People's Voice

"People's Voice" is a newspaper published fortnightly by the Communist Party of Canada and New Labour Press Ltd.

Produced in Vancouver, it contains news and editorial content related to national and international political issues of government, labour, and class struggle.

It is edited by Kimball Cariou.

History

Throughout the history of the paper's publishers, papers have been closed down, restarted, and had many name changes. Following history of the red press is therefore more complex than normal.When the Communist Party of Canada was founded in 1921, the decision was made to publish a newspaper. In 1922, "The Communist" was the first attempt, and was an underground publication that was harassed by the police. The paper never got off the ground and closed after only a few issues. The first successful and legal paper was launched on March 15, 1922 [Canada's Party of Socialism, Toronto: Progress Books 1982] as a broadsheet named "The Worker". During the 1930s the paper was renamed "The Clarion".

When the paper grew from a weekly into a daily on May 1, 1936, the name was adjusted to "The Daily Clarion", and remained so until June 17th, 1939 ["R.C.M.P. Security Bulletins, The Depression Years, Part V, 1939-1939". pp. 406-407. 1997, St.John's: Canadian Committee on Labour History ] when the leadership of the Communist Party decided that the fluctuating circulation of 6000 to 12 000 was not high enough to continue as a daily. Two weeklies replaced the daily, "The Clarion" from Ontario eastward, and "The Mid-West Clarion" from Manitoba westward, except British Columbia. In addition, "Clarté" was the French language paper in Quebec.

In British Columbia, the only paper distributed was the "People's Advocate" ["R.C.M.P. Security Bulletins, The Depression Years, Part V, 1939-1939". pp. 406-407. 1997, St.John's: Canadian Committee on Labour History ] . Before appearing as the "People's Advocate" the paper also went through many changes. First it was known as the "B.C. Worker's News." The first edition of that paper appeared on January 18, 1935 and changed to the "People's Advocate" on April 2, 1937. It was banned in May 1940, with the successor "Vancouver Clarion" publishing illegally until Summer 1941. "The People", a newly emerged legal paper appeared on October 13 1942. [Peoples Voice, July 1994 p14.] It was this paper that changed its named to the "Pacific Tribune."

"The Clarion" was banned on November 21, 1939 [Winnipeg Free Press: "Communist Paper is Suspended" Tuesday, November 21, 1939] [Winnipeg Free Press: "Clarion Office Again Raided" Thursday, November 17, 1939 p.11] . The ban was due to publishing an anti-war editorial during wartime, breaking regulation 15 under the Defense of Canada Regulations. This was several months before the Communist Party was banned in June, 1940 when the Canadian government issued an order in council [Winnipeg Free Press: "Communist Party Outlawed by Dominion" Wednesday June 5, 1940] .

Shortly after being shutdown by the Dominion Government, the paper began printing (at first) underground under the name "Canadian Tribune". The first copies were mimeographed. Officially the "Canadian Tribune" began on January 20, 1940. [Canada's Party of Socialism, Toronto: Progress Books 1982] The B.C paper changed its name to "Pacific Tribune" to appear as a local edition. The two publications were weeklies. The Canadian edition was briefly a daily before returning to the previous weekly schedule and later converted to the tabloid format.

The present incarnation of the paper began with first the amalgamation of the "Canadian Tribune" and its second pacific edition in the early 1990s during the internal crisis in the Communist Party. The combined paper became simply "The Tribune". During this time the paper became part of a legal battle and as a result only several issues were printed. With the split in the Communist Party and the resulting Cecil-Ross Society, two publications resulted, "The New Times" or "TNT" for short, was the direct continuation of "The Tribune", however the publication was very short lived. The Communist Party, having lost its newspaper, decided to start its own continuation of "Canadian Tribune". The remaining staff still in the party began publication of the current paper "People's Voice" in March, 1993 as a tabloid that continues to the present (2007) [People's Voice number 1, volume 1, March, 1993] . The paper was published on a monthly basis for a couple of years before the increase in frequency of printing a new edition every two weeks.

Distribution and PV fund drive

The "People's Voice" is largely distributed through mailed subscriptions with a small percentage of news stands carrying the publication. True to its working poor roots, the paper offers a reduced rate for low income subscribers. A policy of the paper is to give away free issues at rallies and union picket lines. As a result of the policy of free papers at events and the fact that the paper carries no commercial advertisements, an annual fund drive supports the publication's continued operation.

Non-professional contributors

A unique feature of the "People's Voice" or "PV" as many readers call the paper, is the fact that there are no hired journalists, the original contributions either coming from readers, or volunteer contributors (although much content is filled by Communist Party statements). This can be seen in the quality of the articles ranging from mild to overtly biased. (a left slant as compared to a right slant, see National Post)

The content of the paper is largely news, analysis, and regular columns like book reviews, crossword puzzles, local event classifieds, and a global news page, composed of events unheard of in the mainstream newspapers. Deadlines are published in the paper so readers may contribute letters, articles, photographs, or regular columns.The intent of having readers write for other readers is to self empower the readership as a whole away from the concentrated mainstream media.

References

External links

* [http://www.peoplesvoice.ca] "People's Voice" official site. Contains selected articles online, also audio files.

ee also

*Communist Party of Canada
*media proprietor
*Concentration of media ownership
*propaganda model