NationStates Media and You by Glacikaldr

[Manson]

NationStates Media and You
as presented by Nequedum/Glacikaldr/PowerPAOK at UCR Con (Nov.) 2018.

But first me:

In a way, this lecture will be an introduction to a new degree I’m working on for various NationStates universities. I expect this degree to begin operating in late December or early January with only the courses I am creating. It is my hope that this will motivate others to create similar courses that capture their own experiences and, in doing so, flesh out the quality of said degree to a reputable status within the NationStates community. The goal is to create a framework that I earnestly believe will aid in the development of experienced media personnel and staff for our communities, while also reinvigorating the practice that has become almost ritualised in our little corner of the internet.

My approach is by no means one that fully captures the new technologies, applications and gadgets that are now available to us—I leave that to ENADIA; a little joke for those who have stalked their twitter as I have—but instead opts for a more traditional style. I by no means assume this will be the best approach for you and for your region, instead, it is what I feel most comfortable with and what my courses will inevitably degenerate into by the third or fourth class. I accept this and therefore I welcome others to participate in the formation of the degree once it launches.

Returning to the subject at hand and with this essay in-its-own-right of a preface nearly out of the way, my intentions with this lecture are to establish possible opportunities that some of us may overlook when we ponder over the question, “but do we really need a media department?” Or better put, “are boring or long articles, or articles that are both, filled with nonsense just to take up space such as hypothetical questions, really how we want to brand our region?”

While I by no means boast to be the most experienced person in NationStates’ media scene, nor boast the most credentials both online or otherwise in such a role, I do believe I can adequately convince you that: yes, yes you should use a media department to bolster your region’s identity!

NationStates Media…

Those familiar with me, or my main nation Glacikaldr, may know me as that overly dramatic and controversial ‘botian’, or whatever you call ‘em, who edited The Rejected Times, or better yet your first thought may be, “isn’t he in my region?” But in fact, I have also formerly done some work with both The LCRUA Times and the East Pacific News Service, as well as proudly declare myself in the ‘that wasn’t that cool Uni, um, what the hell’ camp.

I feel obligated to mention my experience in NationStates journalism and NationStates writing at large *cough* https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=965869 *cough* to elaborate that my approach to media has been, for the most part, limited to writing big blurbs of text. I would like to clarify that I, by no means, assume this to be the best way to conduct a media presence for your regions on NationStates. Further, of the options that I will mention and explore in greater detail throughout my courses, it is never to say that your region or yourselves may not produce or utilise a new format that may prove revolutionary in the field. With that in mind, I do not claim any flash of brilliance when mentioning the formats of ‘The Newspaper’, ‘The Radio’, ‘The Podcast’ or ‘The Lecture’. I do however propose that these make for brilliant starting points on branding yourselves interregionally-speaking.

The Newspaper is where most of my experience lies and most regions that have a newspaper generally only have a handful of contributors to even just a couple. This still doesn’t change the huge effect that a media department can have, as sometimes all it takes is one motivated resident to motivate the rest into writing or at least put forward an interregional image for the region at large. Most of these newspapers, if not all media publications, end up on NationStates’ gameplay forum and on dispatches pinned to the World Factbook Entry of a particular region, as well as on offsite forums and embassies. Not all necessarily identify themselves as papers, however. I consider what I write for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hartfelden—the Foreign Debriefs to be exact—to be a type of media publication most in line with what a newspaper intends to do, even though a proper newspaper in the traditional sense is in the works.

The Radio and The Podcast, while perhaps niche by nature alone but also too few and far apart to properly tell, offer ways to present a region while also offering a way to associate personalities to a region and, of course, their own personal principles. In the past, interviews have been a focus of The Radio, which I consider as making them lean closer towards The Podcast. News segments and music have also been featured, and this is what I consider to be the former in earnest. While I feel out of my comfort zone speaking of such things, I do believe that if there is honest interest in creating either of these two productions, it must be driven off the backs of personalities. These people should reflect the region if their expression of character is to be for the region’s benefit. While not necessary for a region to be the producer, I do stand by the notion that The Radio and The Podcast are the most effective at creating connections between nation (or player) and obscure region (or those unbeknown to the wider community).

As with all of these, The Lecture included, finding the platform may be most difficult. Sometimes The Lecture may even be welcomed, or a shortened version thereof, in The Newspaper. As for The Radio and The Podcast, they may find a more comfortable home on a third-party, but recordings made through discord may be just as effective for the latter. Still, I recommend the channels of the forum, offsite forums, dispatches, discord and The NewsStand for all things.

… and You!

So, media and you. To gauge my audience, you’re probably wondering: sure, but how does this apply—like at all—to my region?! Well, I can’t be everyone’s editor (though my ego would sure love me to be)! No, but seriously, what I’m here to offer you is my advice on how to proceed as well as what you may like to incorporate into your current publication endeavours. I could discuss formatting and the like, but nothing is better in that regard than just playing around with BBCode and begging offsite administrators to add more features or make the offsite forum’s coding more like the gameside coding (please, for the love of all things fluffy, make this so). I’ve learnt the hard way that sometimes making something easier for you is better to keep you motivated. Please don’t spend five hours every publication trying to fix coding like I have. Or at least make yourself a template!

The difficulties for a newspaper, and where I feel most comfortable in offering tips (though they can also be applied to other formats), start (and perhaps even end, realistically-speaking) at the managing level. I find it best to try motivating others to write who are closer to you than not but be prepared to flesh out their ideas if they’re not much to work with. I have found arbitrary incentives such as points for ranks as well as annual award ceremonies to be among the motivating factors for those who like, if you would excuse my French, badge collecting (though I personally only know of two regions who have actually implemented this effectively, and they were both game-created, so more of you should get on it - apologies if I’ve just missed yours out of sheer ignorance). Those who are invested in the image of a region, or its principles or topics of interest more broadly, I find to be far more willing to help; also, never be too afraid to ask a knowledgeable stranger for help. Ultimately, it comes down to the pitch. Search for those looking for a platform to express their opinion if you want a unique perspective beyond your own and offer them the opportunity to express themselves. Explore a mixture of topics while also keeping in what can be appealing to a wider audience through being easy to explain. Eventually, you may find yourself with a growing audience that in turn is growing far more fascinated in your topics of interest and is thus keen to engage with the more niche ideas of a similar vein. Once the interest is there, keep them always coming back through a subscription service and never forget about a User-Created Region’s greatest ally: The NewsStand. I imagine these tips to apply, at varying degrees, to the other formats explored as well.

Sometimes I find myself still coming to grips with the sheer power that a well-resourced media enterprise may yield when equipped with a knowledge and motivated staff team from NationStates’ very own. It can and has transformed decisions both regionally and interregionally, and, while this influence may be most vocal over topics where the viewpoint defended within a piece of work has generally already claimed majority support, even with an unpopular opinion a work can reshape the debate and even create sympathy for positions belonging to the supposed opposition or alternative camps.

Now, while I’ve tried to keep the discussion within the realms of abstract here today, I do indeed recall plenty of examples to my various claims (though I sometimes struggle with the exact names of some publications). I’m still welcoming to the more practical questions and I will attempt to answer any and all questions and clarifications as best I can. I will also follow-up on those questions requiring me to do so, as I tend to write things down more than I remember them so as to access them through my working memory by first working up the enthusiasm to actually work and write down anything of interest, or dare I say record like the faux (or Feux, dun dun dun!) scholar I am.

Thank you for dealing with my terrible humour and I now invite your questions forward. Also: here’s a copy of my transcript!