FAQs

How is the OT funded?

Our first six issues were paid for with funding from the Occupy London movement which consisted of public donations, but from issue seven we have moved to fun ourselves via Sponsume among other avenues.

 

Can I get involved with the OT?

Yes! Anyone can submit writing for publication in the OT, but there are also many other things we need help with. We can always use more hands with folding the paper, and are currently in need of help with our social network platforms, fundraising, and liaising with other working groups.

A newspaper can never have too many reporters, so accounts of events taking place within the three London Occupations or any others are always welcome. Journalistic skill and experience is a huge bonus, but not vital.

We are also looking for a person or persons willing to work with our designers to build us a fancy new website that can operate with WordPress -  free of charge.

 

When do you publish/where can I get a copy?

The OT is published bimonthly on Wednesdays, and is distributed around the London Occupations and at universities.

 

Can X working group have its own page?

Unfortunately we only have a limited amount of funds, and therefore a limited number of pages.  We don’t have enough pages for each working group to have one to itself, so instead just ask working groups to submit articles which will be considered for publication. If writing a piece for a working group, remember that the newspaper is not only for occupiers on site, but also for the 99% at large, so try to make it inclusive and relevant to a wider audience.

 

How do you decide what to publish?

We cannot publish everything submitted to us, so like any other publication, we have a criteria for deciding what goes in and what doesn’t. Is the piece relevant? Is it original? Is it well-written? Does it compliment other articles in the issue? And have we published an article saying the same thing already? If a piece fares well when these questions are asked of it, it most likely goes in.

 

Are the articles written by occupiers themselves?

Many are. We try to keep an even balance in each issue between content produced by people within occupations, and pieces on broader topics, or from the outside looking in. Early on we had to decide whether there would be a bias towards content written by occupiers, but after much consideration, we decided that shouldn’t be the case.

Should a vague piece saying nothing new by someone camping out take priority over a great one written by someone who is 100% behind Occupy, but can’t occupy themselves because of their job, or because they have kids? Some people are  too old or ill to camp out, but have great insight into the issues which have inspired the movement. Other people who have written for us visit daily, but choose not to spend the night. Why discriminate against them?

We also feel that the paper has a duty to the people who read it  to be the best it can, and to provide informative articles on the issues we face. Sometimes those articles come from occupiers giving great insights on the movement itself. Other times we get someone well-known to write a piece we feel occupiers will appreciate or can learn from.