Brazil: 5 steps to create a A Nova Democracia Support Committee
We publish a summary of the Guide of the Editorial Staff of the AND on how to create a support committee. We consider it of general interest how the AND as an example runs a democratic country-wide news-service.
The support committees, which exist throughout Brazil, give financial, political and journalistic support, are made up of any youth or worker committed to the popular and democratic struggle to distribute the specimens of the newspaper between the masses and register their struggles. That is why this guide is created to help those who decide to start helping the newspaper and are alone.
Step 1: Notify the Editorial Team
From a safe mail created only for the occasion, the information (name, city and address where to send the exemplars of the AND) should be sent. Then the conversations with the newspaper will begin.
Step 2: Raise money for shipments and copies
Before receiving the response mail, the money for shipping and copies must start to be collected. To get the money it can be a good idea to start funds with family or friends who, can bring initiative or do financial activities.
Step 3: Gather companions who can be interested
Once you have the newspaper, you have to spread it. At the beginning you can start with known places, such as the neighborhood, workplaces, places of study. It is important to advertise and mobilize. At the beginning they may have one or two sporadic readers, then one or the other will want to know more, then a study session of the editorials of A Nova democracy can be done with the most interested and at the same time mobilizing them to begin spreading the newspaper; And so you will go, step by step and with patience, penetrating the newspaper in your town and awakening new activists for the popular and democratic press.
Step 4: Create a sales brigade and, whenever possible, combine them with popular mobilizations in your city.
It is important to go to where there are masses: squares, bus tails or trains … and popular mobilizations, such as union assemblies, local protest, assemblies where unfair policies are fought, etc.
At the moment, when the masses fight for their rights or are outraged by some political event, they become more attentive to politics and advance in their conscience; It is, therefore, the ideal time to approach them, to present the objective of AND and sell them the printed edition. Be attentive to the agenda of local unions, entities, movements and struggles, it is key not to lose the opportunity to present them the purpose of AND and sell it, in addition, attract more people to follow you in the construction work of a Support Committee.
Step 5: Whenever possible, report on relevant events for the popular masses of your city.
In addition to making brigades in the midst of local mobilizations, it is very important that you are the connection point between the popular struggle of your city and the editorial staff of the AND. Whenever you are in an assembly, protest or popular mobilization, immediately write a report to the writing about the event. You should inform by writing a text, with informative title, that answers the following questions: what happened (protest, strike?), when (day, time?), where (city, neighborhood, street?), who (subjects involved?), how (describes the story) and why (tells the circumstances, the above events or their developments). If possible, record someone involved in the protest and transcribe it as an interview. With the note sent to the editorial staff and published on the portal, it must spread it among the people involved with the fact denounced, through WhatsApp groups and via the Internet, so that people can see the work of and in the city and know that the newspaper defends your cause.
Even if it doesn’t seem like it, this work helps a lot in the construction of the Support Committee. Informing about the struggle in your city will make you a spokesperson for these masses that, in general, need a popular platform to defend them in local struggles. These people will not only sympathize with the AND, but also buy the newspaper. There is no doubt that, in this way, it will be more open to obtain support for newspaper promotion activities and involve those who are more excited.
Conclusion: It is normal that at first there are problems, such as not knowing how to start writing an article, etc. But an AND brigadier persists and is stubborn, does not accept to give up and overcome the difficulties, one by one, little by little. By persisting, correcting and learning from experience, you will inevitably achieve one or two colleagues who support your initiative. At this time you must invite them to formalize the creation of the Support Committee. At this point, you will receive a more detailed document from the newspaper’s editorial staff that explains more about how this form of organization works.
