The Occupied Wall Street Journal went national for its fifth and final edition. Photo courtesy Michael Levitin.
Two weeks after the first protestors unrolled their sleeping bags in Zuccotti Park, Occupy Wall Street’s inaugural newspaper hit the streets of lower Manhattan, hot off the people’s press.
Among those hawking that first free issue of The Occupied Wall Street Journal was UCSC graduate Michael Levitin. A journalist by trade, Levitin jumped at the chance to join in the paper’s creation and help broadcast the diversity of voices and shared frustrations from within the fledgling movement. He quickly took on the role of managing editor.
“This is what a journalist dreams of—something that fit so well into my moral and philosophical background,” Levitin says from his current base in New York, where he has remained since he first set foot in the encampment. “From the moment I saw that sincerity, that eagerness to contribute, I was completely activated.”
Now serving as print editor for the soon-to-be-launched Occupy.com, Levitin continues to add his own energy and craft to a movement holding firm to its pluralistic principles. After a cold spell, with Occupy largely removed from city parks and daily headlines, he says the movement is set to capture the country’s attention once again. As part of his own campaign to inspire more participants, Levitin is speaking at a series of events in Santa Cruz and around the Bay Area this month. On Monday, Mar. 12 he visits UCSC for several speaking engagements that are open to the public, though seating is limited. (See information box at the end of this article for details.)
Levitin had arrived in September—during the protest’s first week—intending simply to pass through New York after a five-year stint as a foreign correspondent in Berlin. The 35-year-old freelancer was captivated. “The media wasn’t even capable of knowing what this was at the time,” he says.
After a week spent working through the night to put the pieces together, Levitin and other organizers of the newspaper put out a call for donations on the online fundraising platform Kickstarter. They requested $12,000 for publishing costs. The account received over $75,000 in one week.
“That shifted our thinking,” Levitin says. “There’s a real hunger, there’s a need. It quickly became something to legitimize the movement.” Two weeks later, a second edition was printed, along with Spanish editions of both.
Levitin, like most Wall Street Occupiers, scoffs at the idea that a mainstream media reliant upon corporate advertising could accurately portray such a potentially destabilizing protest movement. “They act like they don’t know quite what we’re saying, as if we weren’t loud enough or clear enough,” Levitin says. But he maintains that the newspaper was not a response to poor or misguided media coverage.
“The mainstream media has so much saturation,” says Jed Brandt, a co-editor of the paper, “you can’t make a dent in it.” For Brandt, a printed newspaper allowed protestors to go beyond the park, drawing them out into the streets to pass it out and engage with the community.
The newspaper did, however, respond to the general criticism that no singular message or clear goal had been set forth. The question on everyone’s lips was “what do the protestors want?” In the second issue, the editors ran a note titled “No list of demands,” elaborating on an ever-unfolding ethos: “We are speaking to each other, and listening. This occupation is first about participation.”
The fifth and final print edition went national. The editors printed 150,000 copies, with a story by Cornel West on the cover. “We were burnt out by then and ran out of money,” Levitin says.
Media & Message
Since then, Occupy publications have sprung up in other cities, courting controversy and possible lawsuits by similarly appropriating the names and logos of local, corporate-owned publications—such as the Occupied Oakland Tribune and Occupied Los Angeles Times.
“They are totally autonomous,” Levitin says. “All beautiful regional expressions of the movement.”
Developing media is the next step. “That’s where the movement is shifting,” he says. “A representative, people’s media is necessary for any truly participatory democracy.”
Levitin says that physical action—taking to the streets—will remain vital as well.
A website may lack the immediacy and interaction of a newspaper passed out by hand on the subway. But with Occupy.com set to launch this month, many of those who got the people’s media train rolling now have a global platform for the many artistic expressions and voices waiting to be heard.
The upcoming website has met with some resistance inside the movement after it received a single donation large enough to cover start-up costs and pay editors a living wage. “It’s a contentious issue,” Levitin acknowledges, as few others are making any money with their Occupy efforts. “We’re moving beyond a barrier in the notion of what Occupy is. We know problems can arise when you throw money into the mix.” Brandt is not involved in that project and has some qualms. “Money is its own argument,” he says. But he is excited to see how it turns out.
For now, Levitin will continue pouring his focus and energy into activating more people. In an editorial role, his challenge is to convey profoundly what protestors are outraged about, to explain these issues so people understand precisely, in a way that’s not intimidating or alienating, all while remaining cognizant that it’s still unfolding along many paths, deliberately, with no singular voice.
Levitin hopes that his voice will add to the growing number of participants, with the upcoming talks at UCSC a start. “Do you really want to go out and get a job,” he asks, “or be part of a generational moment that could change the world?”
MICHAEL LEVITIN
Monday, Mar. 12
Thimann Lecture Hall, UCSC 3:30–4:30pm
Earth & Marine Sciences Building, B-206, 7–8:30pm
