[IMC-US] letter to yes magazine

[Michael Medow]

hmm... this letter seems a bit arrogant to me. Are you sure that 
Indymedia is "the most accessible and usable tool for media democracy 
worldwide?"  That's a claim that I think you'd be hard pressed to back 
up. Especially considering that the vast majority of those oppressed by 
imperialism probably don't have internet access. Despite that lack of 
access however, those with less material wealth and political power 
sustain and build community resistance through radio, print projects, 
theatre, music, graffiti and other grassroots media tools and tactics, 
the vast majority of which are not IMC-affiliated.

I don't mean to hate. Its just that this letter, while well 
intentioned, reflects an arrogance that I hear coming from a lot of IMC 
folks. We're doing some good work, but so are lots and lots of media 
activists not affiliated with IMC. We can get excited about our work, 
but lets not assume that we are the revolution or something.

time for a shot of humility juice.
mike
/michigan IMC


On Feb 25, 2005, at 1:35 AM, sing and dance! wrote:

>
> hi just wrote this....
> wonder if anyone wanted to add/suggest/sign on or whatever...
> in reference to current issue of yes! magazine
> http://www.yesmagazine.org/
>
> what i wrote:
>
> Dear Editors of Yes! Magazine:
>
> Well, I must say I am quite surprised.  Returning home from the first 
> national
> conference of the Independent Media Center (Indymedia) network, I 
> found the
> latest issue of Yes! magazine waiting in my mailbox, with a picture of 
> Amy
> Goodman on the cover, and a focus on alternative media!  'Great!'  I 
> thought to
> myself, 'a continuation of the work we did all weekend' -- laughing a 
> little at
> the coincidence of having just talked to Amy in person at the 
> conference, and
> then seeing her face on the front of the magazine.  But as I flipped 
> through
> the magazine, looking for the discussion of the Indymedia phenomenon, 
> it
> just......wasn't.....there!  Thinking maybe I missed it, I flipped 
> back through
> several times....strange, it wasn't even in the list of 'Media 
> Resources' -- the
> only mentions of Indymedia were in a film review of 'Independent Media 
> in a Time
> of War', produced by the Hudson-Mohawk Independent Media Center in New 
> York, and
> a note in the article about DeeDee Halleck mentioning she was a 
> founding member.
>  Was the omission a conscious choice on the part of the editors, or 
> was this
> appalling absence simply an oversight?
>
> The glaring absence of an article on Indymedia in an issue about 
> alternative
> media is especially surprising due to the fact that Indymedia, as a 
> movement,
> is fast becoming the most accessible and usable tool for media 
> democracy
> worldwide.  Since the founding of Indymedia at the protests against 
> the World
> Trade Organization talks in Seattle in 1999, Independent Media Centers 
> have
> sprouted up all over the globe -- at last count, there were over 150.  
> The
> idea?  Simply to make it possible and easy for people to publish their 
> own
> photos, audio, video and writing for a global audience, without 
> editors,
> administrative hierarchies or spin.  This 'open publishing' occurs on a
> website, www.indymedia.org or a local Indymedia site, and from there 
> stories
> are featured, used on radio programs, print publications, local 
> television
> broadcasts...the possibilities are endless, and continue to grow, as 
> the
> Indymedia centers themselves continue to grow.
>
> Hopefully your readers will add Indymedia to their list of alternative 
> media
> resources, and connect with (or start) their own local Independent 
> Media Center
> wherever they are (a current list of all the local sites is available 
> on the
> global site: www.indymedia.org).
>
> jenka soderberg
> dc indymedia
> ------------------------------
>
> http://www.jenkasjourneys.org
>
> ------------------------------
> _______________________________________________
> IMC-US mailing list
> IMC-US at lists.ucimc.org
> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/imc-us
>
>
>
.. .  .   .    .     .      .       .        .         .          .     
       .            .             .              .
Michigan Independent Media Center: http://michiganIMC.org
Critical Moment: http://criticalmoment.org/