Underground Press Syndicate
Encyclopedia
The Underground Press Syndicate, commonly known as UPS, and later known as the Alternative Press Syndicate or APS, was a network of countercultural
newspapers and magazines formed in mid-1966 by the publishers of five early underground
papers: the East Village Other
, the Los Angeles Free Press
, the Berkeley Barb
, The Paper
, and Fifth Estate. Walter Bowart
of the EVO took the lead in inviting the other papers to join, and initially it was hoped that the syndicate would sell national advertising space that would run in all 5 papers; but these hopes were soon dashed.
The San Francisco Oracle
, The Rag
, and Illustrated Paper
(a psychedelic paper published in Mendocino, California
) joined soon afterward, and membership grew rapidly in 1967 as new papers were founded and immediately joined. In the South, the first to join was The Inquisition
(Charlotte, North Carolina
). By June 1967, a UPS conference in Iowa City hosted by Middle Earth
drew 80 newspaper editors from US and Canada, including Liberation News Service
.
UPS members agreed to allow all other members to freely reprint their contents. And anyone who agreed to those terms was allowed to join the syndicate. As a result, countercultural news stories, criticism and cartoons were widely disseminated, and a wealth of content was available to even the most modest start-up paper. First-hand coverage of the 1967 Detroit riots in Fifth Estate was one example of material that was widely copied in other papers of the syndicate. As it evolved, the Underground Press Syndicate created an Underground Press Service, and later its own magazine.
As the underground press movement evolved, women's liberation, initially a non-issue in the male-dominated underground press, became an increasing focus. The UPS passed the following resolutions at its 1969 conference:
These resolutions were a harbinger of staff rebellions by women that split several papers, including Rat
, where the feminist faction seized control of the paper for several issues. A few papers, already weakened by staff burnout, poor finanaces and other factors, died in the wake of these schisms, while others lost revenue and circulation by barring sexual content and advertisements, which in any event were increasingly being spun off into tabloid sex papers like Screw.
Shortly after the formation of the UPS, the number of "underground
" papers throughout North America expanded dramatically. The explosive growth of the underground press did not begin to subside until 1970, and by 1973 the boom was clearly over and most underground newspapers in the US had ceased publication.
For many years the Underground Press Syndicate was run by Tom Forcade
, who later founded High Times magazine. After a 1973 meeting of underground and alternative newspapers in Boulder, Colorado
, the name was changed to the Alternative Press Syndicate (APS). APS was an attempt to reinvent the syndicate to compete with the growing network of alternative weeklies
networked by the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies
; but failed, and the AAN supplanted its role.
Counterculture
Counterculture is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a cultural group, or subculture, that run counter to those of the social mainstream of the day, the cultural equivalent of political opposition. Counterculture can also be described as a group whose behavior...
newspapers and magazines formed in mid-1966 by the publishers of five early underground
Underground press
The underground press were the independently published and distributed underground papers associated with the counterculture of the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and other western nations....
papers: the East Village Other
East Village Other
The East Village Other , was an American underground newspaper in New York City, New York, published biweekly during the 1960s. EVO was among the first countercultural newspapers to emerge, following the Los Angeles Free Press, which had begun publishing a few months earlier...
, the Los Angeles Free Press
Los Angeles Free Press
The Los Angeles Free Press , also called “the Freep”, was among the most widely distributed underground newspapers of the 1960s. It is often cited as the first such newspaper...
, the Berkeley Barb
Berkeley Barb
The Berkeley Barb was a weekly underground newspaper that was published in Berkeley, California, from 1965 to 1980. It was one of the first and most influential of the counterculture newspapers of the late 1960s, covering such subjects as the anti-war and civil-rights movements as well as the...
, The Paper
The Paper (newspaper)
The Paper was a weekly underground newspaper published in East Lansing, Michigan beginning in December 1965. It was one of the five original founding members of the Underground Press Syndicate. Started by Michigan State University student Michael Kindman as a radical, counterculture alternative to...
, and Fifth Estate. Walter Bowart
Walter Bowart
Walter Howard Bowart was an American leader in the counterculture movement of the 1960s, founder and editor of the first underground newspaper in New York City, the East Village Other, and author of the book Operation Mind Control.-Life and career:Born Walter Howard Kirby in Omaha, Nebraska,...
of the EVO took the lead in inviting the other papers to join, and initially it was hoped that the syndicate would sell national advertising space that would run in all 5 papers; but these hopes were soon dashed.
The San Francisco Oracle
San Francisco Oracle
The Oracle of the City of San Francisco, also known as the San Francisco Oracle, was an underground newspaper published in 12 issues from September 20, 1966, to February 1968 in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood of that city...
, The Rag
The Rag
The Rag was an underground paper published in Austin, Texas from 1966-1977. The sixth member of the Underground Press Syndicate, The Rag was one of the most influential of the early underground papers, known for its unique blend of radical politics, alternative culture and humor.- Early history...
, and Illustrated Paper
Illustrated Paper
Illustrated Paper was a monthly psychedelic underground newspaper published in Mendocino, California from June 1966 to April 1967. Initially issued under the title The Paper, it became the Illustrated Paper with its third issue. Philip A. Bianchi and Walter D. Wells were the editors...
(a psychedelic paper published in Mendocino, California
Mendocino, California
Mendocino is a census-designated place in Mendocino County, California, United States. Mendocino is located south of Fort Bragg, at an elevation of 154 feet...
) joined soon afterward, and membership grew rapidly in 1967 as new papers were founded and immediately joined. In the South, the first to join was The Inquisition
The Inquisition (underground newspaper)
The Inquisition was an underground newspaper produced by high school students and their various friends bi-monthly in Charlotte, North Carolina from April 1968 to late 1969. Inquisition was the first Underground Press Syndicate member from the U.S. South and a member of Liberation News Service...
(Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
). By June 1967, a UPS conference in Iowa City hosted by Middle Earth
Middle Earth (newspaper)
Middle Earth was an underground newspaper published biweekly in Iowa City, Iowa from 1967 to 1968, and edited by David Miller. It hosted the June, 1967 conference of the Underground Press Syndicate, which brought together 80 editors of underground newspapers from around the US and Canada...
drew 80 newspaper editors from US and Canada, including Liberation News Service
Liberation News Service
Liberation News Service was a New Left, Underground press news service which published news bulletins from 1967 to 1981.-History:The Liberation News Service was co-founded in the summer of 1967 by Ray Mungo and Marshall Bloom after the two of them were separated from the United States Student...
.
UPS members agreed to allow all other members to freely reprint their contents. And anyone who agreed to those terms was allowed to join the syndicate. As a result, countercultural news stories, criticism and cartoons were widely disseminated, and a wealth of content was available to even the most modest start-up paper. First-hand coverage of the 1967 Detroit riots in Fifth Estate was one example of material that was widely copied in other papers of the syndicate. As it evolved, the Underground Press Syndicate created an Underground Press Service, and later its own magazine.
As the underground press movement evolved, women's liberation, initially a non-issue in the male-dominated underground press, became an increasing focus. The UPS passed the following resolutions at its 1969 conference:
1. That male supremacy and chauvinism be eliminated from the contents of the underground papers. For example, papers should stop accepting commercial advertising that uses women's bodies to sell records and other products, and advertisements for sex, since the use of sex as a commodity specially oppresses women in this country. Also, women's bodies should not be exploited in the papers for the purpose of increasing circulation.
2. That papers make a particular effort to publish material on women's oppression and liberation with the entire contents of the paper.
3. That women have a full role in all the functions of the staffs of underground papers.
These resolutions were a harbinger of staff rebellions by women that split several papers, including Rat
Rat (Newspaper)
Rat Subterranean News, New York's second major underground newspaper, was created in March 1968, primarily by editor Jeff Shero, Alice Embree and Gary Thiher, who moved up from Austin, Texas, where they had been involved in The Rag.-Beginnings:...
, where the feminist faction seized control of the paper for several issues. A few papers, already weakened by staff burnout, poor finanaces and other factors, died in the wake of these schisms, while others lost revenue and circulation by barring sexual content and advertisements, which in any event were increasingly being spun off into tabloid sex papers like Screw.
Shortly after the formation of the UPS, the number of "underground
Underground press
The underground press were the independently published and distributed underground papers associated with the counterculture of the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and other western nations....
" papers throughout North America expanded dramatically. The explosive growth of the underground press did not begin to subside until 1970, and by 1973 the boom was clearly over and most underground newspapers in the US had ceased publication.
For many years the Underground Press Syndicate was run by Tom Forcade
Tom Forcade
Thomas King Forçade , aka John Thomas Moore and Kenneth Goodson Jr., was an American underground journalist and activist in the 1970s...
, who later founded High Times magazine. After a 1973 meeting of underground and alternative newspapers in Boulder, Colorado
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...
, the name was changed to the Alternative Press Syndicate (APS). APS was an attempt to reinvent the syndicate to compete with the growing network of alternative weeklies
Alternative weekly
An alternative newspaper is a type of newspaper, that eschews comprehensive coverage of general news in favor of stylized reporting, opinionated reviews and columns, investigations into edgy topics and magazine-style feature stories highlighting local people and culture. Their news coverage is more...
networked by the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies
Association of Alternative Newsweeklies
The Association of Alternative Newsmedia is a diverse group of covering every major metropolitan area and other less-populated regions of North America. AAN members have a combined weekly circulation of over 6.5 million as well as a print readership of nearly 17 million active, educated and...
; but failed, and the AAN supplanted its role.
See also
- News agency (alternative)News agency (alternative)An alternative news agency operates in a similar fashion to a commercial news agency, but defines itself as an alternative to commercial or "mainstream" operations. They span the political spectrum, but most frequently are progressive or radical left. Sometimes they combine the services of a news...
- Chicago Seed
- East Village OtherEast Village OtherThe East Village Other , was an American underground newspaper in New York City, New York, published biweekly during the 1960s. EVO was among the first countercultural newspapers to emerge, following the Los Angeles Free Press, which had begun publishing a few months earlier...
- Rat Subterranean News
- Moniebogue PressMoniebogue PressThe Moniebogue Press was an "alternative" newspaper on Eastern Long Island, New York, United States, that lasted for thirty issues, from July 1971 to October 1972. Based in Westhampton Beach, its free distribution was 7500-15,000. Funded by local advertising, it served the communities of Riverhead,...
- UPS membership roster (1971)
- Ray MungoRay MungoRaymond Mungo is the author, co-author, or editor of more than a dozen books. He writes about business, economics, and financial matters as well as cultural issues...
- Thorne Dreyer
Further reading
- Voices from the Underground (Vol. 2): A Directory of Resources and Sources on the Vietnam Era Underground Press Has article about the Underground Press Syndicate and other period alternative news services.
- The Rag and the Underground Press Syndicate.