It’s been a little over six months and POTS Extra, the English section in POTS, hasn’t really given a mission statement, so I suppose it’s about time. So pardon me if I backtrack a little before I answer Wolf’s question about what type of writing or information would be suitable.
POTS was established in 1995 by activists from the student movements before and after the end of martial law, the people who protested to get political/military overseers out of college classrooms, advocted multiparty politics, and other rights and freedoms. The paper was originally styled on the Village Voice, and the goal was to give a voice to alternative movements, then as now. The link between this and the 16-18 pages/week of Chinese listings info is more choices = more freedom. So POTS is about arts, activities, and alternative views.
The English section was created last September in a strange and interesting bilingual experiment: to have a newspaper in two languages with little or no translation, but to have reporters and editors trade information and work on similar things. Obviously the English content is different from the Chinese content, but the mutual influence is there, and I believe the synergy is good.
Re: the expat community, POTS Extra’s main goal is to offer lots of info on activities and events in Taipei in English. The next goals are to give a sense of local personality in columns and articles, and also serve a place where local issues can be discussed. And when I say “local”, I’m talking more about Taipei City than Taiwan, the geo-political problem.
So to get back to the original question - what kind of writing can POTS Extra use? Here are a few topics I’d love to include: jazz, Taipei city politics, urban planning and development issues, local doctors and hospitals, the local media (how they report as much as what they report), local developments in IT systems and/or networks - basically specialized information that people can use, preferably from people working in the field that they’re writing about and providing somewhat expert information or analysis. I realize most of that may not be available given POTS means, but at least allow me a wish list.
There’s also a page for features and “first person” stories that’s always open to writers. So far this has included activity featurss on softball, hippy clothing, and (upcoming) jiu-jitsu. First person stories have ranged from humorous to tragic, talking about strawberry picking in Miaoli, teaching prison in Hualien, the suicide of a Taiwanese friend, and fearing for your life in a local hospital. Wolf’s grand daddy of all English teaching stories, for example, would be perfect. The emphasis here is on diversity, having as many voices as possible.
As for events information, anyone with an event is free to send it in, and it will almost definitely be published in the listings. In response to Chainsmoker’s question, when will listings be online? Our IT staff is working on an automated system that will let people post events over the web, but I don’t know when that will be ready. Don’t hold your breath.
And lastly, the proposals I shoot down most frequently are from people who want to write about their friend’s band, their favorite bar, Taiwan-US-China relations, or review movies.
