Join the new world

"When people make music just for the love of it, to celebrate, mourn and laugh about our real struggles, then that music belongs to the people and no one can take it away from us.
"You can't vote it in or vote it out. It's not about winning a lucrative contract in some contest.
"In various times, in all sorts of ways -- and against all the odds -- it simply endures."
-- Phoenix Quinn (a/k/a Silas Soule), Day 675, in "Make Your Own Music: Punk Rock and Alternative Country"


AND NOW, the "NEWS"!!!...and stuff.


158th Congress Convenes to Discuss Very Serious Matters



From our Congressional correspondent...

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

I dunno, there was a long debate about people who can't type very well and whether they should be "censured" (like that's a real thing, LOL!).

Then everybody carefully ignored Franklin Stone's insistence on more fiscal transparency.

Next, Comrade Salty, a heroic proletarian people's tribue in the bourgeois halls of officialdom, was going to table a hilarious but moving proclamation about how to use eRep to take down monstrous hedge funds for fun and profit, but he got distracted when this shocking inner-party news was revealed...


PARTY GOSSIP! ...and Innuendo!!



In a shocking development, this ^ (obiously fake!) photo was recently passed around anonymously via internal secure party channels on reddit.

It provides damning evidence that the so-called "elected Chair" of the Revolutionary Committee, RF Williams, actually "won" the motorcycle joust that determines the leadership position not by dislodging his opponents, Salty and the Countess of Flame, fairly, using the traditional jousting pole, rather by deploying his ever-handy Glock G26 Semi-auto pistol, whom he fondly refers to as "Nikolai".

An investigation is probably underway. Meanwhile, Chair Williams was quoted as saying, somewhat cryptically, "Just eat your cookies."





And now for something actually useful!


Here is a handy guide for leftie radicals (and others) who want to make better use of the media.


GUERILLA GUIDE TO THE MEDIA

1) Make media a priority.

Radicalism and effectiveness are not alternative strategies. Sometimes it's better to be "under the radar". But an effective campaign means making media engagement a priority. Whether it's a military mobilization, promoting the Co-op, recruiting in general, promoting candidates or whatever, it's good to put media at the center of planning from the beginning.

2) Choose the right media.

Who are you trying to influence? In eRep itself, there's basically 3 types of media: newspaper articles and comments on article, the in-game feeds, and personal messages. In the meta-sphere, there are the USA forums and USA discord, as well as the SFP forum and discord. There's also the possibility to use other types of internet-based media, like Youtube, streaming platforms, web pages and so on. For achieving a particular goal, a targetted message can be more effective than mass media.

3) Offer news.

Something is news when it is new. Opinions are not news, although one can make them into news. A survey that shows how many countries have various types of communal, socialist or anarcho-syndialist business or production models, for example, might make a better headline than one that just basically preaches the benefits of such systems. An interview is an event that can be news, as well as a way to convey opinion.

4) Have a clear message.

Decide what you're calling for and repeat it clearly and concisely. Avoid the tempatation to be wander off into tangents or trivialities. Try to relate the story you're telling to the everyday concerns of players. Speak calmly and appeal to common understandings. Radical ideas can appear not only sensible, but even obvious.

5) Watch your timing.

This can be tricky in eRep, but fun too. If publishing an article, think about the time zone(s) of the country where you're pushing it. Alot more players are on during the weekends, so you may want to make a bigger "splash" during those days. Consider both "the morning crowd" and "the late night crowd" -- shouts on the in-game feeds, and the meta-forums and chat channels, can be an effective way to "echo" something to these different audiences. What else is going on? If the country just got invaded, then the media is likely to be swamped with "ZOMG! We've been invaded!" stories. So you might want to wait for a calmer moment so as not to get pushed off the Top 5 news queue too quickly. But if there's been a bunch of exercises in boredom lately, that's a good time to publish a zinger.

6) Engage others and echo your message.

Every writer does book tours! Have a nice healthy friends list so that your game-feed shouts will get some traction. Post a link to the article or whatever in the forums and chat channels. PM your frieds about it. Get the message out about your message. If you think somebody would be particularly interested in the article (or a forum post if the audience is more targeted), send them a friendly message encouraging them to check it out.

7) Build contacts.

Follow up with people who made honest comments on your articles or postings, even if you may disagree with them. Support other leftist and progressive media and causes. Seek out people who like to write "general news" or "interesting story" type of articles. If you're concise, reliable and give them good stories, they'll eventually be contacting you to see what's up or for your comments.

😎 Keep it human.

A story about a single person who benefitted from joining a Co-op is engaging. A general statement that Co-ops help increase production is basically a statistic. Making stories human makes it harder for reactionaries, oppressors and other cumsplat numpties to dismiss them as unworkable or to play games with purely ideological retorts.

9) Make it visual.

A good image can make or break your chances of coverage. Learn how to use the /[img/] tag. Keep in mind that scaling images to fit makes article easier to load. So try to find images that are around 300 px wide, more or less, and use Gimp or Photoshop or whatever to scale them as needed. A little text formatting doesn't hurt either. Break up the text into readable chunks. White space is your friend. Use sub-titles both to reinforce your message and break up a wall of text.

10) Keep going!

Media is hard work, especially when you're new to it or not used to writing or publishing. Don't give up! Like with anything else, the more you do, the more you'll improve. The more contacts you acquire, the better your material will be. It will be worth it when you see the votes and subscriptions and comments piling up and you start making new connections due to your writing.

11) Join the Writers Guild.

Gnilraps has recently revived the tradition of a "Writers Guild". This is a non-partisan club that helps aspiring writers find a style and voice, encouraging each other, sharing tips and guidelines. Reach out to Gnil if you want to join. The SFP also has channels on its Discord and sub-topics on its forums where you can post ideas, questions, drafts and tips. See the /#mutual-media and /#freedom-writers channels, for example.