Newspaper Mission Statement?

[TunApocalypse]

Not sure how everyone else feel about this, but while we're rebooting the newspaper I think it's important to figure out what exactly we're trying to do with it.

 

For example:

 

What kind of articles will we be writing?                      (How serious do we want this to be? Will we only report on significant game related events? Are we targeting the world, or just TWP?)

What other content will there be?                               ("ads", cartoons, advice columns, letters to the editor, classifieds, etc.)

How frequently do we want to put out a publication?  (weekly, monthly, bi monthly, quarterly, etc.)

How do stories get written?                                         (submissions, dedicated journalists who have to submit a story for each publication, both, something else?)

 

I'd really like to see this take off and do well, and I feel that gettting this stuff figured out is key to the newspaper's success.

As a side note, I'd like to help out with the paper but don't believe I'll have enough time to dedicate to writing articles or anything, but I'd me more than glad to serve as a proofreader if need be.

[Big Bad Badger]

I think this is a great idea! I would like to explore this. Zogradia has begun to explore the first issue and some focus would probably help greatly!

Any ideas?

[Mediobogdum]

Issue frequency is always a hard one to agree on.  I would suggest to start out that bi-monthly would be a good periodicity. Ideas are very often easy to come by for the first few issues but things tend to 'dry up' thereafter and undue pressure is brought to bear upon editors, writers, etc to produce good quality articles, and the staff has a tendency to become disillusioned, and leave.

 

As for content and structure, the Dass Nachrichten team did a great job for the single issue and maybe you should tap into their thoughts and add those to your own.  The overall format was good although there was a need for better proof reading of the BBcode because we had a few 'bloopers'

 

One thing that we must include, is pictures.  Our last publication, although it had good content and a good banner, lacked visual impact as it was all text.

[Big Bad Badger]

I really like the idea of bi-monthly!  If something really big or exciting comes up and others want to contribute then we could have a special edition.  I also think that we can keep it brief.  It could be more of a Christmas newsletter (god I hate those) or a bulletin rather than a newspaper. 

 

It might be nice to hear from the Delegate or Guardians every issue.  Even if it was only a couple hundred word address to the peeps.  It could become a regular feature!  Forum government can contribute also.

 

I like the idea of an issues section.  It could be cut and pasted from our forum with some addition from our issues expert.

 

As I've read some of the newspapers other regions have, I'm frequently bored with the articles.  So often they are about people or events that are meaningless to me.  I think if we are going to talk about people or events it should be done in a uniquely TWP fashion...snark filled!

 

Funny RMB quotes?

 

BREIF explanations of various traditions found in NS might be fun.  Like our karaoke or The Pacific's stat posting.  

 

Just a few ideas...

[Mediobogdum]

Karaoke: suggest you ask Yy if he could write something about its history, the "rules", and embed one or two songs for every edition?

 

How about a series on "How did you become involved in NS" -starting with an interview of the Old Guard and then the New Guard?

 

What about a series done by the Polandball group with sketches/skits of TWP characters?

That's 3 different regular topics that should keep somebody busy for a while

[Big Bad Badger]

1. Love it!

[Mediobogdum]

From TWP Regional Message Board: a post by Mediobogdum

Thanks to all TWP nations that voted in the Regional Poll for the new name for our Regional Newspaper Here are the results of the poll:

 

The West Pacifican 45 votes
Ye Olde Snarkee 30 votes
The Snarky Times 14 votes
The Snarky Sun 4 votes
The Weird Pacific Sun 2 votes
The West Pacific Snark

 

So, it's now over to Big Bad Badger and Zogradia to get the first issue of The West Pacifican out

[Zogradia]

As DA of the press, I say we could have some not-so-serious news, along with a couple serious stories. I think roleplay might also be a good idea, like "Plane crash in Fujai's largest airport" or "Zogradi capital faces flooding".

 

Maybe we could invite other nations to write the roleplay stories.

[Zogradia]

Also, I've been thinking about releasing the newspaper just after Halloween, like November 1st or 2nd, just so we can include Z-4, and also so I can get everything else together. Opinions?

[TunApocalypse]

A November 1st Z-4 issue would definitely be ambitious, the newspaper staff would have to work through the night to have an issue ready in time. We could definitely get an article together about TWP's purge experiment (if we go through with it). Do we have enough material prepared/planned to justify a full release on the 1st or 2nd? Perhaps we can release it as a Z-4 Special Edition?

[Zogradia]

I haven't gotten anything submitted to me yet, so I'm not sure how much material we have.

[Malviet]

Anyways, is there any newspaper staff currently available? If not, Zogradia could write up a recruitment telegram and ask Badger to send it region-wide.

[Zogradia]

Actually, I think I'll do that, but I'll probably wait until after Z4 begins and everyone set their nations to "cure".