Minister's Desk

Fiji is exporting our jobs to the South Pacific!

It depends on the format of the interviews. If they are done in the format that The Spotlight was, in which you just go back and forth between the interviewer and the interviewee, then that would go in TNS. If the interview is formatted more in the way I wrote the article I did on Wallenburg, in which you conduct the interview separately and then write about it eloquently, there's a chance it could be included in TNL. I say 'a chance' because that article would be subject to much more rigorous editing, review, and examination. No article is guaranteed a slot in either paper, but I tend to see TNL as having much higher editorial standards.

Me and Fiji have agreed that given my lack of work this term, and given that it isn't going to get any easier in the future, that it would be best that we get a new deputy for TNL who can keep up with the work n stuff. I haven't been able to keep up with the increased demands and rapid changes in the ministry, basically. Best of luck to my replacement!

Malphe
That rat dude

I am sorry that you have chosen to resign and I am sadden that you have however I want to thank you for your hard work and wish you luck on your future endeavors.

Thanks for your service, and thanks for getting TNL back on track in December.

Sorry to see you go Malphe - all the best mate .

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Good day, all! A lot has been changing within the Ministry of Communications, as we've been growing in both number and responsibility. It's a great sign for the future of the region. I'd like to thank all my past and present deputies for their role in bringing us to this day. However, due to the changing needs of the Ministry, there is now a need for new Deputies.

The new Managing Editor of The Northern Lights (and Deputy Minister of Communications) is @BMWSurfer. This role remains unchanged.

Additionally, there is a new publication planned - one focused on Roleplay within our community and within NS. The new magazine will take on the same format as The Northern Lights, aiming to be interesting, well edited, and beautifully stylized. It is our hope to bring RP news to the forefront of the Ministry of Comms, putting it on equal footing as The Northern Lights. The publication hopes to debut near the start of April, and will be a joint publication with the Ministry of Culture. To aid in the creation of this new magazine, I'm bringing on @Syrixia as another Deputy Minister of Communications to serve as the interface between the Ministry of Communications and the Forum RP community. Likewise, I'm bringing on @Lotion as a Deputy Minister of Communications to serve as the interface between the Ministry of Communications and the RMB RP Community.

Please take your oaths.

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Oath taken! I look forward to do all I can to make this publication a success and promote the vibrant and wonderful TNP Roleplay community in government!

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In the last month, the Ministry of Communications has undergone significant changes. We have increased productivity and gained additional responsibilities. Notably, there is a new publication planned by the name of The Roleplay Reel, which is intended to be a new roleplay-focused magazine on the same caliber as The Northern Lights. We are aiming to release the first Issue near the start of April. To aid with the increased burden, two new deputies have been hired: @Syrixia, to interface with the forumside RP community, and @Lotion, to interface with the gameside RP community. Furthermore, with the increased load on the Ministry, I had to reassess the contributions of each of my deputies. In doing so, @Malphe agreed to resign, and I thank him for his service. @BMWSurfer agreed to step up to fill the position.

Since the last report, we have:

1. Established a system of Points and Ranks to help motivate staff members.
2. Uploaded each of the old bootsie radio episodes to NBS, with permission from @bootsie.
3. Recorded Speaker @Artemis' February 16 Town Hall, and uploaded to NBS.
4. Planned for and scheduled new sets of NBS Shows.
5. Created an NBS Setup Seminar to assist new creators in recording audio for their shows.
6. Released an update from the Ministry of Communications via NBS.
7. Uploaded Episode 1 of @Deerfenland's NBS Strangereal show.
8. Published The North Star - Issue V.
9. Published The Northern Lights - Issue XXVII.
10. Begun planning for The North Star - Issue VI.

The plan for the second half of this term is to make good on our commitments to publish each of our publications, and make a push to do so on time. Additionally, several of the scheduled NBS shows have not yet been produced. The first step is to get everyone on the right footing, and it is our hope that by the end of the term, these shows become regular. And as always, we continue to seek constructive criticism from the community to improve our publications for the betterment of The North Pacific.

Signed,

El Fiji Grande

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Very exciting things happening with the Ministry of Communications. I look forward to seeing the success for the rest of the term!

I love what's happening to MoC! Congratulations to all!

I'll be resigning from my Deputy Minister of Communications position. I need to focus on IRL stuff and RP for a while, so I don't want to be overwhelmed with stuff I need to do.
Apologies for my short term.

Thank you for your service

Thanks for your service.

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As I have spoken of for the last few weeks - and made sure to notify both my deputies and the Executive Council - I am about to depart on a leave of absence. This will last from March 22 - April 2, and during that time, @BMWSurfer will serve as the acting Minister of Communications. As the post is only temporary, it is my understanding that there is no need for him to take an oath of office, so there is no conflict with his current role as Minister of Home Affairs.

I have taken the necessary steps to make my staff aware of the situation, and have made my expectations clear that all projects underway will continue in my absence. First and foremost, we're still seeking authors for Issue XXVIII of The Northern Lights, which is due to be published at the start of May and will cover topics relating to the WA. If you're interested in writing a piece, please let BMWSurfer know. I have also instructed BMWSurfer to continue working with @Syrixia and @St George in order to see through the timely delivery of The Roleplay Reel by the end of April. We're looking not just for authors, but also for logo designs. And lastly, while my focuses have been diverted by The Roleplay Reel and The Northern Lights, I'd still like to see the NBS News Show that @Bobberino had planned for the other day run while I'm away. I can upload it to the NBS youtube channel upon my return. Speaking of which, I have shared the account information for that channel with TNP's admin team. @Marcus Antonius should also complete The North Star - Issue VI by April 1.

For those wondering, I'll be in Peru to see Cuzco, Machu Picchu, and Lima.

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Have a wonderful trip Fiji.
Watch out for those Llama's and Alpaca's lol

Office of the Minister of Home Affairs

1 Integration Way

Magicality City, The North Pacific

April 2, 2019


Mr. El Fiji Grande, Minister

Office of the Minister of Communications

1 Publication Blvd

Magicality City, The North Pacific


Mr. Minister:


I am pleased to report that during your leave of absence Ministry happenings ran smoothly. Below is a report of happenings within the Ministry since March 22nd.


The North Star

Production of The North Star was going smoothly until one of our authors, Dinoium, decided to abandon the two articles he volunteered to write. Deputy Marcus Antonius promptly made me and the rest of Ministry leadership aware of the situation. I volunteered to write the Judicial Election review article, and Deputy Bobberino volunteered to interview me. Both articles were completed within 24 hours of this incident – ahead of our scheduled due date. For Marcus’ part, production of The North Star continued smoothly with no further issue. However, when loading the dispatch code into the dispatch posting service, I encountered an error which prevented its publication. The “error” turned out to be an article containing a word on the NationStates language filter. The issue was rectified quickly, and publication resumed with no incident.


The Northern Lights

As discussed with the Delegate, The Northern Lights is currently looking for foreign authors. Imperium Anglorum expressed interest in writing, and the Delegate informed me that he had another potential author. These will require follow ups.

Our two other authors, Minister Tlomz and Bowloftoast, were reminded about their articles and both confirmed that they are works in progress.


Northern Broadcasting Service

While hopeful that he would be able to do so, Bobberino was unable to produce an episode of the Northern Broadcasting Service.


The Roleplay Reel

On March 29th, Syrixia informed the Roleplay Reel group chat that he only received one article submission. He decided to make a forum thread for submissions as well. Follow up is needed in the following days.


I officially stand down as Acting Minister of Communications.


Col. BMWSurfer, Minister

Minister of Home Affairs

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It has come to my attention that I failed to post the monthly update for the Ministry of Communications in the last two months. In fairness, we’ve been really busy as a Ministry, even if most of the work we do largely remains unseen by the public. In the last two months, we’ve completed the publication process for Issue XXVIII of The Northern Lights and created a whole new publication in The Roleplay Reel. This collaboration with the Ministry of Culture has been largely successful, and despite some early criticism, has been met with positive feedback.

Since the last report, we have:

1. Published Issue VI of The North Star.
2. Planned for Issue VII of The North Star.
3. Formed a formal relationship with the Ministry of Culture to produce The Roleplay Reel.
4. Planned for both Issue XXVIII of The Northern Lights and Issue I of The Roleplay Reel.
5. Uploaded a Town Hall with Speaker Artemis to NBS.
6. Received, edited, and formatted dozens of articles for each of our publications. (!)
7. Hosted and uploaded an NBS show for the WA Symposium.
8. Published Issue VII of The North Star.
9. Begun planning for Issue VIII of The North Star.
10. Published Issue XXVIII of The Northern Lights.
11. Published Issue I of The Roleplay Reel.

While it may not look like much, the majority of these last two months were consumed by #6 as listed above - reminding authors to submit drafts, editing those drafts, and formatting them for publishing. This was the first time I had other nations help me with that formatting, and I think @Deerfenland should get credit for his work on the cover design of The Roleplay Reel - Issue I. Likewise, @Prydania should receive applause for his work designing the logo of RPR.

And as always, we continue to seek constructive criticism from the community to improve our publications for the betterment of The North Pacific.

Signed,

El Fiji Grande

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It’s been an honor to serve as your Minister of Communications these last few months. This term has seen the Ministry grow and expand in both staff and responsibility to become a fully functioning Ministry in its own right. We’ve perfected The Northern Lights, created a whole new publication in The Roleplay Reel with the MInistry of Culture, and have maintained consistency with The North Star. While the Northern Broadcast Service could have used more work, the latest NBS show for the WA Symposium received interregional recognition and I hope this will generate renewed interest.

I see the greatest area of improvement in the Ministry in terms of publications to be NBS. Hosting more frequent, albeit shorter shows should boost listener attention. Additionally, increasing variety by encouraging TNPers to host their own shows and activities should make NBS have something for everyone. Such shows could include game nights/TNP trivia, interviews of government officials or influential foreign guests, and more episodes of the TNP tutorial series.

The greatest area of improvement in general, however, is with our staff. Increasingly, it has felt like the Ministry is exclusively run by my deputies and I. However, it is evident that there are a handful of promising newcomers who could well lead the Ministry in the future if only we’d do more to train them and give them a chance. Accordingly, I recommend that the future Minister of Communications reserve The North Star for newcomers and place a focus on mentoring nations on editing and formatting. Additionally, a giant list of tasks should be made in the planning phase of each major publication (TNL and RPR), and these tasks should be claimable by all members of the Ministry. While doing so may be troublesome to begin with, once all staff members understand how to perform each task, the efficiency and efficacy of the Ministry will be vastly increased. The Points and Awards system should also be updated to reflect that editing and formatting articles should receive credit.

While there is much to improve on, it’s important to see how far we’ve come. I can hardly remember the Ministry before I took office, and each of my deputies this term have been an invaluable resource to bounce ideas off of. I’d like to specifically thank @Bobberino, @Marcus Antonius, @BMWSurfer, and @Syrixia for their service this term. Expect an update on the points awarded this term later today.

Thanks for a fantastic term! I wish the next Minister of Communications all the best!

Signed,

El Fiji Grande

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El Fiji Grande:

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Closing Statement
May 11, 2019​

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It’s been an honor to serve as your Minister of Communications these last few months. This term has seen the Ministry grow and expand in both staff and responsibility to become a fully functioning Ministry in its own right. We’ve perfected The Northern Lights, created a whole new publication in The Roleplay Reel with the MInistry of Culture, and have maintained consistency with The North Star. While the Northern Broadcast Service could have used more work, the latest NBS show for the WA Symposium received interregional recognition and I hope this will generate renewed interest.

I see the greatest area of improvement in the Ministry in terms of publications to be NBS. Hosting more frequent, albeit shorter shows should boost listener attention. Additionally, increasing variety by encouraging TNPers to host their own shows and activities should make NBS have something for everyone. Such shows could include game nights/TNP trivia, interviews of government officials or influential foreign guests, and more episodes of the TNP tutorial series.

The greatest area of improvement in general, however, is with our staff. Increasingly, it has felt like the Ministry is exclusively run by my deputies and I. However, it is evident that there are a handful of promising newcomers who could well lead the Ministry in the future if only we’d do more to train them and give them a chance. Accordingly, I recommend that the future Minister of Communications reserve The North Star for newcomers and place a focus on mentoring nations on editing and formatting. Additionally, a giant list of tasks should be made in the planning phase of each major publication (TNL and RPR), and these tasks should be claimable by all members of the Ministry. While doing so may be troublesome to begin with, once all staff members understand how to perform each task, the efficiency and efficacy of the Ministry will be vastly increased. The Points and Awards system should also be updated to reflect that editing and formatting articles should receive credit.

While there is much to improve on, it’s important to see how far we’ve come. I can hardly remember the Ministry before I took office, and each of my deputies this term have been an invaluable resource to bounce ideas off of. I’d like to specifically thank @Bobberino, @Marcus Antonius, @BMWSurfer, and @Syrixia for their service this term. Expect an update on the points awarded this term later today.

Thanks for a fantastic term! I wish the next Minister of Communications all the best!

Signed,

El Fiji Grande

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This has been a monumental two terms for Comms, and two of the best in memory. I'm just proud to have served during such. o7

Likewise. It's been an honor. I hope I can continue on next term and keep helping with the RPR! I'm excited to see where it goes.

Great speech. I'm excited to see what's next!

Hey everyone. Many of you may know that when I was starting out in TNP, the very first job I pursued was Minister of Communications. I laid out what I considered to be an ambitious but realistic idea of how we could reinvent The Northern Light and strive for regular publications. I was not chosen by the delegate, but Communications has always been an area near and dear to my heart. When I was delegate, no matter which term, I felt that Communications was some of the best work we did. It's changed a lot since that day I joined TNP, and it's still changing. We have seen TNL evolve several times in the last 2 years, and blossom into something really special. As we did in the past, we have been able to take that dramatic change, and turn it into the new normal. We must keep what we have already achieved, and evolve further. Communications can be the primary way we speak to each other and to our neighbors. In simple ordinary conversation, in dialogue, in speaking the words that need to be heard in print or via recording, we can bring to life everything that our fellow TNPers do in every area of the government. If we do so in an entertaining and interesting way, that message will be well-received and go further than it otherwise might.

The white whale of Communications for as long as I have been around is NBS. And so it is that my goal for this term that we give NBS the same dramatic transformation and evolution that we saw in TNL. Maintaining the ground we have gained, and keeping that going while taking on even more responsibility and time commitment will take greater focus and a greater staff than we currently have. For that reason we must already be working on the next thing. Thankfully this ministry is already doing just that. TNS must be finished first, TNL planning in earnest, and throughout it all we will be brainstorming and envisioning the new face of NBS. This is still an untapped gold mine, it generates immediate interest, it is an easy and instant way to communicate, creates a momentary live event and is a great way to reach out to other regions. The WA Symposium revealed the potential this medium has when we bring on other voices, and this will be key to having regular and dynamic shows.

During this term we will release the second edition of the Roleplay Reel. Despite rocky early reviews it turned out to be well-received and well-done, and we want to make sure we are a reliable conduit to the roleplay community. While this is very much a domestic production, i believe there is room for a foreign voice, as there was in our most recent TNL and NBS. I will consider that an aspirational goal, however, as I feel TNL and NBS will lend themselves more to a foreign perspective, and keeping the RP community engaged and comfortable with the Roleplay Reel is the primary concern. To that end I will continue to enlist the help of Prydania and Syrixia, who did a great job bringing the first Roleplay Reel to life.

The key to a solid term in Communications is to make sure your machine is well-oiled and humming, and you have the right people to operate the machinery. I don't intend to change the machinery we have grown accustomed to using in the last few months (or the incentives and built-in metrics for monitoring progress and rewarding good work), and in fact will be relying on the staff who stays on to keep it going. But we have a lot of room to build new machinery where we are still figuring things out, especially in NBS but also in Rolepay Reel. We have to evaluate the state of the staff and make sure everyone is in a role best suited for their talents and interests. For that reason I do not have deputy announcements to make yet, but those will follow in the days to come.

-Ghost

Sounds like a plan, stan. Good luck Ghost.

@Robespierre is hereby appointed Deputy Minister. I trust he can add these to his big plate of duties and keep up the good work.

@Bobberino is hereby re-appointed Deputy Minister. It is important for the work to continue as consistently as possible, and he brings much needed experience and skill to areas we wish to develop this term.

I would like to also reappoint @Marcus Antonius as a deputy minister. His work on TNS was phenomenal and keeping that going strong is a prerequisite for us to continue the great work in Comms and to allow us to look more to NBS and other areas. I know he has a lot more on his plate this term so I feel we’re lucky to have him back, and I thank him for his continued service.

In previous terms, ministers have often had to edit most of the articles for our publications themselves in addition to any initial editing of authors. While this is viable for the right minister, it's inevitable that errors of all kinds, grammatical, structural, or in terms of formatting, will slip through. Editing has been of some focus in ministries of the past, but I believe more work can be done to elevate the role of the editor within the ministry.

With a new term, comes new standards. As times change, it is important that we keep up with the level of quality demanded of us. So, in an effort to improve the editing standards of the publications of the Ministry of Communications, I have decided to create a Senior Editing Team. The team will be responsible for thoroughly editing and reviewing articles before they are published and distributed. A new discord channel for the SET will be set up, with a new masking created within Discord named 'Senior Editor'.

With TNS XIII planning now in the works, it will be up to the SET to perform the final grammatical and formatting checks to assure the quality that we are capable of. The SET will also be responsible for editing and reviewing articles for TNL releases.

@El Fiji Grande, @Darcania, and myself will make up the first three members of the Senior Editing Team. Any other appointments will be announced at a further date when confirmed.

I hereby appoint @Bobberino to the Senior Editing Team.

It is important that the newly-formed Senior Editing Team get straight into the thick of the projects we have planned for October so that our standards are established early on. Let's get to business.

The following are the assignments for each Senior Editor for TNS XIII and TNL 30:


I will update this post as the state of articles changes between the stages of production and editing. I will also be in contact with editors individually about their assigned articles. The image above reflects the current state of all articles in current planning.

I hereby appoint @Robespierre to the Senior Editing Team.

Here are the second round of assignments for Editors for the next issue of TNS, and the current issue of TNL. I have updated the TNL articles and their assigned editors to create a fairer spread of work.

The following are the assignments for each Senior Editor for TNS XIV and TNL 30:


I'll be in contact with each editor about their assignments, should any concerns or suggestions need raising.

moar TNL

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It is with great pleasure to hereby appoint @Bobberino as a Deputy Minister of Communications.

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It is with great pleasure to hereby appoint @Angshire as a Deputy Minister of Communications.

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It is with great pleasure to hereby appoint @Kaschovia as a Deputy Minister of Communications.