Welcome to the Octagon & Crown
Beneveneschti à La Vuitsidátx és la Coronâ

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Seven-hundred and Fifty Readers!


9 May 2007

There has been a marked increase in our 'circulation' recently. We are now averaging 110-120 hits a week. This is a significant increase over the 80-90 hits we were getting a month ago. Efforts are being made to increase our profile on the net, but all this improvement is despite not showing up in a Google search under 'Talossa.' So, thanks everyone!

P.S. We still do not have any links from any official Talossan sites. They would be much appreciated!

Terms of Endearment
A quick note on terminology is appropriate at this juncture. I am sure everyone can appreciate that writing a newspaper for two states who hold mutually exclusive views of the world is a bit tricky. It is not just a matter of deciding to be 'fair,' although fairness is a goal. Here are the ground rules for articles in place from now:

1) Articles in 'the Octagon' will be written in a Republican world view.

2) Articles in 'the Crown' will be written in a Royalist world view.

3) Inter-Talossan news will try to take a neutral stance.

4) The Açafat Interviews, and of course, editorials and letters, will reflect the viewpoint of the author.

As an addendum to the above, individuals will be given their title throughout. So, King John would be called King John in an article in the Octagon. None of the above rules would, of course, apply to quotes. Quotes will be just that.

A Neutral Forum?
It has been suggested, from more than one source, that the O&C provide a message board that would be a neutral territory between the two Talossas. A neutral forum would be an interesting idea, but after much deliberation, the O&C has decided not to set up such a message board for the time being. There are two reasons for this: time spent moderating such a forum, which would certainly be necessary, would detract from the time spent on this newspaper, and, although we are loathe to admit it, message boards are a large part of our respective national identities. Creating a third major message board at this juncture might possibly undermine one or both of the other boards, or create some third entity. We are not up to covering three Talossas! For the time being, this sort of decision is best left to the two governments to make themselves.

Please Contribute!
Every Talossan or whatever stripe is encouraged to send his or her contribution to our email address at octagonandcrown at yahoo dot co dot uk. Just to help everyone along, here is the sort of contribution that we need most:

1) An article about a news story that is not easily discernible from reading either of the main Wittenberg boards. Hopefully these articles would include quotations, ideally from a source other than a public board (this is not always easy and is not absolutely necessary, just a bonus).

2) A synopsis of an especially important post or a very complicated thread of posts from either Wittenberg. Quotations here are essential.

3) A letter to the editor that is in response to any of the news coverage or editorials in the O&C. These may be edited for length.

4) A longer piece of opinion that is independent of any previously published article. This would ideally cover a subject not regularly discussed in the Wittenbergs.

5) Anonymous tips, whispered comments, or whatever you want to tell us but do not want quoted. As long as you are clear that you are speaking off the record to us, we won't quote you.

We have had one press release actually, from a political party hoping to get coverage for their cause. This is really appreciated. Although we will not just reprint the part line we receive, it is helpful to get a idea for a story from any source.

Thanks to all of our readers. Let's see how fast we can get to 1000 hits!

Vitz Açafat
Editor




Praise for the Octagon & Crown:

"I read what you had up already, and I'm pretty impressed. Best of luck with O&C as time passes." -King John of Talossa

"This is exactly what the Republic and Kingdom both need. Please make sure you keep this up for at least the next year." - Miestrâ Schivâ

"This is actually not only relevant and newsworthy, but well-written. Good job."
- Alexander Davis


Don't know about Talossa?
Explore and join in on the pages linked below:

Republic of Talossa Homepage
Republican Wittenberg
Kingdom of Talossa Homepage
Royalist Wittenberg