We’re having a zine party and you’re invited.

What is a zine party?

That’s a question I’ve been answering a lot ever since I told the newsroom we’d be having one. To start with, let’s talk about what a zine is. Zines are self-published alternative magazines. They kind of look like angry scrapbooks. Zines were big before the Internet came and allowed people to self-publish and appropriate content in seconds.

The zine party is a day where a bunch of us will split up into teams and crank out two zines in one day. The one rule is to make something. What will that something be? Whatever you want.

I stole the idea from the Society of Professional Journalists’ South Florida chapter. I read the chapter’s blogs and watched the video about its zine party and was jealous. I wanted someone to throw a zine party that I could attend.

Realizing that the odds that someone would throw me a party themed around self-publishing in a dated medium were pretty much nil, I decided to throw it myself.

Why?

Because in order for the Daily Wildcat to continue to give you the best, we need to be thinking in new ways. That means shaking up how we think, what we do and how we collaborate.

Will the zines be journalism? Who knows? But I think good journalism requires flexibility, creativity and collaboration. Putting together two zines in a day will take all of that.

You don’t have to be an artist, poet, writer, photographer or designer to come to the party. The goal of the zine party isn’t to make something good. The goal is to make something.

So if you want to spend a day making something alongside some of the people who put out this paper, let us know. Join the Facebook group, send us an email, stop by the office, whatever.

I really admire other papers’ efforts at creating open newsrooms. The Register Citizen, in Connecticut, has a coffee shop in its newsroom and people can just stop in, have a latte and watch the newsroom at work. If I could put a coffee shop in the Wildcat’s office, I would.

Instead, as your readers’ representative, I’m throwing a party and extending an invitation.

The people over at SPJ South Florida have been kind enough to chat with me about our upcoming party. I get the impression that they’re a little unsure of how this is going to go. Can a bunch of college students handle having the freedom to just create?

I don’t know, but let’s find out together.

Want to come?
We’re throwing the party on Saturday Oct. 27 at our office in the Park Student Union at 615 N. Park Ave.
We’ll kick off at 1 p.m. and go until we’re done.
Send a email to maned@wildcat.arizona.edu or join the Facebook group by clicking
here

— Bethany Barnes is the readers’ representative and managing editor for the Arizona Daily Wildcat. She can be reached at maned@wildcat.arizona.edu or on Twitter via @BetsBarnes .