I proposed this to the Features Editor of my local newspaper, the Olympian, in Olympia, Washington. You might try something similar with your own newspaper - either the local daily or perhaps a well-read weekly. At the same time I also provided basic information about the Decade of Nonviolence, including the national FOR's brochure about it and documentation of the Olympia FOR's local activities related to the Decade.

The Olympian often publishes a coupon inviting readers to submit ideas or experiences on a certain topic, and then compiles them into a feature. The Olympia Fellowship of Reconciliation invites you to publish a series of coupons and reader-based features throughout 2001-2002 exploring nonviolence.

The international Decade of Nonviolence (see attachments) provides many opportunities for the Olympian to engage its readers and serve our local community. This memo offers an array of topics and formats.

Nonviolence is often misunderstood, but it has tremendous potential to improve the lives of individuals and the well-being of communities, the nation and the world. The Olympian can help.

A coupon could invite readers to envision what a truly nonviolent local community would be like. How would our daily lives be different? How would our families, public spaces, schools, and governments be different?

The Olympian could ask these questions in the usual coupon format and print a sampling of the brief visions that people send to you. The Olympian could also invite people to write longer items (perhaps the length of letters to the editor) exploring a particular theme (e.g., schools) in more depth. Additionally, the Olympian could interview a variety of local community members and produce a coherent feature.

A coupon could invite readers to suggest small, easy-to-do steps individuals could take toward reducing violence (either overt or subtle) in their daily lives. What small overt or subtle kinds of violence exist now, and how could we eliminate them or replace them with a nonviolent alternative?

The Olympian could publish features in any of the formats mentioned for Example #1 above: a sampling of the responses you receive, a few longer pieces, and quotations from interviews.

A coupon could invite readers to share their own experiences of being in a conflict or dangerous situation -- and using a nonviolent method to provide safety for themselves or others, or to resolve or de-escalate the problem. The written answer would need to be longer than could fit onto the coupon, so you could specify a maximum number of words.

The Olympian could publish some of the personal accounts or could use them as the basis for interviews.

I would be happy to meet with you to further explore these or other possibilities. Thank you.

Written by Glen Anderson, Olympia FOR, glen@olywa.net , web pages maintained by Jean Buskin, Seattle FOR, bb369@scn.org posted April 4, 2002

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