This is x-posted in the Merrimack Valley Forum....Kat/Russ, please move/nix whichever one you would like. I x-posted because I thought there might be people with good advice for us who might not be in our area and therefore may not be checking that board!
Hello Liberty Lovers!
After much discussion and thinking and beer and spilled bourbon....it has occurred to us Manchvegas Rebels that a Newspaper for our area is going to be instrumental in rallying our neighbors and community members to our cause. The paper would be a lot like the Keene Free Press and if Kat and Russ agree to it, might even have some of the same stories.
The goal of the Manchester Paper would be to engage Manchester Citizens in discussion leading to action focused on very small local liberty/rights/laws related issues. We want to be more effective in aiding Citizens in our area, using baby steps, to get on the road to advocating for themselves/families/neighbors more often and in more effective ways.
Kat...you said something to me at the DES Protest that has stuck in my head. You said that a lot of people are just scared and that those people would have an easier time standing up and saying "I've had enough, get off my back you crazy gov't!" if they saw other people standing up first...well, this is our attempt and showing people that someone else is pissed but that we're doing more than grumbling and that we'd like them to join us in doing something more than grumbling!
A break down of some things we have discussed in the way of content:
~ Local stories to do with citizens/issues that matter to people in our neighborhoods.
~ Regular notices advising Citizens of what is going on in their local gov't. (Budget meetings they could attend, decisions that are being made, elections, etc.)
~ Articles containing information about some of what we do, FSP stuff, etc.
Basically, we're trying to distribute a paper that appeals to folks who are in our area, but outside our movement. Those people who may see us holding signs and think to themselves "What are these crazy people doing!"...we want to put a friendly, easier to swallow, face to this movement...we want to bring more citizens into this way of thinking, give them an outlet, a place to go to say "I'm so mad that they're trying to make me rent my dog from them, what can I do?". I think they believe that this movement is not for them because they only hear of such polarizing issues as the Browns, etc...we want to show them that, no, it's more than that....it's about the bullshit that is going on right outside their front doors...you know?
Rob had a great idea at Murphy's last night....he suggested that starting this off as an insert in the Hippo might be the way to go...I have to say that sounds good to me! If we could get them to agree to that, it might make it a lot easier to start this thing up as far as distribution, printing, etc....I don't know. We'll have to see what they would agree to, what their terms would be, etc. We already know that it would increase their circulation as we have a group of people (us) who would already be interested in viewing this insert, also I know of, and a couple of other folks suggested, a few businesses who wouldn't mind advertising in the Hippo if we were going to have a spot in it, so....we'll see, but that sounds like a good avenue to explore.
Empowering citizens to make changes and advocate for their rights in their own life with their own efforts. That, in a nut shell, is the goal here...so we're starting from a good place. If we can get citizens to start thinking like citizens and seeing themselves as a body of people in charge of the way things run in their city...well, that's great.
So....now the hard part! I have the energy and (sort of) the time to get this up and running. What I have:
~ A great concept.
~ Great ideas
~ IT help and Proof-reading
What I need:
~ Advice from Kat and Russ!
~ Someone who would be willing to spend some time with me in doing "homework" on the Hippo and then going to speak with them with me.
~ ANY advice about layout, etc. when it comes to this sort of thing.
~ Just advice in general.
Anyone who would be willing to help would be much appreciated. If you can give a lot of time, a tiny bit of help in patches or even just a little help over the phone...we would appreciate it. Even if all you can give is encouragement....we need it! Anyone with any experience in this sort of small publication stuff...please, any tips you have, etc. would be great.
As we get our feet planted here and have a stronger clue as to what we need, I'll be able to post more specifics needs and things like that. If you are interested, post here or PM me... ;)
This is very exciting and wonderful and I think a good step in the right direction. Please, help us shape this; give us you ideas and even OPINIONS! That's right....even if you have no intentions of helping, but want to throw in your two cents about our ideas....go for it!
Thanks a lot,
Natalie.
(A.K.A: Girl who likes to bite off more than she can chew!)
P.S: Names??? What are you guys thinking??
Manchester Liberty Rag
Manchester Citizens News
I don't know....something good!
I think this is a great idea!
Why not continue with a common theme in regards to the name: "Manchester Free Press" ?
I have decent writing skills, so if I could contribute in some way, let me know. Also, I hope the paper has a "spotlight" section where we would pick a local politician or quasi-celebrity figure who is doing something good or bad and we could make a big deal out of it (i.e. Chris Pappas or whatever-his-name-is from the Democrat party who basically called Republicans criminals due to their hosting a machine gun shoot).
I agree that Manchester Free Press is excellent, but I do enjoy using the name Manchvegas for Manchester.. maybe it would alienate an older audience and I know your looking to attract a mainstream audience -- but we could do some thinking about something just a little more edgy like......
Manchvegas Lowdown or something more fuzzy like Manchester Community Message, or something that makes the reader think they are getting the inside scoop...like Manchester Watch...
Thoughts to consider.....
I like the name Manchester Free Press. It sounds good and is easily remembered.
I am not a newspaper advertising expert, and I think you should look into it as an option, but you're going to be paying ad rates for any inserts in the Hippo.
You'd be much better off taking that money and investing in printing and distributing your own paper, instead of helping your competitor's bottom line.
1. Get quotes from printers. (I'm sure whoever is printing the Keene Free Press will give you a fair quote.)
2. Secure distribution locations: convenience stores, bars, restaurants, and anywhere else you see free publications distributed.
3. Decide on your printing schedule. The Keene Free Press used to be biweekly; it is now once per month.
4. Gather content / Secure advertisers
5. Print / Distribute
How about a compromise and use Manch Free Press?
Personally, I think Manchvegas Lowdown is a good idea, but whatever...
I think this is a great idea. I was thinking the same thing a few days ago when I read one of Kat's articles from KFP. Manchester needs something similar. I have some writing abilities to contribute but, having only lived in NH for less than two years, I'm not too ingrained into the NH/Manchvegas culture yet. I like the idea of starting it as an insert in the Hippo. Another idea would be to do something similar to the "Daily Buzz." I think that's what it's called . . . have you ever seen it? Julien's Restaurant on Bridge St. always has this one-page (front and back) publication that highlights local news, quirky national news, etc. They're in a display box and you can pick them up and they're the perfect size to read during lunch or breakfast.
Also, I think I have some connections who could print in bulk for us. They're located in Boston though. Oh . . .and I have very very basic, limited design experience.
I like Manchester Free Press.
Quote from: Quantrill on August 01, 2007, 02:09 PM NHFT...a local politician or quasi-celebrity figure who is doing something good or bad and we could make a big deal out of it (i.e. Chris Pappas or whatever-his-name-is from the Democrat party who basically called Republicans criminals due to their hosting a machine gun shoot).
Is Chris Pappas still in the legislature? I remember him from the early 1980s. A Portsmouth radio station I often listened to played a tape of him saying, "That bill is like a bad pizza. Everytime you think you got it down, it keeps coming back up." The party he was a member of back then was actually the
Democratic Party.
Quote from: Quantrill on August 01, 2007, 02:26 PM NHFT
How about a compromise and use Manch Free Press?
That would certainly make a better/alternate URL for the website.
This is an especially good idea, as both papers can syndicate content back and forth, making aggregating content for publication much easier.
Once you've decided on a name, you should decide on the URL and register that ASAP.
I get a kick out of reading New Hampshire's incumbent "paper of record" when I visit New Hampshire a few times a year. A typical front page might include an article on a minor league baseball team, the results of some local tomato growing contest and a preview of what rock band will be playing next at the Civic Center. And even though they try to act like Aerosmith's fan magazine, I have never seen them report the New Hampshire connection of bass player Brad Whitford, who camped at Swain's Lake Park (Union Lake, on your maps) in the early 1960s. We used to fish for "kibbys" using hotdogs for bait.
The only recurring story I remember having seen reported in the Union Leader in this century that might pass for "investigative journalism" is the one about some contract for a private company to furnish pizza to the school cafeterias. I think I've seen that reported on about half a dozen times over the last few years.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I miss Bill Loeb.
Get it while its hot! About 35 years ago, a friend of mine was setting up a restaurant and had chosen a name for it. One weekend, an uncle of his went vacationing and met someone else in the restaurant business whose restaurant, it turned out, sported that same exact name. He then told that restraunteur that his nephew was opening up a restaurant with the same name.
On Monday morning, the uncle was back in town and told my friend that he had met someone who had a restaurant with the same name. My friend immediately jumped in his car and drove to Concord to register the name, but by the time he got there (1 hr drive), he learned that the other guy had shown up first thing that morning and already registered the name. True story.
I just bought it... now it will cost you $30... just kidding. :icon_pirat:
Disclaimer: I am not in the newspaper business.
Ideas: Print weekly. People want active news. People want now. With the internet, even weekly is slow. If you go once a month, I think you'll get less traction (yes, I'm aware costs will be higher).
Start as a newsletter? Unless you can get funding for a real newspaper-like print, perhaps it's a one-page front and back newsletter. Then you can sell ads to support it (I'll buy one). As the ad income increases, you can expand the paper to be a folded two-page, for 4 pages of print.
Full-color is flashy, but expensive.
Perhaps start with a mailing list as well -- people who want to get their regular weekly fix. Perhaps start with free subscriptions (like the pros do), with billing a very small rate for home delivery (after the completely free sample period).
Get regular features and not-regular. People will like reading what "Crazy Dada" has to say each week.
If you print pictures, only print top-quality photos -- low quality photos will kill the appearance.
Respond to readers -- a local here has a "Beep" section where readers call a phone and leave a message at the beep -- and the paper prints the messages they receive verbatim.
I hope this works out and expands!!!
We now own manchfreepress.com -- my first donation to the project. ;D
Quote from: Rosie the Riveter on August 01, 2007, 06:49 PM NHFT
We now own manchfreepress.com -- my first donation to the project. ;D
Beat me by ten minutes. ;) I grabbed manchfreepress.net and *.org so no one tries to squat on these other TLDs. We can redirect them to the *.com site once it's set up.
Rosie:—You might want to change your registration to two or more years. I remember reading on some SEO site that Google scores against one-year registrations because it's how most flyby spammers register their domains. I always go for 2+ years from the outset.
RattyDog:—Are you planning to incorporate? We should probably transfer all three domains over to the corporation if so.
Great!! Thanks Jeremy, you're smart....and I'll upgrade to 2 year after I get the kids to bed...
Quote from: RattyDog on August 01, 2007, 10:39 AM NHFTThe paper would be a lot like the Keene Free Press and if Kat and Russ agree to it, might even have some of the same stories.
I think they believe that this movement is not for them because they only hear of such polarizing issues as the Browns, etc
You can use all of our original stories and can probably get permission to rerun basically everything we use. Even big name people have OKed us printing their stuff.
If you cover local politics, you will be considered a "polarizing" newspaper.
Quote from: RattyDog on August 01, 2007, 01:51 PM NHFT
If no one posts any objection to this name by the end of the week...we'll call the paper: Manchester Free Press!
It is pretty simple ... and it has only had a good connotation for people.
I do like Manchvegas Insider or similar too.
Ratty, I spent two years as second-in-command at a biweekly college paper, and a year doing their layout. I've got a bit of experience at the amateur level in this. You should be getting an e-mail from me in the next half-hour or so :)
Quote from: Braddogg on August 01, 2007, 09:33 PM NHFT
Ratty, I spent two years as second-in-command at a biweekly college paper, and a year doing their layout. I've got a bit of experience at the amateur level in this. You should be getting an e-mail from me in the next half-hour or so :)
Yea Braddogg -- thanks for the quick response -- here is a slice of the pie :pizza:
liberty wookie love this idea and likely to participate
Quote from: Rosie the Riveter on August 01, 2007, 10:18 PM NHFT
Quote from: Braddogg on August 01, 2007, 09:33 PM NHFT
Ratty, I spent two years as second-in-command at a biweekly college paper, and a year doing their layout. I've got a bit of experience at the amateur level in this. You should be getting an e-mail from me in the next half-hour or so :)
Yea Braddogg -- thanks for the quick response -- here is a slice of the pie :pizza:
:) I'm really excited about the possibilities contained in this thread! Thanks again for bringing it to my attention.
http://altexpo.org/local_paper Notes I made on starting a paper.
Quote from: Ogre on August 01, 2007, 06:41 PM NHFT
Ideas: Print weekly. People want active news. People want now. With the internet, even weekly is slow. If you go once a month, I think you'll get less traction (yes, I'm aware costs will be higher).
Even weekly you can't keep up with "news".... that is what Gore invented the internet for.
It would be cool if you guys set up a website .... filled it with content ... and then started kicking out print versions. Manchester already has 3 free weekly papers so people are used to that format. Yours could just be different. :)
Quote from: Russell Kanning on August 02, 2007, 07:39 AM NHFT
Quote from: Ogre on August 01, 2007, 06:41 PM NHFT
Ideas: Print weekly. People want active news. People want now. With the internet, even weekly is slow. If you go once a month, I think you'll get less traction (yes, I'm aware costs will be higher).
Even weekly you can't keep up with "news".... that is what Gore invented the internet for.
Yeah, weekly may be very difficult to pull off. I would start slow.
It's so cool that this topic is starting up just as I arrive in the Merrimack Valley area! I definately want to help in some way.
Er...........maybe you could provide cartoons ;D The primere edition could have Thomas Jefferson with his feet up in the stirrups, giving birth to The Manchfreepress.
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 09:05 AM NHFT
This is going to rock! I SOOOOO want to quit my day job in this moment!! Argh.
Patience. It may be awhile, but I would like to see Liberty Media like this become profitable for their creators someday.
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 10:37 AM NHFT
most of the worlds problems are caused by greed
Only when Government gets involved.
If you haven't read it... well, consider it a MIST READ. Besides, it'll get you off the forum for awhile ;)
Atlas Shrugged (http://www.amazon.com/Atlas-Shrugged-Ayn-Rand/dp/0452011876/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-3166125-6201265?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186069472&sr=8-1)
All Good! ;D
Quote from: FTL_Ian on August 02, 2007, 08:05 AM NHFT
Quote from: Russell Kanning on August 02, 2007, 07:39 AM NHFT
Quote from: Ogre on August 01, 2007, 06:41 PM NHFT
Ideas: Print weekly. People want active news. People want now. With the internet, even weekly is slow. If you go once a month, I think you'll get less traction (yes, I'm aware costs will be higher).
Even weekly you can't keep up with "news".... that is what Gore invented the internet for.
Yeah, weekly may be very difficult to pull off. I would start slow.
I agree here. It'll look a lot better if we start slow and
expand after a few months, rather than end up having to slow down because we don't have enough time to devote to it.
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 11:02 AM NHFT
I am not happy that "Freedom Fighting" doesn't pay well! Well, at least it doesn't pay well monetarily....but I feel very rich in spirit and happiness.
WARNING: FIGHTING FOR FREEDOM IS ADDICTIVE!Especially here in NH, where ... holy shit... sometimes we even
win!] :)
Seriously, I feel your predicament. A lot of us do. I spent so much time in the State House the first few months of this year, I cannot honestly say it did not impact my for-pay work. And that's no small sacrifice: I've been working on a project for nearly a decade... I've given up on relationships in the past, because they were interfering with this work. I believe very strongly in what I'm doing in my professional life and I love doing it.
Thank god the legislature is only in full swing a few months out of the year!
Several of the best people I know are going away to (or are already in) college or law school, and as such can't do even a tenth as much as they want to. I say, keep your focus on your education, and come back to us a fully-trained Jedi, ready to fight!
You
have to pace yourself.
You
have to keep your financial shit together.
You will ten times more effective as a financially stable person.
Now focus on your day job and save NHFree for after work!
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 09:01 AM NHFT
You are my new best friend. Help us.....we need face time. Do we care to make a meeting, to try and get as many folks together to discuss this as is possible?? I need to see faces to get visuals when I'm talking to folks about stuff like this. Layout and how to turn articles into a paper is my biggest brain crunch right now....I'm jsut not sure how to do it. What software do we need for this? Braddog, i am checking my email immediately. I'll respond asap.
We could meet sometime this weekend at Murphy's maybe? There's the Merrimack Valley Porcs meeting Saturday morning; I can hang around after that and we could work on this.
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 09:01 AM NHFT
Inc. our "business" might be a good thing and might be a bad thing...is there a better way to set us up? Obviously we won't be making any money at this, so I'm not worried about the tax man or Johnny Law poking us in the eye...but I don't know how "above board and signed up" we want to be...you know? Does anyone know about this?
Incorporating means the company exists as a separate legal entity from any of us. This is important if someone were to sue the paper for libel or slander; it means the company and not any of us personally are responsible ("limited liability"). It also allows the company to transact business (
e.g., renting office space, ordering print runs, ...) in its own name, so if any of us volunteers were to leave the company, said transaction remains with the company and not the volunteer who executed it.
There are different types of corporations we could form; I'll look into this more. The standard C corporation is where you get taxed as a separate entity, then there are LLCs where the taxation is passed through to officers, so any money is just taxed as their own personal income. Then there's the 26 USC 501 stuff we may want to look into, if we're going to be any sort of "non-profit" entity. (This is how the well-known 501(c)(3) charities are organized, but there are other types of non-profits, too.)
Also, if I understand corporate taxation properly (
don't quote me on this yet), if your company makes $0 at the end of the year, you owe no taxes. Corporate taxation isn't based on income alone, it's income minus expenses.
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 09:01 AM NHFT
Thank yo usoooooo much for scooping that up...that is great. Now...who knows anything about setting up a ewb page, or do we not want to focus on that right now? That may be the cheapest and least stressful part of all of this and would give us something...you know? I'm making eyes at Jeremy and Error right now...what can we do with the website, what do you need from me?
I can handle the web setup; let's discuss what we actually want when we meet in person (perhaps this Saturday).
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 11:02 AM NHFT
It's sooo bad Dennis; I am on the phone with applicants and on the forum, I am in a conference call....and checking the forum, I'm barely able to rip myself away to feed myself...I sometimes have two screens up at once!!
Firefox. Then you can have four dozen tabs open at once. ;D
Quote from: d_goddard on August 02, 2007, 11:16 AM NHFT
You have to pace yourself.
You have to keep your financial shit together.
You will [be] ten times more effective as a financially stable person.
I should print this out and post it on my wall, eh Denis? ;)
Catching up after months of underemployment...Rocketman
ratty:
touch base with "dalebert" on this forum if u like. maybe he can build political cartoons for you.
J.J. Luna's 3 rules of starting a business:
1) Start small
2) Never take a business partner
3) Go where the money circulates (i.e. go where the rich people are).
I like the idea of starting the paper online-only at first. It's basically free, and you get a chance to work out some content kinks before you are saddled with the distribution kinks.
The site should have a link called "discussion forum" which points to
http://newhampshireunderground.com/forum/index.php?board=20.0
I will be helping on a spontaneous and intermittent basis; that's how I do everything in this movement.
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 12:33 PM NHFT
Photographer:
We just need a camera, at some point. I don't know...maybe I'll buy one? Anyone have one? Maybe I'll post on Porc Trading post that we need one? I don't have liberty dollars, but I'd be willing to pay cash money...?
We wouldn't need an expensive camera, either. Just an average digital camera would work fine. When I was in Jerusalem, I covered a few events for The Jerusalem Post (#2 English paper in the country) and had pictures printed that I took with my $200 digital camera.
YGM, Ratalie :)
You can count on me for --
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 12:33 PM NHFT
Kate/Rosie: Whip Cracker/Deadline Setter/Motivator
& Chief Sounding Board, Well Wisher, Writer, Donor/Investor, being an editor of the paper is not my ball of wax.. remember I'm working on starting a day school, running exsisting orgs and revolutionizing education in Manchester. ;)
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 12:33 PM NHFT
In the meantime....anyone have thoughts on Jeremy's ideas for incorporation? I run an incorporated business...but we make money and pay (obscene) taxes...so I don't know how it would be for us since we won't be making money. I also have experience in running a 501(c)(3)...it was sweet, but I don't know that it was sweet because it was 501/. You know? So...I don't know.
I currently run three 501(c)3s, one of which I started from scratch (big long time consuming pain in the ass), I also have experience setting up and managing an LLC, a partnership, and a sole proprietorship --
To decide our corporate structure it will take -- thought, research, in-depth discussion and possibly liberty-minded legal consultation. I will research the corporate structure of similar newspapers and come up with the pros and cons of each based on our principles and beliefs. You can assume though that it will take us months to get to that decision point so don't let the corporate structure be a road block to beginning to write and publish online or otherwise.
I am away this weekend, but fill me in on any meetings that may happen this weekend.
I would recommend a face to face meeting with interested individuals within the next two weeks.
If you want to bring even more people in, then perhaps discussing it at Taproom Tuesday would be a very good idea. :)
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 02:31 PM NHFT
My only experience in nonprofit was with an up and running (like clockwork) operation that was supper simple. So, I don't know how hard it is to set one up, not hard, I'd imagine. No one every gave us a hard time.
Setting up a 501c3 is hard and time consuming but do able if that is the route you want to go.
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 02:31 PM NHFT
Don't worry, corporate structure will not be a road block...nothing will be a road block, I'm on fire over this...this is awesome.
Great, I can see that you are an excellent role model and leader!!
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 02:31 PM NHFT
Have fun this weekend Kate and yes, we will fill you in on everything that transpires in your absence. But, with all do respect, Chief Whip Cracker, I really think we need to have a meeting much sooner than two weeks!! I need face time with Braddog immediately....he holds the information we need to get crackin'!
I agree that face time with David is very important and the two if you should meet as soon as possible.
My thought was for a full group meeting with all interested individuals in two weeks -- but fearless leader, you are the boss and should meet with numerous people all the time to keep this ball rolling ;)
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 02:31 PM NHFT
I, once, went through everything I needed to to set up a sole proprietorship...but I don't know if that is much what we're trying to do here, plus....I seem to remember being on the phone with the IRS for a little bit and giving them lots of info and having a pain in the ass time with them at the end of that tax year over something. I'll have to look at my records and see what the problem was....I would hate for us to have any tangles with those folks, especially seeing as we don't see eye to eye with them on a lot of stuff. But....whatever is going to best suit our endeavor...
This is one reason to make sure we do everything above-board, so we don't give them any excuses to harass us through legal technicalities (the "Al Capone" takedown technique).
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 02:31 PM NHFT
People...what are we thinking as far as a meeting of the minds is concerned?? Do we want to just make it Tuesday night so we can keep it simple and meet at Murphy's?
Tuesday's good, or again, this Saturday after the MVP meeting (at Murphy's) if you want to meet sooner.
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 02:16 PM NHFT
My goodness...I knew you were a hot shot but damn... ;D ;)
No, you are right, we don't need anything super 'spensive.....just point, zoom, click....you know.
YGM? What means it? :)
I was only with the Post for a few weeks. They were missing a lot of people on vacation, and I had a few weeks off from classes. My Hebrew skills weren't good enough to be a really effective reporter, though.
YGM = You've Got Mail, as in, I just sent you some :)
Quote from: J'raxis 270145 on August 02, 2007, 03:14 PM NHFT
This is one reason to make sure we do everything above-board, so we don't give them any excuses to harass us through legal technicalities...
what does above-board mean to you?
The government can harass you with the law, just because you are a threat.
good news though ..... we have not heard a peep from the evil government about the Keene Free Press ... other than that members of it read the paper. :)
Yeah.........well ya gut thet fust mendment thing go'in fur ya!
QuoteWriters (Many needed):
Some stories from KFP will run in our paper, we've got more newsworthy items and issues than we know what to do with...there are many talented writers here...submit, submit, submit. Anything you want, if it's a local issue or something that's going on in our state gov't submit it. My HOPE, is that at some point, we will have enough readers that maybe some of them will submit stuff. If you are a person who likes to write about specific stuff...you can even have a fancy title!
Any particular topics for the first couple of issues? Don't know how prolific I'll be, but I'll certainly do what I can. I will most likely need help with a starting point, though. What topics would be good? I don't think we should come off as "radical Libertarians" right off the bat. Maybe a slightly-Conservative bent to everday issues? Even the normal, everyday citizens I've met were up in arms about the seat-belt issue. People who never vote are still conscious of what's going on around them. I love that. We should tap into that. Sooooooooo, everyone name some things we should start writing about.
Also, maybe a tagline for the paper -
By the people, for the people or something similar. That would catch the attention of regular folks who may be interested in a paper that appears to be written by working-class folks as opposed to the mainstream media garbage (and I consider the hippo mainstream as well. Their writing-style and articles are nearly identical to dozens of other "pseudo-alternative" newspapers across the country).
Quote from: Lloyd Danforth on August 02, 2007, 03:50 PM NHFT
Yeah.........well ya gut thet fust mendment thing go'in fur ya!
Whoops! I thought this was a Bumkin area!
Quote from: Russell Kanning on August 02, 2007, 03:41 PM NHFT
Quote from: J'raxis 270145 on August 02, 2007, 03:14 PM NHFT
This is one reason to make sure we do everything above-board, so we don't give them any excuses to harass us through legal technicalities...
what does above-board mean to you?
The government can harass you with the law, just because you are a threat.
Exactly. And we needn't give them extra excuses and openings to come at us through.
Have you read about how they're shutting down gun shops now, because of minutiæ like typos in their paperwork?
Quote from: Quantrill on August 02, 2007, 05:49 PM NHFT
Any particular topics for the first couple of issues? Don't know how prolific I'll be, but I'll certainly do what I can. I will most likely need help with a starting point, though. What topics would be good? I don't think we should come off as "radical Libertarians" right off the bat. Maybe a slightly-Conservative bent to everday issues? Even the normal, everyday citizens I've met were up in arms about the seat-belt issue. People who never vote are still conscious of what's going on around them. I love that. We should tap into that. Sooooooooo, everyone name some things we should start writing about.
This is really what we're going for, yes. A liberty-leaning paper that takes a moderate enough stance such that people won't immediately dismiss us as fringe groups and wackos. Although I wouldn't say "Conservative" because it carries around far too much anti-liberty ideology (
e.g., religious fundamentalism).
Quote from: Quantrill on August 02, 2007, 05:49 PM NHFT
Also, maybe a tagline for the paper - By the people, for the people or something similar.
I like it. ;D
Quote from: J'raxis 270145 on August 02, 2007, 07:35 PM NHFT
Exactly. And we needn't give them extra excuses and openings to come at us through.
Have you read about how they're shutting down gun shops now, because of minutiæ like typos in their paperwork?
They can always find a rule that you have broken. If you keep trying to dot your iiiii and cross your ttttt you will just be on their treadmill.
Quote from: J'raxis 270145 on August 02, 2007, 07:49 PM NHFT
This is really what we're going for, yes. A liberty-leaning paper that takes a moderate enough stance such that people won't immediately dismiss us as fringe groups and wackos.
How about I call you a fringe group now and then you can be free to say what you really mean? :)
If you give in to PC .... then how different are you? What happens when the establishment thinks your paper or article is not "moderate enough"?
Russell as usual you make some great points it will be very interesting to see what structure or lack of structure that the paper ends up with.
btw .... I am happy you guys want to do a paper of some sort. If yours is similar to ours, we will not distribute as much in Manchester .... but if your paper is more mainstream or more political, then we will have to keep infultrating the big city with our backwoods freedom ideas ;D
2 freedom papers in NH! :blob6: We need to celebrate. Is it time for ... a music festival? :cartman:
Hippies!
;D
Quote from: Russell Kanning on August 02, 2007, 08:21 PM NHFT
Quote from: J'raxis 270145 on August 02, 2007, 07:49 PM NHFT
This is really what we're going for, yes. A liberty-leaning paper that takes a moderate enough stance such that people won't immediately dismiss us as fringe groups and wackos.
How about I call you a fringe group now and then you can be free to say what you really mean? :)
If you give in to PC .... then how different are you?
RattyDog explained it best in the initial post:—
Quote from: RattyDog on August 01, 2007, 10:39 AM NHFT
Basically, we're trying to distribute a paper that appeals to folks who are in our area, but outside our movement. Those people who may see us holding signs and think to themselves "What are these crazy people doing!"...we want to put a friendly, easier to swallow, face to this movement...we want to bring more citizens into this way of thinking, give them an outlet, a place to go to say "I'm so mad that they're trying to make me rent my dog from them, what can I do?". I think they believe that this movement is not for them because they only hear of such polarizing issues as the Browns, etc...we want to show them that, no, it's more than that....it's about the bullshit that is going on right outside their front doors...you know?
It's not so much giving in to PC or moderation; it's about trying to get those types over to our cause, slowly, by appealing to them in a manner they'll respond positively to, without turning them off in the process.
Quote from: Russell Kanning on August 02, 2007, 08:50 PM NHFT
btw .... I am happy you guys want to do a paper of some sort. If yours is similar to ours, we will not distribute as much in Manchester .... but if your paper is more mainstream or more political, then we will have to keep infultrating the big city with our backwoods freedom ideas ;D
I actually think it's a great idea to have both, especially if the
Manchester Free Press takes the route we've been describing... it would serve as a sort of stepping stone into the more serious pro-freedom stuff you guys do.
I think that is smart.
Not everyone starts out thinking the govt is evil. Maybe you can show them one step at a time.
Quote from: Dreepa on August 02, 2007, 09:52 PM NHFT
I think that is smart.
Not everyone starts out thinking the govt is evil. Maybe you can show them one step at a time.
Right. It's the same reason I AMP FTL. It's an excellent stepping stone into the meatier parts of liberty.
Yeah, Ian! Get on the ball, here! You're just `soft' liberty. ;D With a little `s'. :icon_pirat:
Quote from: Caleb on August 02, 2007, 10:14 PM NHFT
Yeah, Ian! Get on the ball, here! You're just `soft' liberty. ;D With a little `s'. :icon_pirat:
LOL
Quote from: Russell Kanning on August 02, 2007, 08:50 PM NHFT
If yours is similar to ours, we will not distribute as much in Manchester ....
Wait. Where
do you distribute in Manchester? I don't see anything on here (http://www.keenefreepress.com/mambo/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Itemid=43).
I doubt anything but heartache and paperwork will come of a 501c3 application. It gives washington more control over your paper....if you successfully get thru the lengthy begging process. ask the old free state project leaders what happened when they tried it.
The newspaper I worked for had no troubles with the 501c3 status. Of course, we never took in enough money to warrant any difficult tax filings. Hopefully, the MFP will be rolling in dough and paying her executive officers six-figure salaries by next year, so the tax filings may be a problem ;)
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 01:08 PM NHFT
Quote from: DadaOrwell on August 02, 2007, 12:38 PM NHFT
ratty:
touch base with "dalebert" on this forum if u like. maybe he can build political cartoons for you.
Dada:
I was hoping he would volunteer to do so...he is funny and makes good jokes/cartoons. I'm just trying to be sensitve to asking for too much, I don't want anyone to commit to helping because they think I will be upset if they don't, you know? I jsut want people to have fun with this.
Good grief. Give me time to respond. It's only been a day since I last posted on this thread. I'm just getting around to catching up on it :)
I should be able to manage a cartoon every couple of weeks, I think. I'm also going to be making some cartoons exclusively for a liberty-oriented website soon, but I think I can handle both. That one will be somewhere between monthly and weekly.
We distribute at several large grocery stores in Manchester.
Quote from: J'raxis 270145 on August 02, 2007, 09:04 PM NHFT
It's not so much giving in to PC or moderation; it's about trying to get those types over to our cause, slowly, by appealing to them in a manner they'll respond positively to, without turning them off in the process.
I think people like meaty messages and people that strike the root.
btw .... I am going for liberty in my lifetime. I figure we better get going.
Don't try to mainstream your message so it will have a broader audience. That's a brute-force marketing tactic that only works for established and well-funded large projects. This is a niche paper that will be all the more appealing the more different it is from the other papers out there. Even people who are shocked by the content will be fascinated and drawn to it just to see what "those whackos" are ranting about lately. Then, even as they reject some material for being too outside their well-indoctrinated views, the seed will have been planted. They will be forced to deal with thoughts they've likely never been introduced to. I still give credit to my enlightment to arguments made to me that I rejected outright when I heard them, only to re-think those statements later when presented with more information.
I think the headline on the first edition of the KFP went something like: 'Should New Hampshire Secede?'
Quote from: RattyDog on August 03, 2007, 11:36 AM NHFT
Jeremy:
Email addresses? For example: NBradford@manchfreepress.com - will this be possible? Also...will you be able to make it to TT this coming week...I have lots of questions for you!
Any email addresses @manchfreepress.{com,net,org} will be possible. Other than us owning the domains, nothing's set up yet, but I'll be using a standard SMTP/POP/IMAP server software most likely, so we can be pretty flexible... standard desktop email client access, webmail interface if anyone wants it, ability to forward the mail to your GMail account if you have one (or anywhere else), whatever.
We should discuss all that we want Saturday and/or next Tuesday.
Quote from: RattyDog on August 03, 2007, 11:36 AM NHFT
Everybody:
I will be at Murphys tomorrow @10am, to meet some fot he people at the MVP meeting and get to know more people, if enough MFP people show up, we can have discussion about that, too! It would be nice to have a little face time and share more ideas.
It's apparently at 11:00 (http://newhampshireunderground.com/forum/index.php?topic=342.msg172619#msg172619) this month.
Quote from: RattyDog on August 03, 2007, 11:36 AM NHFT
Our first offical meeting will be Tuesday night @ 7pm...you guessed it, Murphys!! YAY Murphys! I will be prepared for some pretty intense storming of brains...so come with your thinking cap on! This will be a great time for us to bump more ideas around and start talking about content, which, lets face it...we need to talk about!
Our second official MFP meeting will be Saturday, August 11th at Murphys. Braddog will be there with a mockup if all goes as planned and if he is unable to attend, I will still have the mockup, if he is able to email to me...but I do hope that he can make it! This will be very exciting and I hope lots of people can make it.
And we will, of course, be at Murphys on tuesdays any time anyone wants to come...it's really fun.
Anyone with ideas or who just needs to reach me can email me at: rattydogfreedom@hotmail.com, or PM me here.
Thank you very much!
What do you think about setting up forum software like this, and perhaps a Wiki, on the
Manchester Free Press site? It would be easier to use than email or PMs for collaborating and coördinating our efforts. And we don't get interrupted when someone else's database falls on its face. ;)
Quote from: J'raxis 270145 on August 03, 2007, 12:20 PM NHFT
What do you think about setting up forum software like this, and perhaps a Wiki, on the Manchester Free Press site? It would be easier to use than email or PMs for collaborating and coördinating our efforts. And we don't get interrupted when someone else's database falls on its face. ;)
I think that's definately the way to go when organizing a project. So much of it is a consistent recognizable and relatively low maintenance interface that provides a lot of communication potential.
Quote from: RattyDog on August 03, 2007, 02:07 PM NHFT
Would this be something that only we could see?? I don't want to direct anyone tothe site if when they go there the ywill be able to see what we discussed in getting this operation up and running,,,you know?
The Pride High site that's linked in my signature has a section of threads that's only visible to certain people with a certain membership status. I believe you can create threads like that and have public threads where the public can comment on articles and discuss topics and so forth. You could even have threads for things like editorial replies that we could pick quotes from.
Quote from: dalebert on August 03, 2007, 03:26 PM NHFT
Quote from: RattyDog on August 03, 2007, 02:07 PM NHFT
Would this be something that only we could see?? I don't want to direct anyone tothe site if when they go there the ywill be able to see what we discussed in getting this operation up and running,,,you know?
The Pride High site that's linked in my signature has a section of threads that's only visible to certain people with a certain membership status. I believe you can create threads like that and have public threads where the public can comment on articles and discuss topics and so forth. You could even have threads for things like editorial replies that we could pick quotes from.
That sounds like a great solution...
Quote from: RattyDog on August 03, 2007, 02:07 PM NHFT
Would this be something that only we could see?? I don't want to direct anyone tothe site if when they go there the ywill be able to see what we discussed in getting this operation up and running,,,you know?
I've only looked at SMF (the forum software) a bit so far, but I think boards can be made wide open, locked down to any registered users, or locked down to any specific user names. You can also control registration (
e.g., require an admin to approve the registration), so random people can't just walk in and register. It looks pretty configurable.
MediaWiki, the best wiki engine, doesn't support fine-tuning of who can view a page, but I was thinking that would be for internal use only, perhaps to put together a knowledge base, or to collaborate on article writing, or something. So to lock it down, we'd just put it entirely behind authorization handled by the webserver itself.
Quote from: RattyDog on August 03, 2007, 03:47 PM NHFT
Quote from: dalebert on August 03, 2007, 03:26 PM NHFT
Quote from: RattyDog on August 03, 2007, 02:07 PM NHFT
Would this be something that only we could see?? I don't want to direct anyone tothe site if when they go there the ywill be able to see what we discussed in getting this operation up and running,,,you know?
The Pride High site that's linked in my signature has a section of threads that's only visible to certain people with a certain membership status. I believe you can create threads like that and have public threads where the public can comment on articles and discuss topics and so forth. You could even have threads for things like editorial replies that we could pick quotes from.
+1 for having the best freaaakin' idea all day!
That's great...we can have locked threads for us to hash out our inner workings type stuff and then have threads where people can eventually come to discuss things we;ve written...that wouldbe great, especially since the people would then be writing it write there, we could have something in our "agreement" to join and post that says "Anything you have written here may be used in our bi-weekly publication....blah blah blah", we can pull direct quotes straight from the posters.
Awesome idea, dalebert.
Hey, now there's an idea. The public can post their stories directly to the forum. ;D
Quote from: J'raxis 270145 on August 03, 2007, 04:15 PM NHFT
MediaWiki, the best wiki engine, doesn't support fine-tuning of who can view a page
MediaWiki is the most popular, but not the "best" by a god-damn longshot.
I strongly recommend Twiki:
http://twiki.org/
It *does* let you control who can view, and/or edit, on a page-by-page or for that matter "web-by-web" (group of pages) basis.
Quote from: d_goddard on August 03, 2007, 04:25 PM NHFT
Quote from: J'raxis 270145 on August 03, 2007, 04:15 PM NHFT
MediaWiki, the best wiki engine, doesn't support fine-tuning of who can view a page
MediaWiki is the most popular, but not the "best" by a god-damn longshot.
I strongly recommend Twiki:
http://twiki.org/
It *does* let you control who can view, and/or edit, on a page-by-page or for that matter "web-by-web" (group of pages) basis.
Thanks, I'll take a look at this one.
Interesting, there is a Manchester Free Press (http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/top3mset/3807157) in Manchester, England, too. And from the looks of the subjects WorldCat shows it covering, they might be doing similar work to ours.
This article (http://www.hippopress.com/070621/cover.html) says there was a Manchester Free Press that predated the Hippo here. Article's by a John "jaQ" Andrews... JaqEboy, is that you?
Google only shows 407 results total (http://www.google.com/search?q=%22manchester%20free%20press%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off) for the name so at least there's nothing major out there using the name at the moment.
Quote from: J'raxis 270145 on August 03, 2007, 08:38 PM NHFT
Interesting, there is a Manchester Free Press (http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/top3mset/3807157) in Manchester, England, too. And from the looks of the subjects WorldCat shows it covering, they might be doing similar work to ours.
It would be
So Cool for y'all to have a link exchange!! 8)
Quote from: d_goddard on August 03, 2007, 08:39 PM NHFT
Quote from: J'raxis 270145 on August 03, 2007, 08:38 PM NHFT
Interesting, there is a Manchester Free Press (http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/top3mset/3807157) in Manchester, England, too. And from the looks of the subjects WorldCat shows it covering, they might be doing similar work to ours.
It would be So Cool for y'all to have a link exchange!! 8)
I think it's a paper-only publication. Other than that WorldCat citation for it (WorldCat is some kind of online card catalog it appears), I can't find much on 'em. Very scant information in those Google results, too; they mostly seem to be bibliographic citations for the paper.
Yer light-years ahead of 'em... so when they google, they'll find... us...mwwuahahaaaa!!
Everyone:—
I emailed the guy who hosts my personal site to find out about hosting. If I don't hear back by Tuesday, I'll look into the hosting service I heard Seth runs that NH Tea Party uses. I told him we basically just need a webserver (I install all the apps such as Drupal, SMF, a wiki, a webmail client, &c.), and attendant database used by such apps, and a mailserver for basic POP/SMTP/IMAP mail access. Did I miss anything?
Natalie:—
What are we looking for price-wise? What do you think we can afford per month for hosting? Have you gotten enough ad offers for us to begin working out a budget, so to speak?
I have a family member that can do hosting for us if we want to use him. I am glad to cover the cost of the first couple of months of hosting to get us up and running.
Unless Error does hosting and we want to give him the business... Error hosting?
Depending on cost and when the first few issues come out... I will order some ads.
PM me once you have some details.
Error really does not want to be in the hosting business.
Quote from: Dreepa on August 04, 2007, 09:51 PM NHFT
Depending on cost and when the first few issues come out... I will order some ads.
PM me once you have some details.
You ROCK!!! :thanks:
Quote from: error on August 04, 2007, 11:02 PM NHFT
Error really does not want to be in the hosting business.
OK just checking -- I prefer to spend $$ in the liberty family....
My brother-in-law accepts liberty dollars for hosting -- so I'll get a quote from him.
Seth Cohn does hosting. I believe his email in kfp at gnnhampshire dot net .
Quote from: Lloyd Danforth on August 02, 2007, 08:41 AM NHFT
The primere edition could have Thomas Jefferson with his feet up in the stirrups, giving birth to The Manchfreepress.
Others thoughts on this particular cartoon?
So when are you guys going to put up a website?
I think going with Seth and Drupal right quick would be a great option.
Quote from: Rosie the Riveter on August 04, 2007, 11:46 PM NHFT
Quote from: error on August 04, 2007, 11:02 PM NHFT
Error really does not want to be in the hosting business.
OK just checking -- I prefer to spend $$ in the liberty family....
My brother-in-law accepts liberty dollars for hosting -- so I'll get a quote from him.
Nice. ;D Can you put him in contact with me so I can tell him the specifics of what we need? He can email me at
manchfreepress at jraxis.com.
Quote from: Russell Kanning on August 05, 2007, 07:53 AM NHFT
So when are you guys going to put up a website?
I think going with Seth and Drupal right quick would be a great option.
I'm contacting Seth with specifics of what we need. I'm waiting on hearing back from a friend I contacted first (http://newhampshireunderground.com/forum/index.php?topic=9962.msg173252#msg173252)—I don't want to go back on that offer, but I did tell him we'd need to know by Tuesday or we'd have to look elsewhere.He just replied to me after I bugged him again. Natalie, check your PMs. ;D
Hmm, I never heard from you... so I'll assume you're taken care of... otherwise let me know.
Quote from: David on August 05, 2007, 12:35 AM NHFT
Seth Cohn does hosting. I believe his email in kfp at gnnhampshire dot net .
um, it's gnuhampshire.net not gnn.
or try my name (no space) at gmail.com
HEY! I thought this was a Seth-free forum! ;D
natalie dont worry too much about having to explain every decision you make or approach you take. just listen to us and dont worry too much if you can't keep us all happy, it's not a thing that is possible.
Quote from: DadaOrwell on August 05, 2007, 06:40 PM NHFT
natalie dont worry too much about having to explain every decision you make or approach you take. just listen to us and dont worry too much if you can't keep us all happy, it's not a thing that is possible.
dada wise
Just . . . don't piss off the investors -- we gots to get paid, yo! ;)
I'd love to help...even though I'm currently in South Dakota. I run the college newspaper here at Dakota State University and have more IT skills than you can shake a stick at. If you guys need a fancy website with a content management system and lots of widgets, I'll do it. Let me know... paulsonm <at> pluto.dsu.edu
Quote from: RattyDog on August 06, 2007, 07:19 AM NHFT
Today will be a busy day, I am going to be chasing a ridiculously awesome story and trying to touch base with investors...people who have emailed me, I am getting a "server error" when I try to get to msn, so I don't know if it will be minutes or hours until I am able to get to writing back to you. JEREMY: What is this server error and how do I make it go away? Also...how close are we to having MFP emails up and running and when they are operational, are WE going to have server errors? I don't ever want a 'server error' to get in between me and my emails again!!
A "server error" is a server-side error at MSN (as opposed to client-side, which would be an error happening on your computer). It's probably nothing you're doing, but something Microsoft screwed up—they could be working on the site so it's down. Interestingly, I found my MSN Messenger client disconnected when I got into work this morning. Our email setup would be entirely separate from MSN (unless you configure your mail to forward to an account at MSN, of course) so it shouldn't happen there unless
I screw something up. ;)
Getting email up and running is dependent on us picking a hosting provider, but once we pick something, I'll set that up first before I tackle the website, so we can all begin using @manchfreepress.com email addresses.
Quote from: MatthewDP on August 05, 2007, 10:14 PM NHFT
I'd love to help...even though I'm currently in South Dakota. I run the college newspaper here at Dakota State University and have more IT skills than you can shake a stick at. If you guys need a fancy website with a content management system and lots of widgets, I'll do it. Let me know... paulsonm <at> pluto.dsu.edu
Nice. We have someone coming up with a layout for us in the next couple days, and I'll be doing all the system/server administrative parts of the IT, but we may be able to use your help getting our layout into/onto the website itself. I'll have a lot more concrete info on what CMS we're using, if any, after Tuesday, when the folks in Manchester are all meeting in person.
don't you wish MSN was as reliable as this forum ;D
It must be all the massive funding we get from Soros ... those poor microsoft guys have to work on a shoestring budget.
Quote from: error on August 05, 2007, 01:08 PM NHFT
HEY! I thought this was a Seth-free forum! ;D
My name was invoked.
Ahhh.... that's how the Ministry goes after the Order.... anyone who says He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named causes him to appear...
Just got a random phone call from someone who found my phone number, offering hosting services. He's going to email me and I'll see what he's offering and PM it around.
I would go with the random phone call instead of the guy we already know and have experience with. ;)
There will be an Events section, right? A calender listing all events going on in the Manchester area. This would be one way to not only promote FSP-related events, but also any local concerts, Verizon events, social groups etc... So the people know what's coming up, and can plan accordingly.
Quote from: RattyDog on August 06, 2007, 07:19 AM NHFT
Kate: Yes, he is. Hey...I"m going to be on the phone with you at some point today...and possibly on your porch tonight?
I am running a meeting tonight from 7 to 9 but am available after that... If you come by a little after 9:00 we can do a couple of hours. I do my best work from 9pm to midnight 8)
Let me know what your plans are...
Quote from: RattyDog on August 06, 2007, 03:27 PM NHFT
I'm cracking up, Russell, I'm just absolutely cracking up at this. You remind me of my Uncle Russell who, believe it or not, is taller than you *and* a bigger wise-ass!
I have not yet attained "Uncle Russell" status.
I was really disappointed when I stopped growing in 9th grade .... and I am working on all new comic material since I moved to NH.
... to the small group of people that do refer to me as "uncle Russell" ... I am not considered to be that funny. :)
Quote from: RattyDog on August 06, 2007, 03:27 PM NHFT
Quote from: Russell Kanning on August 06, 2007, 02:27 PM NHFT
I would go with the random phone call instead of the guy we already know and have experience with. ;)
I'm cracking up, Russell, I'm just absolutely cracking up at this. You remind me of my Uncle Russell who, believe it or not, is taller than you *and* a bigger wise-ass!
Jeremy:
See what this guy has to say and let's look at a comparison...and make a decision based on numbers and hunches. ;)
Also...check yer PM's homeboy!
Random cold-call dude never emailed me... maybe I should just wait to see what the \\//iAg|Ra spammers are offering in the way of hosting...
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 12:33 PM NHFT
Photographer:
We just need a camera, at some point. I don't know...maybe I'll buy one? Anyone have one? Maybe I'll post on Porc Trading post that we need one? I don't have liberty dollars, but I'd be willing to pay cash money...?
I'm jumping a little late on this bandwagon and I'm still catching up on the posts, but I wanted to offer my photography services.
I've got a student-professional/serious-amateur grade digital camera (Canon Powershot S3IS, it's my baaaaby). I'm a decent photographer myself, and the camera's smarter than I am, so together we're a fairly decent team. (Actually, on a general self-plugging note, if anyone needs a low-key photographer for protests, rallies, speeches, weddings, parties, etc, I'm available with some advance notice and planning. Just putting it out there.)
And if I can't make an event that someone else can, I'd be willing to "rent" out my camera with a blood contract that she won't be broken. ;)
-Avens (the ever elusive lurker)
Quote from: aonarach on August 11, 2007, 01:12 AM NHFT
-Avens (the ever elusive lurker)
Woohoo, you're alive! You should come out more.
Quote from: J'raxis 270145 on August 03, 2007, 08:38 PM NHFT
Interesting, there is a Manchester Free Press (http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/top3mset/3807157) in Manchester, England, too. And from the looks of the subjects WorldCat shows it covering, they might be doing similar work to ours.
This article (http://www.hippopress.com/070621/cover.html) says there was a Manchester Free Press that predated the Hippo here. Article's by a John "jaQ" Andrews... JaqEboy, is that you?
Google only shows 407 results total (http://www.google.com/search?q=%22manchester%20free%20press%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off) for the name so at least there's nothing major out there using the name at the moment.
*grins*
The Manchester Free Press, originally, was a newspaper founded by an old Manchester resident (May Gruber, I used to hear stories about her as a kid 'cause I grew up around all the little old ladies in the French neighbourhood here) as an outlet for news for the Democrats of the area, kind of an anti-Union MisLeader at the time... The Hippo came later but followed the same vein. ;)
Finding that a bit ironic now...
-Avens
Im not sure if anyone brought up an arts section, i know there was mention of an events section. I would be happy to do stuff with that, maybe a syndicated short story that might hook some people and encourage them to keep picking up the paper. I did this for my school paper and it helped circulation a lot. Could possibly do poetry or something else as well...
Interesting idea, supperman! We'll kick the idea around a little, see if it sticks, but I think an arts page would be good.
Quote from: Avens O'Brien on August 11, 2007, 01:12 AM NHFT
Quote from: RattyDog on August 02, 2007, 12:33 PM NHFT
Photographer:
We just need a camera, at some point. I don't know...maybe I'll buy one? Anyone have one? Maybe I'll post on Porc Trading post that we need one? I don't have liberty dollars, but I'd be willing to pay cash money...?
I'm jumping a little late on this bandwagon and I'm still catching up on the posts, but I wanted to offer my photography services.
Awesome, Avens! Thanks for volunteering; if you PM me your e-mail address, I'll make sure you get kept in the loop once we're ready to start gathering content :D
Quote from: Avens O'Brien on August 11, 2007, 01:25 AM NHFT
*grins*
The Manchester Free Press, originally, was a newspaper founded by an old Manchester resident (May Gruber, I used to hear stories about her as a kid 'cause I grew up around all the little old ladies in the French neighbourhood here) as an outlet for news for the Democrats of the area, kind of an anti-Union MisLeader at the time... The Hippo came later but followed the same vein. ;)
Finding that a bit ironic now...
-Avens
Avens, you are so old-school! :D
I really appreciated Avens' history lesson.
Quote from: Braddogg on August 12, 2007, 01:25 AM NHFT
I really appreciated Avens' history lesson.
:)
The old Pandora Mill is a big deal to me - it was abandoned like 25 years ago, I believe, and for years of my childhood we'd drive into downtown and see the big "Pandora" sign when crossing the Granite Street bridge. They finally took the sign down, and they're in concept stages of refurbishment efforts (it's the only Mill that hasn't been redone) right now the building remains an "eyesore" to those trying to fix up our city, and a draw for the urban exploration crowd. I have a friend of the urban explorer variety who says Pandora's notoriously difficult to get into, and pretty dangerous once you do - the roof and the floors are littered with holes and lots of dead small animals, there are random small trees growing out of the brick.
When I was a kid we used to have various legends, from "there's a whole homeless community living there" to "the ghosts of dead mill workers haunt it" to "the mob uses it to store stuff they sell on the black market".
Personally, if they're gonna fix it up, I don't want another stupid hotel here. We're lucky Brady-Sullivan hasn't tried to make it into condos. My fantasy (which is so not happening) would be a bunch of independent local stores of every variety to balance out our super-corporate Mall. If anyone's ever been to Exchange St. and that general area in Portland, ME, like, the same vein of quirky little shops, housed like a Mall in a Mill Building. With touches of history littered around it.
So cool. So not happening.
/end personal soapbox the make Manchester quirkier
And yeah, Rocketman, I am so old-school. ;)
-Avens
Well, if you ever buy the building, let us know -- I think the Manchester Free Press would be interested in buying office space there ;)
I had never heard of "urban exploration." I did a few google searches -- and wow, that kind of stuff is fascinating!
I used to work at a summer camp in Maine, and we spent a few weekends hanging out in Old Port. Down by the docks is a really neat area to walk around, lots of little shops to rummage through. The best sushi I've had was at one of the restaurants in Old Port.
Quote from: Avens O'Brien on August 11, 2007, 01:12 AM NHFT
-Avens (the ever elusive lurker)
good to have you here avens!
Quote from: RattyDog on August 13, 2007, 10:00 AM NHFT
Avens:
You are too great, I am smitten, where do you come from and how come you know about the coolest of cool stuff! I jsut finished popping my eyes back in my head after reading up on urbex...I think I love to call it that...that was really interesting reading, I can't believe how dangerous it sounds!! I know we are already in touch as far as the photography goes and I cannot thank you enough for offering to help, that is so nice of you. We will talk...
Where'd I come from? Didn't you get the memo? I'm the reason you're all moving to New Hampshire... I'm the second-generation home grown Libertarian. ;) I'm a glimpse into the future.
Be scared. ;)
As for cool stuff... um, I walk on the wild side. I'm a baaaaad influence. Heh.
-Avens
She got lucky when she picked her mother
Quote from: Braddogg on August 13, 2007, 01:31 AM NHFT
Well, if you ever buy the building, let us know -- I think the Manchester Free Press would be interested in buying office space there ;)
I had never heard of "urban exploration." I did a few google searches -- and wow, that kind of stuff is fascinating!
I used to work at a summer camp in Maine, and we spent a few weekends hanging out in Old Port. Down by the docks is a really neat area to walk around, lots of little shops to rummage through. The best sushi I've had was at one of the restaurants in Old Port.
My group of crazy friends are a bit morbid... Some friends of mine are really into exploring old abandoned mental hospitals (New England has many - Danvers was the favourite but it's gone now). The stuff inside is downright eerie. Danvers and other institutions also had/ve underground tunnels - primarily the reason I won't explore them - they make it easy to enter but I'm a bit claustrophobic, and they tend to flood - many a friend has gone exploring and found themselves knee or waist deep in mud and other ick. And the devices they find there, things to "cure" people of "insanity"... the old shock treatment machines, everything. Eeeek.
I love these sites on things like this: http://www.uer.ca/locations/show.asp?locid=20017
-Avens
(ps, way for me to tangent this discussion, eh?)
Quote from: Lloyd Danforth on August 13, 2007, 03:57 PM NHFT
She got lucky when she picked her mother
Matter of perspective there. ;)
(kidding! I love my mama! even though she's crazy!)
-Avens
Jewish anarchists and their news paper http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8999267144305867270&q=jewish+anarchist&total=21&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
Quote from: Avens O'Brien on August 13, 2007, 04:07 PM NHFT
My group of crazy friends are a bit morbid... Some friends of mine are really into exploring old abandoned mental hospitals (New England has many - Danvers was the favourite but it's gone now). The stuff inside is downright eerie. Danvers and other institutions also had/ve underground tunnels - primarily the reason I won't explore them - they make it easy to enter but I'm a bit claustrophobic, and they tend to flood - many a friend has gone exploring and found themselves knee or waist deep in mud and other ick. And the devices they find there, things to "cure" people of "insanity"... the old shock treatment machines, everything. Eeeek.
I love these sites on things like this: http://www.uer.ca/locations/show.asp?locid=20017
-Avens
Oh man. I remember hearing stories of Danvers. And, come to think of it, my little sister (a horror movie/book buff) made me watch Session 9 with her. It wasn't particularly good, but it was a weird movie. I don't believe in the spirit stuff, but if there were spirits anywhere, they'd be hanging around old mental institutions.
Man, this urban ex stuff sounds like a hobby I could get into.
Can I place my subscription order yet?
Quote from: mackler on August 17, 2007, 02:01 AM NHFT
Can I place my subscription order yet?
Not quite, but we are very busy behind the scenes right now. There's a lot we're doing, like formally setting up the business, getting start-up money, getting quotes from printers, setting up a website, working on a layout, starting to gather writers . . . . I've made a mock-up of a layout for the MFP (direct download to the PDF here (http://files-upload.com/files/433242/MFPSkeletonDraft1_complete.pdf). It's obviously not my A+ work (some text runs together, there's not enough space around some of the pictures, etc.), and we've already made a few aesthetic changes. If you have any opinions on it, send me a PM, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Pretty slick... are you guys really going to have enough content to fill 16 pages every other week?
Quote from: FTL_Ian on August 17, 2007, 08:55 AM NHFT
Pretty slick... are you guys really going to have enough content to fill 16 pages every other week?
I think we're looking at monthly, not bi-weekly.
Quote from: J'raxis 270145 on August 17, 2007, 09:00 AM NHFT
Quote from: FTL_Ian on August 17, 2007, 08:55 AM NHFT
Pretty slick... are you guys really going to have enough content to fill 16 pages every other week?
I think we're looking at monthly, not bi-weekly.
I thought we were hoping to go to weekly ;D We may cut back to 12 pages if we can't find the content at the beginning.
Quote from: Braddogg on August 17, 2007, 02:29 AM NHFT
I've made a mock-up of a layout for the MFP (direct download to the PDF here (http://files-upload.com/files/433242/MFPSkeletonDraft1_complete.pdf).
The Onion, eat your heart out.
Braddog, I totally dig the layout. Are we really gonna have crossword puzzles? I think that's a great idea. I like crosswords...
Thanks, guys! Yeah, we're going to have a crossword puzzle; there are places that give them out for free, so it'd be stupid not to have one.
I know it's prolly too late to suggest a name but I have to just the same.
Being from the SF bay area, when I moved here in '97 I was kinda surprised at how many businesses embraced the "Queen City" name. So I would suggest:
Queen City Crier
Historical tinge, sense of urgency . . whatever, just had to throw it out there.
Quote from: dEadERest on August 22, 2007, 12:51 PM NHFT
I know it's prolly too late to suggest a name but I have to just the same.
Being from the SF bay area, when I moved here in '97 I was kinda surprised at how many businesses embraced the "Queen City" name. So I would suggest:
Queen City Crier
Historical tinge, sense of urgency . . whatever, just had to throw it out there.
This is Manchester, not Provincetown. ;D But seriously, it's a good suggestion. I really like the Manchester Free Press, though, and it's getting to the point where it's too late for a name change anyway.
heh . . yeah, like I said, just had to throw it out there.
On a visit to P-town I saw John Waters sitting on a bench chillin'. A unique place to be sure.
When you guys get this thing up and going, you should post PDF's of the paper for those of us not yet in the free state
That's the plan, Matthew :) We'll have a fully-functional website, with PDFs, individual stories, and a number of other goodies!
Quote from: Braddogg on August 22, 2007, 11:12 AM NHFT
Thanks, guys! Yeah, we're going to have a crossword puzzle; there are places that give them out for free, so it'd be stupid not to have one.
It might be too much work depending on whether someone likes them enough to volunteer, but altering a CW to be more libertarian-themed would be cool, or to even have it tied to recent events in the paper itself, so you're actually encouraged to read the paper. Yeah, it's probably too much work. :blush:
Quote from: MatthewDP on August 22, 2007, 09:30 PM NHFT
When you guys get this thing up and going, you should post PDF's of the paper for those of us not yet in the free state
We'll have both the individual articles on the website, as normal HTML pages, and PDFs of the paper version, too.
Quote from: dalebert on August 23, 2007, 07:38 AM NHFT
Quote from: Braddogg on August 22, 2007, 11:12 AM NHFT
Thanks, guys! Yeah, we're going to have a crossword puzzle; there are places that give them out for free, so it'd be stupid not to have one.
It might be too much work depending on whether someone likes them enough to volunteer, but altering a CW to be more libertarian-themed would be cool, or to even have it tied to recent events in the paper itself, so you're actually encouraged to read the paper. Yeah, it's probably too much work. :blush:
There's plenty of software out there to generate crossword puzzles.
There are also services that create crosswords for newspaper. As I recall, they're rather inexpensive.
Quote from: MatthewDP on August 23, 2007, 03:32 PM NHFT
There are also services that create crosswords for newspaper. As I recall, they're rather inexpensive.
I'll see what I can do about creating a liberty-oriented crossword...
Quote from: RattyDog on August 23, 2007, 10:40 AM NHFT
Jeremy...email me about crossword-creating software when you get a chance. Thank you.
I just found all sorts of things online by Googling for "crossword generator"; I don't know of any software specifically, what's good or bad, and so on. I remember having a crossword-generating program on my Apple ][e in the 1990s, so there's definitely plenty out there. ;D
If there is a shortage of content -- what about getting approval to print opinion pieces from Radley Balko, Jesse Walker, and other libertarian bloggers? They're not local, but they're effective at seeding libertarian ideas (http://reason.com/blog/) into mainstream opinion.
I suggested this to J'raxis -- having missed this thread. :P
Also, I'd like to help in any capacity that is needed.
99.9% of the people online I've asked if I can reprint their articles have said yes.
Quote from: picaro on August 23, 2007, 07:03 PM NHFT
If there is a shortage of content -- what about getting approval to print opinion pieces from Radley Balko, Jesse Walker, and other libertarian bloggers? They're not local, but they're effective at seeding libertarian ideas (http://reason.com/blog/) into mainstream opinion.
I suggested this to J'raxis -- having missed this thread. :P
Also, I'd like to help in any capacity that is needed.
I think it's a great idea, if we're short on local content. It might even be good to have a "nation" and "world" section like many major newspapers have. I just PMed you contact info for Natalie, our editor-in-chief, so you can work with her directly.
Every time I read this thread, I have this image pop into mind, of "Manchester Free Press" being abbreviated to "MFP". Or even "MF Press". And then I chuckle at the thought of bureaucrats cursing: "Here comes another one of those M-F(ing) Press reporters again!"
Maybe it's funnier inside my head.
Quote from: KBCraig on August 25, 2007, 02:06 AM NHFT
Every time I read this thread, I have this image pop into mind, of "Manchester Free Press" being abbreviated to "MFP". Or even "MF Press". And then I chuckle at the thought of bureaucrats cursing: "Here comes another one of those M-F(ing) Press reporters again!"
LOL! That's hilarious, and might not be too far off from what eventually happens!
Quote from: KBCraig on August 25, 2007, 02:06 AM NHFT
Every time I read this thread, I have this image pop into mind, of "Manchester Free Press" being abbreviated to "MFP". Or even "MF Press". And then I chuckle at the thought of bureaucrats cursing: "Here comes another one of those M-F(ing) Press reporters again!"
Maybe it's funnier inside my head.
:biglaugh: We can alway count on you KB for important insight like this ;D
Just noticed that this thread died. Discussion continued over here:—
http://newhampshireunderground.com/forum/index.php?topic=11287.0
http://newhampshireunderground.com/forum/index.php?topic=11365.0
Quote from: Kat Kanning on August 24, 2007, 03:25 PM NHFT
99.9% of the people online I've asked if I can reprint their articles have said yes.
That .1 of a person is really pissed
Quote from: Lloyd Danforth on November 19, 2007, 05:41 AM NHFT
Quote from: Kat Kanning on August 24, 2007, 03:25 PM NHFT
99.9% of the people online I've asked if I can reprint their articles have said yes.
That .1 of a person is really pissed
no ... they go unreprinted
I don't know what the status of the Manchester paper is, or if its discussion has moved elsewhere, but if any of the people involved are interested in placing an ad in the program for Liberty Forum, please let me know. :)
(I am assuming the Keene Free Press isn't interested; if I am off-base on that, let me know.)
Quote from: Friday on December 06, 2007, 08:35 PM NHFT
I don't know what the status of the Manchester paper is, or if its discussion has moved elsewhere, but if any of the people involved are interested in placing an ad in the program for Liberty Forum, please let me know. :)
(I am assuming the Keene Free Press isn't interested; if I am off-base on that, let me know.)
Natalie's handling ads. Not sure how often she reads this forum anymore, so try emailing her at
nmitchell @ manchfreepress • com.
Do you want the services of a photographer? I am documenting my journey north on film. Still shots, not video. I'd be happy to contribute the story, the shots, and then whatever I can shoot once I'm there.
Quote from: elf on December 07, 2007, 07:44 AM NHFT
I am documenting my journey north on film.
If you're travelling as part of the FSP, it would be *awesome* to get that story on the FSP website. Send an email to fsp-doers@yahoogroups.com and let them know!
Quote from: d_goddard on December 07, 2007, 10:45 AM NHFT
Quote from: elf on December 07, 2007, 07:44 AM NHFT
I am documenting my journey north on film.
If you're travelling as part of the FSP, it would be *awesome* to get that story on the FSP website. Send an email to fsp-doers@yahoogroups.com and let them know!
Yup, I'm signed up, getting rid of everything that won't fit in a beat up little S-10. Thanks for the email link!
The Keene Free Press is already running an ad for liberty forum.