[2] The group also produced political satire shows, the most recent being national tours in 2004 and 2005, and since its inception held free-information stalls and marquees at major UK festivals, free parties and other events.

One of the focal points of this campaign was the squatting of an old courthouse in central Brighton in September 1994, from which began live "newsreading performances", amongst other demonstrations, direct action protests, events, talks, parties.

The first version of SchNEWS was a pilot issue created by David M. Berry and Gibby Zobel in Luther Street, Brighton, was published on 16 November 1994, being one side of A4.

SchNEWS quickly built up a national readership, gaining popularity[citation needed] for presenting its news in a concise, witty and jargon-free language.

It has also reported on labour issues such as the Liverpool Dockers' Strike of 1995–97, fights against the privatisation of public services, racism, climate change and genetic engineering.

While the final editions of SchNEWS look very similar to the initial issues – two sides of A4 crammed with text – its subject matter and readership was transformed by the rise of the internet.

While its first five years saw SchNEWS as the newsletter for the British direct action movement, and mostly distributed in paper form, in 2000 it joined Indymedia and other alternative media on the internet to reach an international audience, and the content broadened accordingly.