This is the first one, so it’s a trial run – and open to all your ideas about what direction we’ll take. You’ll be working in a co-operative space, where we’ll share ideas, and writing and IT skills.
Bring your experience of Sheffield with you - and learn more about Sheffield by writing about it. In the process, learn about Sheffield Indymedia.
You’ll get to work on more in-depth stories, in collaboration with others – going out and finding out about the issues that matter to you.
We’ll meet once every two weeks, on Tuesdays, 6-8pm, at the Drum.
The first one is on Tuesday 6th July at the Drum (National Centre for Popular Music - opp. The Showroom Cinema).
Subsequent dates can be found here:
http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcUkSheffieldWriters
International or national dimensions to Sheffield stories are welcome – one of the best ways to learn about global issues is through a local lens. For example, someone telling the stories of asylum seekers coming to Sheffield would be an excellent way to connect what happens in Sheffield to what's happening in the rest of the world.
In the workshop, we’ll being doing these things:
1. We’ll start with a quick outline of Indymedia: how to publish on the website, and how the ‘features’ column works.
2. We’ll talk about what’s going on in Sheffield.
This will include a quick glance through the mainstream media for the region – so get reading the Star before you come! Questions to think about could be -
What stories are good, or at least make us think about something that hadn’t occurred to us?
What stories are bad, and why?
What is missing? (E.g. whilst drug problems are reported, how much analysis is there / who is blamed?)
3. We’ll talk about ideas everyone has for stories they’d like to work on, events they’d like to report on, people they’d like to go and talk to.
4. Writing and reading: There’ll be access to PCs, so some can write and do research work. Others who have writing already can ask for work to be checked over by someone else for comments. Also, if people want to work together on researching a particular issue for a story / feature, do it! (E.g. ‘you go and talk to x about the incinerator, and I’ll try to phone Onyx and see what they think about the UN’s ban on Dioxins.’)
Hope to see you there...!
TUESDAY 6TH JULY AT THE DRUM, BROWN ST.