Improving the Look of Revolution

At a moment when much of humanity finds itself in a living hell, when the horror of the U.S. occupation of Iraq threatens to escalate into a war against Iran, and when the future of the planet itself is threatened, Revolution newspaper must be out there much more boldly and much more broadly —exposing what is going on, revealing why, and pointing to a revolutionary solution in the interests of the vast majority of humanity.

A more attractive Revolution, with more color and better photos, better conveys the content of the paper and enhances distribution. Our distributors tell us that well-designed color photos attract new readers. And that well-done, quality photos are a critical component of the paper. An important part of this: posters and photo spreads make the paper accessible to an important segment of our audience—proletarians and others who often have limited reading skills.

We plan to improve the look of the paper in three ways:

Better Photos – right now we are mostly constrained to purchasing the rights to photos from a single mainstream photo source that often does not have the type or quality of photos we need to reach readers and convey the content of our paper. We recently contracted with an agency representing a very accomplished photographer for an engaging photo of a young Black student sitting in class that we used for the cover of the issue of our paper that exposed the Supreme Court basically overturning Brown vs. Board of Education. Our current budget allows us to acquire the print and online rights to such photos only rarely. An expanded fund base will allow us to both deploy our own photojournalists and to contract for moving and powerful photos for our print and online editions.

Color Printing – Our current budget restricts use of full color to occasional and special issues. Expanding our fund base will allow us to print each issue in color.

Design Technology – We need to upgrade our computers and design software (and our skills) to be able to work with cutting edge designers who contribute artwork, and to design pages that convey our content in a contemporary format.

Your contribution will make possible:

$32,000 a year to print every issue in color.

$6,000 for improved photos.

$6,000 for current generation layout and design software
(note: Gifts in kind of software and workstations gladly accepted).

Total expansion costs for art and layout —$44,000

*****

“The full-page layouts on the back of the paper have sparked lively debate, i.e. what's the difference between English only and Whites only. Also the Wanted poster of the Bush regime. It's amazing how when I extend the paper how many people are taken back by the depth of the articles. The fact that it’s told like it is resonates with those who read it... Please keep the RCP papers coming.“

—A prisoner, Delano, CA

Please make check or money order payable to "RCP Publications” and mail to: RCP Publications, Box 3486 Merchandise Mart, Chicago, IL 60654, or donate online at revcom.us

Revolution newspaper is published by RCP Publications. RCP Publications is an Illinois not-for-profit corporation. All monies from sales of Revolution, and funds raised for Revolution go to the operating and expansion costs of Revolution newspaper.

RCP Publications does not have IRS 501(c)(3) tax status and donations to RCP Publications are not tax-deductible.

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