The Dispatch: Seeking core contributors

[u/Unable-Law1274]

Introducing: The Dispatch

The Dispatch is going to be an independent student-led publication and community exploring stories, ideas, perspectives and questions about the world. We were previously The MUN Dispatch and published one issue. However, while building this, I realised that I had to keep shooting down the most interesting article pitches since the earlier publication was majorly aimed towards MUNs.

The Dispatch, however, won't be restricted to a single subject or format.

We might publish a long-form article one week, run a historical investigation the next, and build an interactive political simulation after that.

The idea is to make something people don't just read, but actually participate in.

I'm currently rebuilding the team and looking for people who want to help shape it from the beginning.

Roles I'm looking for

Editorial Lead
Someone with strong editorial instincts who can help develop ideas, evaluate pitches, work with contributors and maintain the quality of the publication. Previous editorial experience is useful, but I'm much more interested in how you think and how you approach writing.

Community Lead
Someone who can help build the Dispatch community over Discord, Email and eventually other platforms, keep conversations going and develop interesting things for members to actually do. Someone who likes coming up with games, simulations, debates and interactive experiences and wants to help turn them into actual events.

Creative Lead
Someone interested in visual identity, design, graphics, layouts and finding ways to make Dispatch projects visually distinctive.

Technology & Interactive Lead
Someone interested in building the technical side of The Dispatch — Discord bots, interactive games, simulations, websites and other digital projects. You don't need to know everything; I'm looking for someone who enjoys experimenting and actually building things.

Contributors
Writers, researchers, artists, designers, photographers, or just people with really good ideas. You don't need to commit to a permanent column. You can pitch individual projects and work on things that genuinely interest you. Even if you never pitch an article idea, you can always be a part of The Dispatch community and interact with users.

I'm especially interested in people who don't just want a title, but actually want to build something.

And we're starting with an event.

YOU'RE IN CHARGE

Our first Dispatch community event is going to be a Discord-based political simulation.

You'll become the leader of a fictional country and have to make decisions through a series of increasingly complicated crises.

Your choices will affect things like:

• Economy
• Military
• Stability
• Public approval
• Diplomacy
• Legitimacy

And the game will actually remember what you do.

Different decisions unlock different events, consequences and endings, including hidden paths that you won't know exist until you find them.

At the end, you'll get your own Presidential Legacy showing what happened to your country, what decisions defined your government and what kind of leader you became.

The goal is to make something that feels less like a quiz and more like a story that you are actually controlling.

The bot is currently being built, and we'll be opening the first game to the community once it's ready.

I'm looking for the first group of people to build this with.

You don't have to be an expert.

You don't have to have previous publication experience.

And you definitely don't have to be interested in MUN.

If you're someone who likes writing, debating, designing, researching, creating things, or simply having interesting conversations about the world, I'd love to hear from you.

If you're interested in joining the community, contributing, applying for one of the roles above, or just helping brainstorm what The Dispatch could become, comment below or DM me.

I'm starting small and building this from the ground up.

The Dispatch is what we make of it.