have to start thinking locally as well. Only then can you go on to draw your political conclusions. For instance, trying to persuade people here that global capitalism is a bad thing because it is destroying the Amazon rainforests is a waste of time. But talk to them about the way that money-grabbing property developers are allowed to build all over green spaces on the edge of your town and your readers will understand why you then call for an end to the rule of greed and money over people and countryside. In your newsletter your views can clearly be seen as common sense. You are normal and the council/property developers/government are the outsiders -reversing the way radical views are conventionally presented. Use words like 'we' and 'our' a lot. I think it is best to go for a basic reportage of news in the first few paragraphs and then have the “views”/comment kind of stuff at the end of the article (if what you're reporting is actually news to people otherwise by all means launch straight into comment!

  1. HAVE A LAUGH:

A jokey approach makes people read your newsletter

  1. LAW-ABIDING:

Remember that you can get done for libel if you make certain claims about individuals. Get round this with humorous digs and heavy use of satire and sarcasm (think Private Eye, Have I Got News For You, etc). It is worth knowing that you cannot libel a council -so go for it! 13. MEDIA: You yourselves are the new media for the town, so you don't need to worry about publicity. But if they want to give a rival organ a boost, that's just dandy.

  1. CARRY ON PUBLISHING!

There will be ups and downs. New people will join your circle. Others will drift away. It might seem like nobody's taking any notice of you at all. But in fact your message will be permeating the very fabric of your community. It's got to be worth it.

  1. PROOFREAD IT!

You're not going to want to take the time and effort to distribute it if it's a bit shoddy!

  1. DESIGN PRINCIPLES

(Ultracondensed!) It's worth paying some attention to the very basics of design: Try to give it a consistent layout and feel - use the same combination of fonts/line spacing etc. (or the same mixture at least) all the way through. Try and align elements of your design (left align is almost always best). If you're going to break alignment, do it by a large amount, rather than a small amount. A small change in alignment looks like a mistake. If you can develop a masthead that you'll use time and time again, that's I think a good thing (branding works!) If you know someone artistic this is a nice project for them, because they should only have to do it once. First paragraphs shouldn't be indented. Use a tab (of a few spaces) or a gap between paragraphs, but not both.

The only design book I've ever found that was at all useful (rather than showing off) is The Non-designer's Design Book by Robin Williams. 17. MISC. The average photocopier should be happy with a 0.7cm print margin. Most inkjets won't, so if possible, print it out first on a laserprinter. If you're going to upload your newsletter to the internet, or print it out on someone else's PC the best thing to do is make it into a PDF with something like Easy PDF Creator (on CD).

With thanks to Dave dave@cupboard.org (Hope he doesn't mind this Slightly edited version)