About Newspaper Walls and Bulletin Boards


At the Communication For Survival participatory communications conference in 1997, participants in the internet workshop created their own web pages. That evening the online web pages were projected on a large wall for all to view. The event was also broadcast on community television. An online computer is now a component of the Ryakuga portable television studio.


In Russia after the 1917 revolution, literacy for everybody was an important goal. The country was very poor, especially since the Western governments were very hostile towards this new social experiment.

Newspapers for the people were an important part of promoting literacy, but it was difficult to find money to support a large circulation. So the practice grew of "publishing" the newspaper on an exterior wall where people could go to read the news.

During the Chinese Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, the students and Red Guard put up thousands of "big character posters" on the walls of buildings to promote their point of view.

Now, when we talk of communication, it's often in terms of modern technology, such as radio and television. But, if we look around in our communities, we see that ordinary people have developed many methods of communicating.

One popular method, found everywhere, is the bulletin board.

This is the origin of the concept of the Ryakuga Newspaper Wall.



The Bulletin Board



Most community groups will find they have access to bulletin boards, whether in schools, churches, clubs or stores. However, access is usually restricted to a notice or a small poster.

Bulletin boards could be designed as a communication tool, for readability and to attract an audience.

It's probably possible to access whole bulletin boards in the community, even if for a limited time.

The Town of Ramea, on Ramea Island, has a huge bulletin board on the side of the fire hall. It's an important source of information.


The Ryakuga Newspaper Wall



The prototype Ryakuga Newspaper Wall, constructed for the 1994 Nova Scotia Youth for Social Justice Camp, consists of four hinged/free standing four feet by seven feet panels - each covered with cork.

It was proposed that the first panel would be designed and constructed by the daily newsletter/photography teams. The design would probably be similar to newspapers or magazines.

Panel two could be used for administrative purposes - messages from co-ordinators. Facilitators could also use the panel to give information about their workshops.

Panel three might be the opinion page. People could express their opinion (in writing or cartoons) about aspects of the camp, the network or society at large.

Panel four is another participation page and probably most accessible. It would include personals, birthday greetings, love notes, jokes, drawings and poetry.

The wall also appeared at the People's Summit in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the summer of 1995.



The Wall On-Line



The Ryakuga Newspaper Wall (funky as it is) has been well used at camps, retreats and conferences. So it seemed a logical step to take the concept to the Web.

The Communication for Community Survival Conference in Stephenville (March, 1997) was a beginning.

(It seems to be workable, especially if the site is planned as a template, and written material is prepared beforehand. Using the plywood wall as an example, the pages could be "compartmentalized" as a news page; photo page; messages page and miscellaneous page. One objection to the wall is that a simultaneous, virtual conference means people won't attend but will stay home glued to the screen. We obviously don't agree. Indeed, we've found that live community TV broadcasts of meetings and events often brings people to the hall.)

At the Communication for Survival conference website workshop, participants uploaded stories and QuickCam images of themselves. During a live community television show that night, the website was projected on a wall so people watching at home could see what was accomplished.

Following the event, Ryakuga created new pages using the content of the conference newsletter and stills taken from video shot during the community television sessions.

The next appearance of the newspaper wall was at Setting the Stage, a Zone 9 youth conference at St. Stephen's High School, Stephenville, Oct. 3 to 4, 1997.

On Saturday morning participants in a Community TV/Website workshop collected opinions about youth issues, videotaped the sessions and then uploaded text and photos to a web page.




The next appearance of the Wall was at the Youth, the Environment and the Economy conference in Stephenville in February, 1998. The conference was a collaborative initiative of the Conservation Corps Newfoundland and Labrador and other partners. You can check out the conference report. Basically we set up a webcam to upload pictures and files from the conference. Also about 30 youth made their own pages and commented on environmental issues. And we had a bulletin board for youth who couldn't get to the conference. There were more than 110 youth in the hall and about 90 more who posted messages on the board. The next conference was in 1999 with emphasis on training more people to utilize the microtechnology.

WEBCAM

BULLETIN BOARD (An Archive)



Since our first web board in 1998, Ryakuga has hosted about 20 more boards for non-profit groups, mostly in sou'west Newfoundland. We were able to offer this service with the support of a small but efficient internet service provider and great CGI freeware from Matt Wright.