The Militant (logo)  
   Vol. 68/No. 11           March 22, 2004  
 
 
‘Militant’ launches campaign to
double number of new subscribers
Fund drive will help expand circulation of socialist press
(front page)
 
BY PATRICK O’NEILL
AND MARTÍN KOPPEL
 
Responding to increased interest in the socialist press among working people and youth, the Militant has launched an eight-week international campaign to double the number of new readers.

The drive, which runs from March 15 to May 10, aims to win 2,000 Militant subscribers—more than twice the total gained in the circulation campaign last fall. The goal for Perspectiva Mundial is 500 subscribers, a 25 percent increase over last time.

The subscription campaign will be carried out concurrently as a twin campaign with a drive to raise $85,000 for the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial. The fund will help cover the costs of expanding the circulation of the two socialist periodicals.

Supporters of the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial are mapping out plans to campaign for new readers on the job, at weekly plant-gate sales, in working-class districts through literature tables and door-to-door teams, among fellow workers involved in union struggles, on university campuses, and at a wide range of political activities.

A growing number of workers and farmers have found that they need the Militant and Perspectiva Mundial. They value them for telling the truth about the class struggle worldwide, providing a clear, working-class explanation of political developments, and championing the struggles of working people and the oppressed.

Most of the Militant’s coverage is written by worker-correspondents in factories, on picket lines, at demonstrations, and other political arenas. They offer facts and explain key political questions not as outside commentators and critics, but as participants in the working-class resistance to the ruling-class offensive: from the union battles by coal miners in the western United States to those of rail workers in Canada, to protests by dairy farmers in Scotland and England to defend their livelihood.

The socialist publications present developments in world politics from the standpoint of the interests of working people as an international class—from the spreading economic depression conditions today, to the growing use of military might by Washington and other competing imperialist powers in the Mideast, South America, and elsewhere. They are an irreplaceable tool for building a movement that can lead working people to take power out of the hands of the capitalist minority.

The Militant and Perspectiva Mundial are financed exclusively through the contributions of workers, farmers, and others who recognize their irreplaceable role. The $85,000 spring fund is needed to help cover the costs of producing these two publications, from rent and utilities to shipping costs, as well as to help finance special reporting teams—like those on the scene right now in Venezuela and Palestine—and to boost their circulation.

To be able to take full advantage of these increased opportunities to expand the readership of the socialist press, the special offer for a 12-week introductory subscription has been cut from $10 to $5. A trial subscription to Perspectiva Mundial has been reduced from $6 to $5. Militant supporters in Australia, Canada, Iceland, New Zealand, Sweden, and the United Kingdom have announced comparable rate reductions (how to subscribe on home page).

Also, starting with this issue, a single copy of the Militant will cost $1.00 in the United States, a price cut of 50 cents. Cover prices will also be reduced by a third or more in other countries where the socialist newsweekly is sold. The price of Perspectiva Mundial will be lowered from $2.50 to $2.00, beginning with the April issue . The $85,000 fund-raising campaign will also help cover the subscription rate reductions. The new introductory Militant subscription price, for example, is slightly below the $5.16 cost of printing and mailing the paper for 12 weeks.

The focus of the sales campaign will be on first-time readers, but renewal subscriptions are also encouraged and will be counted toward the goals, as part of the ongoing effort to expand the longtime subscription base.  
 
 
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