Unzine magazine (2007-2008)
"Unzine" is self-initiated project - a monthly magazine for expression of the minority opinion distributed via the Internet in the PDF format 1 x 1 m in size, bringing articles dealing with various subjects usually ignored by the mainstream media.
Using low level technology the PDF content is possible to print out on paper and circulate from hand to hand among the stakeholders like fanzine while the PDF itself also allows the possibility of writing in commentaries in a space allowed for it, but they can also be shifted, and deleted in Acrobat Professional.
Each version of the journal created after the hard copy is made is thus potentially different. The person who creates the hard copy can then be directly involved in the process of forming the meanings sent onwards.
It has been created with the intention of compensating for the diminishing presence of nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) in the public sphere, caused by the changes on the Croatian media scene.
At the beginning of the 21st century, this scene has gotten progressively more closed off for the subject matter that was covered in the 1990s not only by the so-called alternative-culture publications, but mainstream media as well. At present, most of the Croatian print media are owned by the international publishing corporations whose operation is guided by the profit margins.
The financing of publications which dealt with subjects vital to the functioning of the public sphere during the 90s has been reduced. So has the target audience for such publications. The medium which presents itself as a logical solution in this situation is the Internet, while the appropriate publication genre through which minority opinion in society could be expressed is the so called webzine.
www.unzine.org
Promotional campaign on stickers www.flickr.com/photos/unzine_mag
Click here for the article by Jonathan Barnbrook.
