Indybay Print Collective presents: Fault Lines - Issue 1

will this actually be PRINTED somewhere or is this just more posturing trying to pretend there is a print collective while really its just a PDF you get online? I mean come on now. Basically this is just another webpage trying to pretend to be a newspaper....

There are 5,000 copies on the streets now.

--Fault Lines

Where can I find one?

This list will grow.

Wow! What an amazing start! It looks great!

wow, what a typically incoherent popular front-style paper. it's a perfect on-paper beginning of the same uncritical journalism many have come to expect from the all-over-the-map politics of indymedia outlets. and this is supposed to be from the most anarchist-oriented collective. i never would have thought it possible, but 'fault lines' is even worse than slingshot. just what we need: more eric drooker graphics and subcommandante marcos quotations.... yuck.

let's see where they go with it. like it says around here somewhere, don't protest the media, become it.

that said, it is a bit thematically stale. remember the prime directive of marketing: think fresh!!

it's ok to steal a move from "the man" every now and again, and that would be a really good one to swipe.

Keyword: supposed

yeah, i did say "supposed" for a reason.

and i can't resist twisting this: 'don't protest the media, become it.'
how about: 'don't protest the state, become it.'

a work in progress that starts out with such a shitty beginning doesn't fill me with much confidence in the editors' ability (or lack of it) to improve the project. especially considering the quality (or lack of it) on the website.

"a work in progress that starts out with such a shitty beginning doesn't fill me with much confidence in the editors' ability (or lack of it) to improve the project. especially considering the quality (or lack of it) on the website."

Thats the greatness of anarchist projects and the anarchist community, if you dont like something or have a problem with how it is done YOU have the power to help out and contribute. That is besides the point that you think this is a purely anarchist project, which it is not.

We are all new at this and in no way do we have it down. It seems as though you have more experience. Perhaps you can help out.

We look forward to hearing coherent arguments from you on ways future issues can change for the better or for your editorial "expertise". Wild accusations about how it "sucks" or how you don't have confidence in the "editors abilities" really doesn't promote progress, does it?

sfbay-print [at] lists.indymedia.org

you are presuming a whole mess of stuff that just isn't true.

first, that i think that 'fault lines' is "a purely anarchist project." i didn't say anything about the paper being anarchist. i mentioned that the website collective is supposed to be the most anarchist-oriented. i wouldn't expect anything other than a hodge-podge of incoherent articles from an outfit that posts the same 'varieity' of material on this site.

second, that anarchist projects can only benefit from the contributions of other anarchists who think that there's something wrong with a given project. as if anarchists invented the idea of helping out. in any case, what makes you think i want to help you? maybe i'm contend to observe and grumble from the sidelines.

third, that your obvious attempt at irony (asking for my help) will appeal to my self-esteem. that sort of reverse psychology works on people who don't understand it.

fourth, that i have some duty to provide you with coherent criticisms that will help improve your paper. i'm currently busy with other things, and will be for the near future. if or when i have more time, and if it amuses me, i will consider your offer to help make 'fault lines' less idiotic.

fifth, that i subscribe to some notion of 'progress.'

by the way, the issue of improper use of quotation marks makes you look silly. putting 'expertise' in ironic quotation marks presumes that you think my abilities as an editor are inadequate, yet you presume to quote me as saying that 'fault lines' "sucks" when in point of fact i said no such thing. i did mention my lack of confidence in the "editors' abilities" but why does that merit quotation marks? notice that i didn't use ironic quotation marks in my original comments--so what's your beef with my statement? so it does appear that my "expertise" could be of some use to you after all...

"i mentioned that the website collective is supposed to be the most anarchist-oriented."

what is this supposed to mean if not an anarchist project or anarchists working on a project with anarchist tendancies?

"in any case, what makes you think i want to help you? maybe i'm contend to observe and grumble from the sidelines."

Ok, that is your choice. I am not trying to make you do anything. As I am content to put alot of effort into helping out to create something constructive.

"third, that your obvious attempt at irony (asking for my help) will appeal to my self-esteem. that sort of reverse psychology works on people who don't understand it."

No irony attempted. We really do need help from folks. This was an extremely hard project to put together and could use help.

"fourth, that i have some duty to provide you with coherent criticisms that will help improve your paper."

You don't have a duty to do anything, nor did I imply it. It was a suggestion - that you have taken a defensive reaction to.

"fifth, that i subscribe to some notion of 'progress.'"

Well, progress here would be considered having a better newspaper. How could we progess or obtain this goal? We can't really change it if we don't know exactly what is wrong with it, can we?

"presumes that you think my abilities as an editor are inadequate"

Once again you are reacting in a defensive manner. I didnt presume anything. But, you have come from a position of expertise in publishing papers and as a critic. Critics generally do see themselves as experts, hence the quotations. Really it would be nice to get something constructive out of this. I am not trying to attack your personality.

"yet you presume to quote me as saying that 'fault lines' "sucks" when in point of fact i said no such thing. "

sorry if I dissected something different from " a work in progress that starts out with such a shitty beginning" from what you actually meant. It comes off as sounding as such.

"i did mention my lack of confidence in the "editors' abilities" but why does that merit quotation marks? "

because it was a direct quote.

"notice that i didn't use ironic quotation marks in my original comments--so what's your beef with my statement? so it does appear that my "expertise" could be of some use to you after all..."

See above. No irony intended.

Honestly, I understood that there would be criticisms and problems that folks would have when I first started working on this project. And we all as the print collective want to know all of your concerns. But we really can't take anything constructive out of your comments in order to make the paper better. If you have the time to comment and read it, it would be nice to have some constructive feedback included with it too.

the fact is, you are interacting with Fault Lines by having a very personal back and forth with them.

as nasty as you try to make your tone, the substance of your interaction betrays the fact that you do care what they think, and you do care that the newsletter sucks (in your opinion), and the cheesy psychological "trikery" you mention does work on you, even if you know how it works, simply because you are human and thats how humans work.

and if you had something better to do, you'd be doing it.

:) cheers.

suggestion for south bay distro point, alameda archives in santa clara http://www.alamedaarchives.com/

thanks for your hard work i look forward to reading the issue =)

This is so great. I'm writing from NYC and just read the first issue of Faultlines. I've been a volunteer with the Indypendent for a couple of years now and just want to give you all a shout out.

It's hard -- but if you stick with it, you'll take off. The Bay needs a paper like Faultlines. Real news you can use.

But what is that bridge on the cover? It looked way too familiar for a New Yorker like me... ;-)

I just noticed all the scabby back and forth with Fatheat "Slim."

Don't waste your time. There is a small trend of ultra-mega types who think nothing lives up to their orthodoxies, anarchist, socialist or otherwise -- and NOTHING you do will satisfy them. Nothing is stopping them from starting their own paper, but their aversion to work and collectivity. So fuck 'em. Don't try to impress them or be reasonable with them. Because folks like "Slim" have nothing to offer. His/her criticisms are vague, nasty, and totally unconstructive.

Creating radical papers open to a range of perspectives is absolutely important. So much of the old "party press" was trying to sell people on one particular vision. See "Green Anarchy" or Jason McQuinn's "Anarchy Magazine" for examples of a nasty, sectarian publications that play themselves off as anarchist.

We've already got those, so who needs another one?

When the Indypendent started in New York, there were some who thought that copy editing was "authoritarian." Stoopid. The same folks who were most concerned about process were often the same people who tried to dominate others, as if "consensus" meant "no accountability for me."

What we do need is thoughtful, reliable and ideologically diverse papers that speak in plain english. If you start slow, build slow, and take things one step at a time, you will succeed beyond your wildest expectations.

And regarding the issue of "radicalism" and "liberalism," check out this article on the subject of "More Radical, Less Extreme:"

http://nyc.indymedia.org/newswire/rate/76398/index.php#76398