Chain Reaction – 32 years on still going strong

Cam Walker

In the world of community publishing, a 100th edition is something to be proud of. This magazine started its life as the Greenpeace Pacific Bulletin in 1974 and was transformed into Chain Reaction in 1975. In its time it has been run by an incredible number of people and collectives and has moved between Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. It is currently a joint venture run by people based in Adelaide, Katoomba and Melbourne.

Chain Reaction editors have always been given a large degree of freedom and Friends of the Earth, Australia has seen the magazine as being something that 'belongs' to the broader social movement rather than just acting as the mouthpiece of the organisation. Several years ago, it was decided to make it more overtly a FoE magazine: that is, as a forum for FoE opinions and a campaign tool for our activities. Since 2004 we have run special editions covering most of our national campaigns and made a number of other changes to reflect the renewed focus on FoE's campaigns.

However, we still do seek to produce a magazine that any progressive individual or group can write for, and created an advisory board of mostly 'external' people to ensure diversity of interests and opinions. With the last edition we included our first major photo essay for some time and, with the positive feedback to this, intend to keep doing so. The magazine continues to evolve. We make Chain Reaction freely available via the FoEA website and visits and downloads continue to grow.

The core editorial team is small and composed of people who are busy with their own campaigns and local groups and we have limited ability to further develop the financial side of the magazine.

We are now at the point where we need extra support for the magazine. Prior to the election of the Howard government, Chain Reaction received an annual allocation of funds from FoE Australia's admin grant from the federal government. This is now long gone, meaning a short fall of $7,000 a year we have not been able to make up through advertising or other sources. We have perhaps the most understanding printers on the planet but continue to clock up a non-viable debt to them. Something needs to change.

Ideas canvassed have included making the magazine smaller, printing on cheaper paper, reducing the print run or frequency, increasing the cover cost, etc. We don't want to do any of these: feedback on the journal is resoundingly positive. But we do need your help. Here are some ideas:
* we need a volunteer to take on marketing and possibly building up advertisements;
* we have launched a new 'Chain Reaction supporter' category for people who give $100 or more when they subscribe;
* organising with your local bookstore to stock the magazine; and
* giving a gift subscription to a friend, your workplace or local library.

You can phone us on (03) 9419 8700 or email <chainreaction@foe.org.au>.

Cam Walker is on the Chain Reaction editorial team and is a national liaison officer with Friends of the Earth, Australia.