The Cover of Today's METRO? Why can't dozy anarchos come up with something that good?

[teuchter]

no mate, quite the opposite. they do need to learn from stuff like this. populism is the only way to get any message across. apologies if our whole argument was crossed wires.

it is the very disparity of the cover on such a trashy, populist paper that makes it arresting. even on the cover of a G2 it would barely warrant a mention.

OK. So, the dozy anarchos need to start publishing a trashy populist tabloid, with news about celebrities and that. They should do this for, I dunno, maybe a year or so until they've built up a large enough readership.

And then, one day, BANG, they publish a front page like the Metro this morning, except it is somehow cleverly promoting anarchism and suchlike. Kind of Shock-and-Awe tactics.

Is this what we're talking about? I think it's a genius plan. Hey, maybe the Metro is actually run by switched-on Lefty Anarchos, maybe that's what's really going on here!

 

[rollinder]

would you regard the juxtaposition of images and editorial copy differently if it had been produced as a flyer and put through your door by Christian Aid or Greenpeace , both of whom would surely endorse the sentiments expresed?

other thread says article credits Tearfund & plugs their website

eta:

I've just quickly read the three page thread in politics and this thread, and no-one seems to have even mentioned the people whom this story, to my mind, seems to have been instigated by.
My immediate reaction to the front page was that it was bold and an unusual thing for the Metro to do. But I raised an eyebrow when the first quote came not from a government source or a particularly well-known or powerful NGO, but from a spokesperson at Tearfund, a relatively small Christian relief organisation.

A banner at the foot of page 3 (or 5 perhaps, I don't have a copy in front of me), where the story continued, directed those looking for more information not to a Metro report, but to the website of Tearfund.
Call my cynical about charity fundraising, but is it beyond the realms of possibility that we're looking at a paid-for front page?

might have something to do with this http://www.tearfund.org/News/Zimbabwe/
"Tearfund is working with Zimbabwe’s churches to reach the vulnerable – children, the elderly and widows – so you can be sure your help goes straight to those who need it most.

Your money is making a difference. Please give whatever you can and pray today."

 

[kyser_soze]

but is it beyond the realms of possibility that we're looking at a paid-for front page?

Yes. It was based on a press release by Tearfund and taken up by the editor.

I love the way that even when a piece of crap freesheet does something like this it's not enough just to say 'Well, makes a change and good for raising awareness innit' and descends into 'Well, it's hypocritical to publish it' and 'Well, it's not that powerful an image' and 'I think we should be suspicious that this is little more than a plug for a charity'.

 

[chico enrico]

OK. So, the dozy anarchos need to start publishing a trashy populist tabloid, with news about celebrities and that. They should do this for, I dunno, maybe a year or so until they've built up a large enough readership.

And then, one day, BANG, they publish a front page like the Metro this morning, except it is somehow cleverly promoting anarchism and suchlike. Kind of Shock-and-Awe tactics.

Is this what we're talking about? I think it's a genius plan. Hey, maybe the Metro is actually run by switched-on Lefty Anarchos, maybe that's what's really going on here!

u really are a fucking prick ain't you mate and you're beginning to get on my wick now so shut it.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

no mate, quite the opposite. they do need to learn from stuff like this. populism is the only way to get any message across. apologies if our whole argument was crossed wires.

Exactly.

It's really hard to do well, tho, and very easy to do badly.

 

[teuchter]

Exactly.

It's really hard to do well, tho, and very easy to do badly.

Do you think the Metro did it well, or do you think, as Chico Enrico said, it's only "the very disparity of the cover" - ie. the fact that it went against the grain of what the paper usually does - that makes it effective?

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Do you think the Metro did it well, or do you think, as Chico Enrico said, it's only "the very disparity of the cover" - ie. the fact that it went against the grain of what the paper usually does - that makes it effective?

I don't regard the Metro cover as anything other than propaganda to expand its readership.

It is unusual for them to pick up on material from a campaigning charity as source material for the front page and I do find the crossover with celebrity stuff interesting - somebody at Tearfund has done well.

So I think Chico is correct - it's an unusual cover and that makes it interesting, gives it more impact, hopefully opens up a discussion.

But asking whether or not The Metro is capable of producing good propaganda is like asking if a hammer can produce good milk.

 

[chico enrico]

Do you think the Metro did it well, or do you think, as Chico Enrico said, it's only "the very disparity of the cover" - ie. the fact that it went against the grain of what the paper usually does - that makes it effective?

i think context is all. Metro or a similar pulpy tabloid featuring something like that as a cover 'legitimises' the sentiment behind it . that is the whole genus of all copy with a political agenda from the Sun, to the Morning Star.

and , additionally, the 'weakness' and avoidance of overt or sloganeering terms, and the relatively facile copy employed made the headline and text more a conduit for opening up dialogue on this subject than a simple organ of propaganda.

yes, the point made was obvious and vapid but if , for instance, a restaurant had opened in The City where stockbrokers were spending £400 for a plate of sauted crickets (from their six million xmas bonuses) whilst children were having to eat crickets TO SURVIVE that would open up a more challenging dialogue.

my point ws this is how good political (and advertising) campaign can start. people are generally apolitical thus before one starts trying to convey political messages these very messages should be removed from the 'political arena' and recalibrated in the popular consciousness so they are regarded as "common sense" and from there steps can be made.

if that makes sense

 

[chico enrico]

I don't regard the Metro cover as anything other than propaganda to expand its readership.

It is unusual for them to pick up on material from a campaigning charity as source material for the front page and I do find the crossover with celebrity stuff interesting - somebody at Tearfund has done well.

So I think Chico is correct - it's an unusual cover and that makes it interesting, gives it more impact, hopefully opens up a discussion.

But asking whether or not The Metro is capable of producing good propaganda is like asking if a hammer can produce good milk.

yes, very good point. but one mustn't forget that the most successful 'propaganda' is also the most insidious. that is why the sun and other papers have probably done more to hinder the assimilation of eastern europeans into the UK than those campaigns devoted to propogating the myths about all immigrants being illegals, terrorists and swan-eaters.

but, again, from such foundations, attacks on immigrants and a more extreme agenda (as appeared at Dover) is but a small step away.

 

[Taxamo Welf]

your point please. sir?

seeing the cover in the end was a bit of a let down.

Oooh ppl are starving in africa and we're talking about celebs SAYS THE FUCKING METRO!

its a complete joke mate. If an anarchist paper pulled the same cover it would be widely derided for being so po-faced and unimaginative. I am all for 'big front page' newspapers a la Class War at its best, but this really isn't one.

 

[maximilian ping]

the message being......

Gordon Brown doesn't like the taste of insects?

Gordon Brown doesn't need to eat insects as he is on PM's wage?

Even though Gordon Brown is the PM and on a fantastic daily wage he still likes to nibble an insect now and again, however this one tasted a bit off?

what exactly?

useless message cos one (celebs on the show) has no effect on the other (global starvation)

it's just moody, party pooper teenage rubbish

 

[chico enrico]

seeing the cover in the end was a bit of a let down.

Oooh ppl are starving in africa and we're talking about celebs SAYS THE FUCKING METRO!

its a complete joke mate. If an anarchist paper pulled the same cover it would be widely derided for being so po-faced and unimaginative. I am all for 'big front page' newspapers a la Class War at its best, but this really isn't one.

jesus fucking christ!! you still don't get it ????????? it isn't the fucking message - it's the medium and the context - in this case a shitty tabloid using a juxtaposition as a cover image.

anyway, it's ok. just forget it. i really shouldn't have bothered in the first place.

 

[chico enrico]

useless message cos one (celebs on the show) has no effect on the other (global starvation)

it's just moody, party pooper teenage rubbish

jesus fucking christ!! you still don't get it ????????? it isn't the fucking message - it's the medium and the context - in this case a shitty tabloid using a juxtaposition as a cover image.

anyway, it's ok. just forget it. i really shouldn't have bothered in the first place.

 

[Taxamo Welf]

jesus fucking christ!! you still don't get it ????????? it isn't the fucking message - it's the medium and the context - in this case a shitty tabloid using a juxtaposition as a cover image.

anyway, it's ok. just forget it. i really shouldn't have bothered in the first place.

that's the spirit

 

[Taxamo Welf]

srsly tho chico, what kind of politics are you involved in? I think a tabloid style paper is a great idea.

The only other ppl into that idea tho, i do not share politics with (Class War, Bone etc)

 

[teuchter]

I think chico would probably make quite a good tabloid writer.

 

[quimcunx]

jesus fucking christ!! you still don't get it ????????? it isn't the fucking message - it's the medium and the context - in this case a shitty tabloid using a juxtaposition as a cover image.

anyway, it's ok. just forget it. i really shouldn't have bothered in the first place.

(((chico)))

 

[Fozzie Bear]

srsly tho chico, what kind of politics are you involved in? I think a tabloid style paper is a great idea.

The only other ppl into that idea tho, i do not share politics with (Class War, Bone etc)

What would you say was the best example of recent visual propaganda that does represent your politics, Tax?

 

[chico enrico]

funnily enough, i remember on a thread a while ago folk were talking about what people considered to be the best propaganda to counter that of the BNP and reduce the inroads they were making into traditionally labour, disenfranchised white working class voters.

i found it quite stunning, not to mention depressing, that the topic went on for pages before i was compelled to point out that they must be doing something right with their PR to be making these inroads and successes so the bloody obvious approach is to mirror and emulate exactly the same approach in anti-BNP propaganda. they were using a family with a baby on their leaflets so i suggested using the colour press photo of the baby with the nail embedded in its head following the Brixton nailbombing juxtoposed with a monochromed (to look more 'sinister') version of the BNPs leaflet image captioned with a slogan along the lines of "the true face of British nationalism".

(NB: while i would generally say 'extremism' and 'shock' tactics are counter-productive i'd say this is an exception to that rule, and as there is nothing more emotive than a baby and repugnant to the demographic they would seek to recruit than one being injured there is no better image to utilise)

while the back of the leaflet should be a direct rip-off of the BNP's one, with all counter-arguments and refutations of their politics set out the same way in bullet-points.

just one example.

if something is working - you don't break it. if you want to produce a soft drink in competition with coca cola - you don't base it on milk.

 

[kyser_soze]

Yeah, but chico, there'd be nowhere to engage in reams of prose about praxis on the leaflet if you made it short, snappy and likely to have an impact...

 

[chico enrico]

Yeah, but chico, there'd be nowhere to engage in reams of prose about praxis on the leaflet if you made it short, snappy and likely to have an impact...

ahhhhh, yes, that's where we're all going wrong

(NB: though, to be fair, attics's mag never had any pretentions of being a populist publication, more a 'discussion' journal for anarcho types as i understand it)

 

[Taxamo Welf]

What would you say was the best example of recent visual propaganda that does represent your politics, Tax?

Ah, yes.

I'd say very recently it would be prole.info 's 2 booklets, Abolish Restaurants and WORK COMMUNITY POLITICS WAR - see http://www.prole.info/

a combination of genius image ideas and very very smart explanatory pages. I think its still a bit too complex (and furthermore, not exactly my politics cos i rate unions) but in terms of design direction it excellent. Its very very cool basically.

Other stuff would be the libcom website, which ironically i no longer put forward as a good resource due to its web board, but again has some excellent ideas about layout and design, and its basic guides are brilliant. Its front page has had better incarnations but is still a good example:
http://www.libcom.org/
as is its organising at work guide
http://www.libcom.org/organise/workplace-organising

18 years ago its was the newspaper Class War at its height, around 1990. Issue 50 is brilliant, its just absolutely packed. Its exciting, combative, funny - and it has genuine scoops as well! It is an example of the other end of the scale, non specific propoganda that really should be understandable to anyone. My one gripe is that its message isn't very constructive or consistent (it doesn't have a 'how to' element), but that's more cos CW the group was quite a random project - its not a design flaw.

Finally i have to give appreciation to crimethinc, whose politics are little more than a joke, but whose design is really an inspiration to me. Gorgeous site here: http://www.crimethinc.com/
What i think anarchist can take from Crimethinc, especially its books, is the need for a bit of fucking mystique and identity when laying out your politics. If they can make dropping out and being a crusty wanker sound exciting then we can definitely make class struggle more appealing than the usual victim-mentality of the TU's et al.

 

[chico enrico]

apologies, but i saw that booklet on some stall at the bookfair and though to myself 'jesus,what fanny batter will they think of next?" . sorry mate, but that is really, really bad.

why the fuck would anyone ever want to abolish restaurants? what an absolutely idiotic concept. going out for meals is one of life's great pleasures and anyone who disagrees with that is a freak.

i can't even be bothered to read all that gobbledygook beside the pictures. it just looks like some american version of those incomprehensible S.I 'detournements'

another funny thing is i bet the dork who wrote it has never worked in a restaurant in his life or if he has it'll be some sort of wanky wholefood co-op place as, believe me, i've worked in enough restaurants to know anyone who acted as this "joker" describes would get told to fuck off sharpish by everyone from kitchen to waiting staff as they would be making everyone's job more of a pain than any boss.

 

[Taxamo Welf]

apologies, but i saw that booklet on some stall at the bookfair and though to myself 'jesus,what fanny batter will they think of next?" . sorry mate, but that is really, really bad.

why the fuck would anyone ever want to abolish restaurants? what an absolutely idiotic concept. going out for meals is one of life's great pleasures and anyone who disagrees with that is a freak.

i can't even be bothered to read all that gobbledygook beside the pictures. it just looks like some american version of those incomprehensible S.I 'detournements'

another funny thing is i bet the dork who wrote it has never worked in a restaurant in his life or if he has it'll be some sort of wanky wholefood co-op place as, believe me, i've worked in enough restaurants to know anyone who acted as this "joker" describes would get told to fuck off sharpish by everyone from kitchen to waiting staff as they would be making everyone's job more of a pain than any boss.

i'd reccommend you actually read it. You have absolutely no idea what its about basically.

If it was as you described i'd be the first person to slag it off.

I mean, it doesn't even have a central character to be 'this joker'

 

[Taxamo Welf]

incomprehensible S.I 'detournements'

Well i can't follow Situationism for the life of me, whilst prole.info is from that tradition it has nothing of that style of writing.

Suggesting you haven't read SI either


PS i have another one - Unfinished Business - The Politics of Class War.

Top book that. At least if ur 17 like i was.

 

[Blagsta]

Sorry tax, I'm with chico on this. Most people will see that and think "abolish restaraunts? Idiot leftie student wankers. I like eating out."

 

[Taxamo Welf]

Sorry tax, I'm with chico on this. Most people will see that and think "abolish restaraunts? Idiot leftie student wankers. I like eating out."

The name is having the desired effect! Its got nothing to do with abolishing restaurants, its just trying to grab your attention.

Its explains the development of capitalism and the roles within capitalism.

I think the name is bit disengenuous actually, but i'm not putting it forward for the name. Please read it.

and blag, same question to you - decent anarcho media?

I hear Financial Crimes, done for J18 was very good, never seen one though. I'd be in the market for a copy too

 

[Blagsta]

It doesn't grab attention though. It turns people off. A stupid title and too much text. Most people won't read that much text.

As for decent anarco media? No idea, none that I can think of tbh. I think Class War probably got it right sometimes.

 

[teuchter]

I think it's not bad. The graphics are quite clear and strong, and the text is straightforward and unpretentious.

The only problem is it's a bit unclear how literally the "restaurant" analogy is supposed to be taken.

 

[Taxamo Welf]

It doesn't grab attention though. It turns people off. A stupid title and too much text. Most people won't read that much text.

too much text?!

If your talking about the inside, as opposed to the cover then. Mate, it's a fucking book. There are words in it. Some people don't read books, i don't think that's a valid point here! If i asked you if you thought V for Vendetta worked as a film would you say "well not if you were blind"?