It sounds like some kind of geek joke: Who has 10 to 15 new articles on the Web every day, contributors from more than 20 countries, and covers everything from Kosovo to Mel Torme?
The Socialists.
More specifically, WSWS, the World Socialist Web Site. Started in 1997 by the Socialist Equality Party and significantly redesigned last year, WSWS is in many ways just like any other webzine, complete with standard sections: Art, Politics, Health, and, um, Worker Struggles. The editors post original content in up to seven different languages, including Indonesian and Sinhala.
But more remarkable than the number or diversity of stories published each day is how the site is produced: by an organization that doesn't have an office, doesn't advertise, and doesn't pay any of its writers -- or even most of its editors. Something like Slashdot with an explicit political agenda.
Unlike the top-down structures of most businesses, the WSWS works as a collective. No editorial assistants fetch coffee. There aren't any back-stabbing career climbers. Well, back-stabbing, maybe, but there's definitely nowhere to climb.
David North, chairman of the WSWS editorial board, said, "We have a very flat horizontal structure with no real center. That's the great strength of the Web."
The 15 or so people around the world who serve on the editorial board are mostly volunteers, each one watching for stories in his or her region. The zine relies partly on a stable of about 30 regular contributors but, according to North, WSWS also gets a "significant amount of contributions from people just writing in."
The editors then coordinate via email and agree on which articles to run and the lineup. It's not edit-by-consensus, as certain board members are in charge of specific sections, but neither is there a hierarchy.
Does that sound a bit haphazard? According to North, "It's actually very simple and remarkably informal. We have very little conflict."
When asked to give details about the size and makeup of the WSWS staff, North said, "We have very few employees. I don't want to get into details. I'm sure you understand."
The site has a fair share of dogmatic -- some might say boring -- articles. (The most recent book review is titled "An Apologia for Stalinism.") But there are some surprises: Austin Powers gets two socialist thumbs up.
North said the site got its first big boost when it posted a negative review of Titanic.
"Everybody got sucked in by that film and we posted a very provocative story criticizing it. Tons of people wrote in," North said.
The site has started to get a bit of attention. Yahoo linked to WSWS Kosovo coverage on nearly a daily basis. And some newspapers, including the Christian Science Monitor and the Daily Telegraph have pointed readers to WSWS. The Toronto Star even found itself recommending a WSWS review of Life is Beautiful.
Of course, like any self-respecting Web site, WSWS is trying to take advantage of its buzz: The site has set up a secure transaction system for taking donations to the cause.
No word yet on an IPO.
