Making a difference
"This special Â鶹ӳ» broadsheet has been produced as a response to the Gulf War. Coverage of the war by the mass media has highlighted the need for a real alternative source of news and analysis."
Those words appeared in a special four-page handout distributed during the 1991 Gulf War. The broadsheet in which they appeared went on to announce the forthcoming appearance of a new publication — Â鶹ӳ» Weekly. A few weeks later, on February 18, 1991, the first issue appeared.
With the current edition, we are celebrating the 300th issue of Â鶹ӳ» Weekly. This special edition marks the occasion by, among other things, reprinting the many solidarity messages that have been received.
In the country with the most monopolised media ownership in the world, it is a great credit to Â鶹ӳ» Weekly's supporters that the paper has not only survived, but gone from strength to strength. We are proud of the fact that it is Australia's leading radical newspaper.
Â鶹ӳ» was launched by progressive activists from a range of social movements who saw the need for an independent paper that would print the news and views the establishment media won't. This is not a new idea. Australia has a rich history of radical newspapers, unapologetic in their criticism of the powers that be. Â鶹ӳ» Weekly continues in that tradition.
But the paper's purpose is not solely to inform: it also aims to activate. Providing information that is either censored by, or hardly rates a mention in, the establishment media, Â鶹ӳ» Weekly's local, national and international news and analysis make essential reading for all those striving to change the world.
Â鶹ӳ» Weekly
It played an important role in the protests against the French nuclear tests in the Pacific and the campaigns to force the government to protect native forests, leave uranium in the ground and to cut greenhouse gases. As many of these battles are still to be won, Â鶹ӳ» will continue its coverage of these and other environment campaigns.
Similarly, given the government's ongoing racist attacks on Aborigines and migrants, Â鶹ӳ» will continue to provide a forum for the activities and debates of anti-racist groups in the fight for native title and other basic rights for Australia's indigenous peoples. It will continue to assist the work of activists in the feminist, student, trade union, gay and lesbian, civil liberties and anti-imperialist movements. By letting people know the facts and how they can join others in action for change, Â鶹ӳ» contributes to the development of a more just and democratic world.
Â鶹ӳ» Weekly has survived because it has become an indispensable tool for activists here and around the world. Our coverage of the East Timorese struggle for self-determination and the pro-democracy movement in Indonesia, for example, has inspired activists in the US and other places to set up solidarity campaigns.
The credit for what Â鶹ӳ» Weekly is belongs to the numerous people, around Australia and the world, who have given unstintingly their articles, cartoons, photographs, selling efforts, time and financial support to make Â鶹ӳ» a real alternative to the big-business press. Without this and the backing of the Democratic Socialist Party and Resistance, we would have gone the way of so many other alternative newspapers.
As a grassroots publication, Â鶹ӳ» Weekly thrives on your input. If you, like us, believe that what we all think and do does make a difference, then we want you involved for the next 300 issues and beyond.