Newspaper Club sneaks into alpha - this is going to be amazing

One of the most potentially amazingly powerful projects from 4iP has sneaked out a bit - Newspaper club (Disclosure: they sponsored opentech earlier this year, but NC wasn't discussed as far as I'm aware).

One of the projects locally that i've started doing a bit of work with is a Manchester volunteer newspaper (the MULE). They look at a variety of things that aren't getting covered in other media - in terms of local newspapers, the only thing really left focussing inside the M60 is the Manchester Evening News), and that's extremely cosy with the council.
They'd never think of looking at something like this: Closed doors at the council.

The main issue with printing anything is that the first copies are very expensive, and soon after that the cost can come down to roughly the cost of the paper it's printed on. But doing 2 editions of 5000 copies is nearly double the cost of 1 edition of 10,000.

Now, in the MULE's single paper edition (latest PDF here that story is buried on page 5, but what would happen if MULE could upload a custom PDF with that story on page 1, and get a small run printed cheaply, and then distribute that version at the door to the town hall on the evening of a council meeting. What impact would that have on the council and it's level of belief in democracy and transparency (and quite frankly, there's only one way that it can easily go). And if that doesn't work, what happens if it gets handed out on the street in the contested wards in the week before an election.

Or what happens if it is possible to have the story about Beetham Tower using illegal wood on the front page of the version that went in every post box in that building, and the (numerous) other big buildings owned by the same company? Both those that have been built (the people who pay rent), and those that are under planning discussions (when small spanners can jam up works pretty easily). it only takes one person to have read the article and raise it, to start a process of change.

Newspapers became popular for a reason; and large parts of that reason haven't changed. The business models have; the methods of distribution have. But that's an opportunity, as well as a threat.

There are many local papers like MULE out there, the internet has let them publish online for a long time, but the big problem with hyperlocal is getting people to find out about it. Newspapers have been solving that problem for a long time by putting it through people's front doors on a regular basis with something worth reading. Mixing the two will have dramatic impact.

Online is of course vital, but offline can get people there, and get people to make things better.

Manchester Withington, and "the infighting is so vicious as the stakes are so low."

I've talked previously about doing something about constructive engagement in my constituency of Manchester, Withington.
In the 2005 election, it was won by the local students getting out to/the vote, and engaging and winning on something close to the merits of an argument and the issues.
But is it no longer more important to be right than it is to win?


The current crop of young, local LibDem activists seems to have mostly studied at the Rovian School of Racing to the Bottom. That may not be that much of a surprise given average 2nd year undergrad today (ie the engaged undergraduates locally) will have only been 12 during the 2000 US election, and only 9 in 1997. Some of the stuff Gordon Brown is doing nationally has potentials. That kind of debate is likely to be all they will have ever seen. What the effects of that are within the next 5 or so years, will be interesting. As with many things, while the high level impacts matter to most people, the longer view results will be based on the impact that type of attack-ad politics has on the children.


Previously, it's been a matter of pride amongst my (generally older) LibDem friends that they "just don't do that sort of thing" (the kind of comment where the phrase "old chap" wouldn't be out of place); it would appear that the future may not be quite so bright.


What impact will that have on Manchester Withington, where the activists in a year or two are even more likely to have been brought up on this tactic, and whether that will suit the kind of constructive engagement which makes for a good debate, but not an easy win.


Or will they learn the right lesson, that the politics of hope, exemplified by Obama in the US at the moment, can come over here, and pull the debate to something where substance wins over style?