Underground Press Syndicate The Counterculture Network

The Underground Press Syndicate (UPS), later known as the Alternative Press Syndicate (APS), was a pivotal network of countercultural newspapers and magazines that operated from 1966 into the late 1970s. It served as a collaborative hub for independent publications, allowing for the rapid dissemination of radical ideas, news, and art during a period of intense social upheaval.

Formation and Core Philosophy

The UPS was founded by the publishers of five pioneering underground papers: the East Village Other (New York City), the Los Angeles Free Press, the Berkeley Barb, The Paper (East Lansing, Michigan), and Fifth Estate (Detroit, Michigan). The syndicate's primary goal was to foster a sense of national community among isolated publishers and to create a coordinated network of "freaky papers."

The operational model of the UPS was based on mutual aid and open exchange. Members agreed to several key terms:

• Allowing all other members to freely reprint their contents.
• Exchanging gratis subscriptions with one another.
• Occasionally printing a listing of all UPS newspapers and their addresses.

This open-access approach meant that countercultural news stories, criticism, and cartoons were widely disseminated, providing a wealth of content for even the smallest start-up publications.

Rapid Expansion and Growth

Shortly after its inception, the number of underground papers in North America grew dramatically. A roster published in November 1966 listed only 14 underground papers; by 1971, this number had expanded to 271 UPS-affiliated papers across the United States, Canada, and Europe. The combined readership of the underground press eventually reached into the millions.

Leadership under Tom Forcade

For many years, the organization was led by Tom Forcade, who later founded High Times magazine. Under Forcade's leadership, the UPS established an office in New York City, where it curated an underground press collection for microfilming and published the UPS News Service and the Underground Press Revue.

The UPS and Women's Liberation

As the movement evolved, the UPS began to address the issue of women's liberation, which had initially been overlooked in the male-dominated underground press. At the 1969 conference, the UPS passed several landmark resolutions aimed at eliminating male supremacy and chauvinism from their publications. These resolutions included:

• Ending the use of women's bodies as commodities in commercial advertising to sell records or other products.
• Making a concerted effort to publish material specifically focused on women's oppression and liberation.
• Ensuring women had a full role in all functions of the staff of underground papers.

These resolutions served as a precursor to staff rebellions by women in several papers, including Rat, where feminist factions eventually seized control of the publication for a period of time.