mp->> How is the SchNews crew organized?

Will->> We always say we're a disorganization, really.

Jack->> I think that's bollocks, though. I had a chat with a guy from Scotland on Sunday, right, he was going, "Disorganization!" I was like, "We put a weekly newsletter out, on the web, it gets distributed everywhere, if that's disorganized....!"

mk->> So you just work it out on a day-to-day basis in terms of getting things done, the tasks that need to happen? Do people volunteer to do it?

Jack->> We have regular training days once every couple of months. We try and get people involved that way, chat to people about the way SchNews is written. And then, ask people what they're interested in, because there's loads of different jobs in the office. And if they need to email, then Ray can show them how to do it. But I think a lot of people come to training days just to see what it's all about.

Ray->> A lot of people who write for SchNews, it's friends and stuff as well. You know, sometimes someone will know quite a bit about a story, and they'll come in and do the front page or something. Informal, basically.

mk->> Is it somewhat an amorphous crew of people writing for it? People coming and going, or do you have a sort of solid core?

Amy->> This is probably the core at the moment.

Jack->> Yeah, there's people that come in every week, and then other people just pop in and write. Or, if there's stories say like the Kosovo stuff, I know someone who's very clued up on the history of Yugoslavia. And they write the whole of that. And June the 18th, we'll have someone who's really involved in it write the front page. Wednesday's the day. Well, Ray come in earlier in the week and go through emails. And Wednesday's the day me and Amy's been coming in, and other people been coming in, and we just pick stories. There's a forward planner. But by talking to people at festivals on Saturday I sort of had a good idea of what we'd do the front page on this week. Then, little things'll happen, like this guy rung up about Jonathan Aitken, ex-Tory, just got out of prison. Basically, he's going straight to Ford Open Prison, all the rich people who get nicked go to Ford Open Prison, so he's doing a real piss-take on that. So you just chat to people and pick things up. And then, Gibby from the Big Issue, I chatted to him today and he gave me some stories and I gave him some stories. Then there's about, oh God, how many magazines do we get a week? Stupid amounts.

Ray->> Very, very, very many.

Jack->> Yeah, I try and whiz through all the magazines just to look at the stories.

Ray->> We're not so stupid as to think we could do a multi-page thing every week, although we have the information for it.

Jack->> I think that's why it survived, because it's two sides of A4 paper and that's manageable.

Amy->> Yeah. You're right.

Will->> If we started giving people a whole load of stuff they just might be like, "Oh no."

Jack->> We'd also be dead, we'd be here 'til five in the morning. The other thing is, like last week we were dropping stories that were probably more important than the ones we kept in. But the ones we kept in were funny, and we were going to Strawberry Fair. So, we put it in pink, right, for Strawberry Fair. We put the J18 Carnival thing on the front page, and I'm sure later I was giving it out to some people, and people was thinking it's programs. Then you have the crap arrest on the back, there's a few stupid stories, and there's the heavy stuff. So you think about June the 18th, in my head I've got ideas for stories that we could put, if we give it out to business men, or stuff like that, where they could read that bit. So you are targeting people for what events are coming up. Glastonbury we'll have a double-issue on all the dates of festivals and protest camps. You've got lots of seventeen year old people going their first time ever, going, "Wow!" And you give them something like that. That's why I went to anarcho-punk gigs, and people sold me fanzines, and I just went, "Fucking hell, man, I never thought about that, never thought about that."

Amy->> It's true, when I went to festivals when I was fifteen, in the counter-culture. Somebody gives you a leaflet, and you say, "That's just what I've been thinking about!"

Jack->> "I've just been going to a Stop the City, and wow, they're slagging off cars." They'll be like, "I never thought about it, cars are bad." That is the one problem with political people, they expect everyone to come on their level. And you've gotta remember where you were coming from as you were getting involved in things.

Amy->> And also that there's no point in preaching to the converted, you've gotta get out there and give it to people that wouldn't normally be reading this kind of stuff.

Jack->> Yeah, totally. I'd say we probably get more grief from politicos, full-on politicos, about what we write than anyone else. But we don't need to convert them. What's the point?

Ray->> Why quote Bakunin when you can quote an actual activist who's been there and done it? They're gonna be more inspired by hearing something from their peers, who come from a similar background.

Jack->> Or, some fucking anarchist theoretical bollocks that I just didn't understand, you know? There's loads of it I read, I just think, "I don't understand this. I'm involved in all this, and I don't know what they're going on about!"

mk->> What kind of organizing strategies do you think would work, then? Are there specific tactics?

Jack->> You should make your protest relevant to the local people. I've been reading quite a lot of the Ontario Poverty Action Group, and the stuff they're doing there, and that's just ordinary people, and what they're doing is showing ordinary people, "What if we do this?" Little direct actions where they've been making successes, and then people want to get involved. And ordinary people say, "Fucking hell, yeah, I'm up for that." There's a little thing here called Kemptown Network, which has got all the local people chatting, all different ages, just to sort out basic things. So, this idea of all of us travelling all around the country like amazing eco-warriors is bullshit, it's total bullshit. That's just good for people's egos to be on telly with their mandolins, but it's fucking totally unsustainable. And that's why the mass things like Newbury have died out. You just need local people.

 

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• Big Issue
  Excellent weekly news magazine sold by the homeless as a means of self-employment. An independent and critical voice focusing on issues of economic and political justice, and on cultural and media commentary.
  
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• Strawberry Fair
  One of the oldest & largest free festivals in England, dating back to the Middle Ages. Rocking music, tons of food, dancing, crafts, crazy people, performances & much more. Definitely worth a visit if you're in or about Cambridge on or about the first or second Saturday in June. Completely independent & non-profit, all volunteer-run.
  
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• Ontario Coalition Against Poverty
  Canadian coalition engaged in Direct Action Casework to defend and support people suffering the effects of welfare cuts. An OCAP activist says: "At every point Ontario Coalition Against Poverty is looking for the very best way available to engage the enemies of the unemployed, to cause them pain, to hurt their cash flow, or disrupt their workings and, in this way, force concessions out of them." Their tactics have included occupying welfare offices, picketing the homes of irresponsible and unprofessional welfare managers, disrupting business lunches, taking over an empty hospital and demanding that the city council turn it into a homeless hostel, and fighting off police attempts to remove homeless people sleeping in a park. A series of specific, small battles has been won with great success, and the group has been growing in numbers and influence.
  
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• Kemptown Network
  Founded in 1998, this is a Brighton-area bunch of community-oriented people working together make good things happen. Their newsletter, Kemptown Networker, features short informative descriptions of local organizations, postings of meetings and events, calls for ideas and volunteers, and phone numbers for various local services and resources. Groups mentioned in the February 1999 issue included Hindu women's and elders' groups, a youth network, a support and advocacy group for people with learning disabilities, a rehearsal space for bands and studio space for artists, a women's co-op, and a space which provides temporary accommodation for young homeless women.
  
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