Anarchism: Print crisis: “We like to walk a tightrope”

The “Grassroots Revolution” has been published since 1972. It is the longest-serving and highest-circulation anarchist newspaper in German-speaking countries. What is your secret to success?

Of course we keep the secret to ourselves. I think there are several reasons for its success. The “GWR” has been a mouthpiece for and from social movements for 52 years. She wants to help ensure that the non-violent movement becomes anarchist and the anarchist movement becomes non-violent. On the other hand, it is a well-made, editorial magazine that reports from a perspective “from below”, often publishes extraordinary articles and thus reaches people outside the anarchist and non-violent scene. The “GWR” is organized on a grassroots democratic basis, is independent and is financed through subscriptions. A few days ago a subscriber called and said that for 20 years he has been looking forward to the new issue arriving in his mailbox at the beginning of the month: “You are the last anti-militarist and anarchist voice in times of militarization. Please carry on!”

To continue, you need donations.

Yes, and our current fundraising campaign shows that the “leaf binding” is great. We asked readers to donate 10,000 euros in an insert to get us through the annual summer break. After four weeks, over 20,000 euros had already been donated and many have converted their subscription into a sponsorship subscription. This solidarity inspires us. We continue and try to make a magazine that inspires people to take direct non-violent action and to dream of a solidarity, non-capitalist society. We agitate for a profound social revolution in which all forms of violence and domination are abolished through power from below. Sometimes we manage to create a small counterpublic.

Since the collapse of other anarchist media, be it the “Black Thread” (SF) or “Direct Action” (DA), the “GWR” also seems to serve as a gathering place for different currents of anarchism. How do you deal with the balancing act of maintaining an independent profile and at the same time offering a platform in solidarity to comrades from the anarchist spectrum?

We like to walk the tightrope. Since the discontinuation of the other two major anarchist magazines, we have been trying to close the gap and at the same time not lose our profile as a “monthly magazine for a non-violent, masterless society”. Many former authors of “SF” and “DA” write for us, but also young activists. The “GWR” receives more exclusive texts than it fits in and is therefore now published with 24 to 28 pages instead of 20 in the Berlin daily newspaper format. I am happy when there are controversial discussions in the “GWR”.

The “GWR” is not just an anarchist newspaper, but it explicitly positions itself in non-violent anarchism. What role does the newspaper play today for an antimilitarist and pacifist movement at a time when we are experiencing a multitude of wars and violent conflicts?

In the »GWR« we primarily allow groups to speak that are committed to a society based on solidarity, beyond the state, militarization and violence. The »GWR« is a member of War Resisters’ International (WRI) and is involved in the #ObjectWarCampaign campaign, which supports deserters and conscientious objectors from all warring parties, for example from Russia, Belarus and Ukraine. War is a crime against humanity. That’s why we want to sabotage every war and remove the ground from militarization. We demand the human right to conscientious objection and asylum for all deserters.

What are the reasons why the magazine is currently in crisis?

Inflation, the print media and economic crisis are troubling us. We need more money, more subscriptions and more younger activists to take on tasks in the “Grassroots Revolution Project”. There are currently around 30 volunteers in the cross-generational “GWR” editorial team, but only a few are young.

The print medium as such has long been declared redundant, even dead. Why are you holding on to this? Wouldn’t it make sense to choose a different format to distribute your content and perhaps reach other readerships?

I am a fan of the printed word and hope for a renaissance of print media. We can process texts that we read in a book or magazine more intensively and it doesn’t ruin our eyes. For us, it is a problem that many people read almost exclusively on their cell phones or computers. We cannot yet offer a “real” online subscription and are currently discussing how we can change that. Because we only print first publications and only put a few articles on gras Wurzel.net as appetizers, we have lost proportionately fewer print subscriptions than, for example, the “Taz”. “Among the small ones, one of the biggest,” “nd” once wrote about the “GWR”. That’s still true. Currently around 3,000 copies are sold per month.

How many subscriptions are currently needed to ensure the continued publication of “GWR” in the long term?

We need 200 new subscriptions and additional donations to cover the costs and relaunch the homepage. We wish for comrades-in-arms, anarchy and happiness!

On the website www.graswurzel.net Subscriptions can be taken out. The address of the donation account can also be found there.