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Create media
Make your own media and get your voice heard!
Creating your own media can be a great way to build support, develop a strong team and make people aware of your group and cause.
Advances in technology have now made it easier than ever to develop your own local media. It can be an exciting challenge to set up your own website or produce a newsletter or magazine. It doesn’t have to look like Hot Press or The Irish Times. What’s more important is the information that you are getting out to people through your own independent media.
DO’s
- Decide what type of media you want to create, i.e. website, blog, magazine, video, newsletter, etc.
- Come up with a catchy name for your media.
- Make sure everyone in your group are given tasks they can contribute to with their own skills and interests such as technical/computer skills, writing articles, taking photos, design and layout, editing, and someone to take a main organiser’s role.
- If your group needs extra help or advice then put the word out in your school, college or local area.
- It is important that everything you decide to publish is double checked for accuracy and truth and get your facts right. If you publish false information either accidentally or on purpose it will discredit your cause.
- Set yourself achievable goals and come up with a launch date for your independent website/print media.
- Try and get everyone involved in promoting and distributing your local independent media. Ask bookshops, cafes, doctors’ surgeries and community groups etc. to take a few copies.
- If you are confident that the issues you are tackling in your media are important and need to be expressed, then it’s worth asking community and youth groups or responsible business for funding in return for an acknowledgement of support or an advertisement.
Consider
- Try and get a balance of serious and light-hearted news. Why not aim for a few solid news stories and then add stuff like reviews, jokes, cartoons, music and film reviews and some whacky facts?
- Try and get a balance of writers, techies, photographers, an editor and support team together to share the challenge.
- How long are the group willing to commit to your ‘Indy media’? For example you may want to produce six newsletters over six months to highlight issues and support a campaign or to agree to run a website for a year.
- Look for inspiration from your own heritage and history and use it as a positive force for your cause.
- Will it be distributed for free or for a fee to cover your costs and expenses?
- It can be expensive to produce a print newsletter or zine with a printing firm. Unless you have sponsorship or an advertising strategy, it's more practical to find a community group which is willing to let you use their photocopier.
- You may want to sell print media for 50c or €1, depending on its quality to cover your costs. Select someone to look after sales and buy a small notebook to keep records.
- Remember, independent media is an important way to highlight issues that the mainstream media ignore or refuse to report on. By becoming your own media you can help make a real difference and inform those around you.
Make media with SpunOut.ie! Voice your opinions and get published on anything from volunteering to the cost of public transport to what’s hot in the music charts! Express your artistic side by emailing us articles, reviews, artwork, photos, mini-videos, poetry and fiction. See the Get Involved section for more information.
