Slingshot is an independent radical newspaper published in Berkeley since 1988.
When people started making Slingshot 30 years ago, mainstream media was at the early stages of a 24 hour news cycle. A miracle where events around the world could be reported every hour (along with 58 minutes of filler and advertising). The world was entering an era where people could be more “connected” and informed. The collective was started to publicize direct actions and protests happening within a mile of us, almost in real time, with articles promoting a protest planned for the next day, and reporting about the arrests and beatings that had happened earlier in the afternoon.
Since then, news and information is accessible on a moment to moment basis yet somehow there’s a new form of paralysis. Either people are glued to the screen or they are allergic to the manipulation of bad news and thus stay away from anything political. In both cases, it appears there are less protests, less projects of open resistance and yet everyone is complaining about the way things are.
Our collective fell into a practice of printing with an awkward cycle of every 3 months or so. Most people can’t grasp our rhythm and many feel we are out of touch. If one looked at the news we cover, it would seem we are neglecting pressing issues. 200,000 Salvadorans are threatened with deportation, all U.S. waters are open to oil and gas drilling, and we are writing about microaggressions — really!? Each issue the collective often pauses to reflect on the missing content — it is in our hearts and the hearts of people we care about.
Two curious things come out of this so-called neglect. One, people who are hooked-up to the constant news cycle often struggle to process the events they are viewing and thus can’t engage — they’re just hypnotized by the spectacle. The other thing is illustrated by backyard overgrowth. It may look like a fire hazard, unsightly, needing a manicure, but things of beauty grow in areas not messed up by human intervention.
In between making issues we often do other things not related to running a radical publication. The life that isn’t keeping up an industrial news complex informs how we approach producing a paper. If we spent every day writing the newspaper, we’d have no lived experience to write about.
If you haven’t noticed, we publish content that points for people to act. This issue fails to address significant topics (#MeToo, Immigration), but at least we are not frozen and are getting a spark going to start a fire. Slingshot is always looking for new writers, artists, editors, photographers, translators, distributors, etc. to make this paper. If you send an article, please be open to editing.
We’re a collective but not all the articles reflect the opinions of all collective members. We welcome debate and constructive criticism.
Thanks to the people who made this issue: Carli, eggplant, Elke, Dov, Gerald, Hannah, Hayley, Jesse, Joey, Isabel, Laundro-Matt, Lew, Reverend Egg King, Romi, Talia, Tho and all the authors and artists!
Slingshot New Volunteer Meeting
Volunteers interested in getting involved with Slingshot can come to the new volunteer meeting on March 4, 2018 at 7 pm at the Long Haul in Berkeley (see below.)
Article Deadline & Next Issue Date
Submit your articles for issue 127 by April 14, 2018 at 3 pm.
Volume 1, Number 126, Circulation 22,000
Printed January 26, 2018
Slingshot Newspaper
A publication of Long Haul
Office: 3124 Shattuck Avenue Berkeley CA 94705
Mailing: PO Box 3051, Berkeley, CA 94703
510-540-0751 slingshotcollective@protonmail.com
slingshotcollective.org • twitter @slingshotnews
Slingshot free stuff
We’ll send you a random assortment of back issues for the cost of postage. Send $4 for 2 lbs. Free if you’re an infoshop or library. slingshotcollective.org
Circulation information
Subscriptions to Slingshot are free to prisoners, low income, or anyone in the USA with a Slingshot Organizer, or $1 per issue. International $3 per issue. Outside the Bay Area we’ll mail you a free stack of copies if you give them out for free. Say how many copies and how long you’ll be at your address. In the Bay Area pick up copies at Long Haul and Bound Together books, SF.