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1. Gather your organizing team.
You need a few dedicated
people to put together a Print
Project. You can then divide
the following tasks among
individuals or teams.
2. Secure your media
outlet.
Talk with the editors of your
college or community newspaper.
You will need to secure space in two issues of the newspaper: a space in one issue of the newspaper
to print an invitation for survivors to submit their stories, and space in a later issue
to print
the collected stories with a Print Project introduction.
It is essential that
the editors agree not to edit
the content of any of the
survivors' stories out of respect for the survivors' voices and experiences. If you cannot
secure a space in a newspaper,
you
can create your own mini-publication of collected survival stories.
3. Invite survivors to share their stories.
Now that you've secured a space in your college or community newspaper, you are ready to publish an invitation for survivors to submit their stories. The invitation should
be an empowering and sensitive
request for survivors to share
their stories for publication in your community's Print Project. Review or use the sample invitation, as it contains key points that should be conveyed to survivors.
You should distribute the invitation as widely as possible. In addition to publishing it in the newspaper, you may consider emailing it to your contacts, posting flyers around campus or your community, and distributing flyers in public places.
The invitation to survivors should include a secure email
address to which survivors can send
their stories. Please also include the Take Back The News
website address (www.takebackthenews.org)
on the invitation, so that survivors
can learn more about the national project.
4. Collect survival
stories.
Whoever is receiving the survivors' stories must maintain confidentiality of the survivors' contact information.
Survivors are encouraged to share their names, but
may also submit their stories anonymously. It is not legal to print the
name or any other clearly
identifying features of the
perpetrator, unless the perpetrator
has been found guilty in a
court of law. Remember, it
is essential that the content of the survival stories remains unedited.
5. Prepare the introduction
to the survival stories.
You can use our sample introduction to a Take Back The News Print Project
or you can create
your own. The introduction
should address the epidemic of
sexual violence and its impact on your community, and describe
the purpose of printing the
survival stories. You may use these rape and sexual assault statistics in your introduction.
6. Publish the stories!
Pass along the finished project (survival stories and the introduction)
to the editor of your newspaper, or if you are self-publishing, go to press.
If you have any questions along the way, email Julia@takebackthenews.org.
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