[Marxism] The Militant is getting smaller

[Brian Shannon <Brian_Shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

“We’re going bilingual in June!”

“The Militant Is Contracting” would be a more truthful statement.

http://www.themilitant.com/2005/6917/691703.html

“The paper will go from 12 to 16 pages.”
An increase in number of pages from 12 to 16 pages with half in English 
and half in Spanish means that there will be 8 pages of original text 
instead of 12. Twelve to 16 pages with an equal number of pages in each 
language will result in a text reduction of 33 percent.

“To make the paper more readable, it will increase the size of its type 
and the spacing between lines.”
The increase in point size and space between the lines (leading) means 
that the reduction will be more than 33 percent. It would appear that 
the reduction in text will be as much as 40 percent.

Further supporting this is the statement that “The new bilingual paper 
will present the same balance of political coverage and the same 
working-class perspective to English-speaking workers and to those 
whose first language is Spanish. That will set it apart from other 
publications in the workers movement whose Spanish-language pages are 
largely geared to ‘Latino issues.’”

Not spelled out is the fact that there will be a reduction in staff. 
The task of translating articles from Spanish to English or English to 
Spanish (it will be overwhelmingly the latter)--is not easy job but it 
definitely requires less work than coming up with the original 
composition. Even this task will not be done at The Militant. For there 
will be a “core of regular contributors, including volunteers around 
the country who help translate articles from English to Spanish as well 
as from Spanish to English.”

Publishing in both Spanish and English would be a move forward for a 
growing organization. One would expect some enthusiasm about this, some 
figures regarding membership, subscriptions, increase in 
Spanish-speaking members, etc. There is nothing of this sort. Instead 
there is a false history of “Perspectiva Mundial” along with a 
recitation of Pathfinder books in Spanish. The origin of Perspectiva 
Mundial, which was established in order to increase the international 
influence of the Fourth International as well as the Socialist Workers 
Party, is erased by omission.

There may be a Latin readership, i.e., not United States, that will be 
impressed with this transformation into a bilingual weekly. However, no 
one here should be fooled.

A year ago, I thought that the SWP and its newspaper The Militant was 
on the way to becoming purely a publishing enterprise. This was not 
just because of the emphasis on selling the paper, pamphlets, and 
books. There was also a heavy promotion of the activities of Mary-Alice 
Waters, the president of Pathfinder. In other words, there was a 
definite weight given to her and Pathfinder--more than one would expect 
in comparison to other activities.

Perhaps this is another step in that direction. There is no one left to 
expel; the next stage may be the creation of conditions for abandonment 
by its members.

from Brian Shannon
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