| LAUNCH
OF THE
(all
new on-line)
PAMPHLETEER |
| From
the 14th century on, aided by developments in the revolutionary
new technologies of mass communication (printing) and a relaxing
of thought encouraged by the renaissance in Europe, a new way of
disseminating ideas was developed. Writers, visionaries, philosophers,
political theorists and all manner of other kinds of crackpot put
pen to paper, espousing wild ideas on any subject imaginable. Some
of these documents, distributed to any-one interested for a modest
price on street corners or in the coffee houses and public places
of the day, became seminal works on their subject.. vis 'the rights
of man' by Blake. These were the pamphlets. |
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For
hundreds of years the process of writing, printing and publishing
pamphlets has been repeated across the world, with groups of people
using the short form of essay writing in an easily digested form,
with a media that became more and more accessible as the printing
press was popularized. By the twentieth century the pamphlet had
become, on occaision, a sophisticated and aesthetic object. But
somehow the impact of papers published in, say, the 16th century
had been lost. Perhaps familiarity breeds contempt. With a huge
range of printed papers, magazines, flyers, books; the humble
pamphlet is reduced to obscure religious cults and marginal political
movements. |
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fact the printed word has never been so popular, despite the arrival
of computer and the internet, published volume of print media
is globally unprecedented. But as with many other aspects of contemporary
media, a simple pamphlet is 'old tech', and seemingly all the
inferior for that. To distribute 500 pamphlets in the old way
meant several windswept hours on a street corner persuading a
fast moving potential audience of their value. The power of the
written word is not diminished by the changes in new media. The
speed and instancy of the internet is highly attractive to the
publisher wishing to release the written word rather than the
printed object. |
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In
the tradition of the pamphlet the writing would address the issues
of the day; political, religious, social and so on. These subjects
are well covered in the publications of today.. the newspaper,
the book, the magazine. These are media which present their ideas
in a particular way, often addressing the issues of communication
raised by the limitations of the pamphlett. But by virtue of their
own foibles they introduce their own limitations. For example
the newspaper, it is arguable, dealt with the opinionated aspect
of pamphlets by introducing the concept of reporting the news
as untainted fact. Bearing in mind the question of ownership of
a newspaper and the editorial slant this implies, a newspaper
builds up a profile over time which suggests its opinions in advance.
The reader may choose a paper which supports their own point of
view, and therefore the purpose of the paper is to re-affirm the
readers opinions. Editorial and creative independence is lost
and propaganda is the winner.
The pamphlet, on the other hand, is unequivocally opinionated
and overt propaganda for its point of view. Possibly this is a
more honest approach, though it demands a critical approach to
reading it. |
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Essentially
the pamphlet is a vehicle for the opinions and ideas of the author.
Through history pamphlets have been published which, by virtue
of the often revolutionay ideas therein, have proved highly influential
in the development of society and culture.Here at 'the all new
on-line Pamphleteer' we don't want to change the world. But we
will be publishing ideas from some independent minds in the hope
that their influence will grow. We see the pamphleteer as an electronic
means of spreading ideas and opinions and providing a forum for
creative minds to exercise.
We value both our readers and our contributors, and will be developing
a means of feeding back comments etc, as well as inviting all
to contribute further. If you wish to write for 'the Pamphleteer',
then please dont hesitate to contact the
editor, and remember we pay (modestly!) for contributions.
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