[IMC-US] personal reprtback for indy folks abouttheNationalCOnference on Med

[Tribal Scribal]

More great comments. I agree w/you that  " i don't think we should leave the 
media reform scene just yet though, but we should articulate our ideas to 
them in a clear manner."  In some ways it's not an either/or, but a both at 
once. It's important to get in the corporados face at the same time we build 
a parallel or opposing structure.

my only other comment. when folks say: "many times it has been raised how 
indymedia is formed of white,male and middle class individuals in the united 
states." they need to make the distinction that some of us actually ARE 
working class :)

d.o.


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"I hold it that a little rebellion now and then is a good thing, and as 
necessary in the political world as storms in the physical world."

- Thomas Jefferson
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more rebellion here:
http://concertobi.blogspot.com/

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>From: ali t <ali at riseup.net>
>Reply-To: "Working Group for IMC-US." <imc-us at lists.ucimc.org>
>To: "Working Group for IMC-US." <imc-us at lists.ucimc.org>
>Subject: Re: [IMC-US] personal reprtback for indy folks 
>abouttheNationalCOnference on Media Reform.
>Date: Wed, 18 May 2005 02:22:36 -0700
>
>both kat and mike have echoed my thoughts to a great degree. good thing i 
>slacked off writing this e-mail for a few days because i couldn't have put 
>it better. a few things to build upon mike's e-mail and talk a bit about 
>us, indymedia,  rather than them, "media reform".
>
>i went to the conference expecting precisely what i experienced. but i 
>thought there might be opportunities to discuss and constructively build 
>upon the divergences that have been elaborated on this thread. while most 
>of us lie upon the opposite side of the spectrum as free press and its 
>cohorts, there is a space in between that can use careful navigation. 
>prometheus radio project does this well. they identify the problem: 
>communities (whether it be white liberals in new england or the imokolee 
>workers in florida) don't have access to radio technology, they go thru the 
>legislative steps to ensure legality: lobby congress and the FCC but don't 
>stop there (why i respect them immensely) and put the tools of media into 
>those that need it: have barn raisings and actually build radio stations.
>
>the tension at the conference was so obvious that at points it made me 
>overly anxious about the whole situation. The two women of color at the 
>opening plenary emphasized that media reform should not be done for the 
>sake of media reform  but for the goals of social justice (and 
>international social justice). where was this goal in the conference? after 
>a quick glance at the program i only see a couple panels that adressed the 
>issue.
>
>as was previously mentioned, indymedia suffers from some of the same 
>symptoms that we criticize free press and the media reform conference of 
>having, i'm not sure how i feel about the terminology "media justice" but 
>since that is what has been used to describe  the creation of a new media 
>system by those who are oppressed to extinguish oppression, i will use it 
>as well. on numerous occasions thruout the history of the network various 
>indymedia activists have remarked how indymedia is not challenging the 
>dominant forms of oppression in society and they are often replicated 
>within indymedia. alas not partaking in the media justice struggle. many 
>times it has been raised how indymedia is formed of white,male and middle 
>class individuals in the united states.
>
>but one of the factors that distinguish us from "free press" is that we 
>acknowledge this problem and talk about it. this was clearly witnessed by 
>anyone who went to the conference in austin. the question now is that, 
>since we have identified a major problem what do we do about it? and in 
>terms of the media reformists, how do we present to them that this is what 
>they need to do as well, if they wish to have an impact?
>
>Accessibility is a big issue. both in terms of the technology and interms 
>of us, the people who are in the us indymedia milieu right now. how do we 
>take care of this issue? do we focus on building indymedia centers in 
>people of color and working class communities? offer skillshares in those 
>communities?
>
>in my opinion one of the greatest strengths that indymedia has is the 
>decentralized network that is established.  we can contribute to the media 
>justice movement by facilitating the connection of those oppressed 
>communities with each other thru indymedia. the fact that a victim of 
>police brutality in oakland can tell her/his story to another victim in 
>detroit, directly, unmediated is realizing the full potential of this 
>tool/tactic that we have. if this is done i believe that we can contribute 
>to the self-empowerment of marginalized communities via indymedia.
>
>the media reform was a big liberal fest and perhaps this was what left such 
>a sour taste in my mouth. thousands of people cheering "we want Al!", the 
>aplauding of NPR and Jim Lehrer by Moyers etc. it made me sick. a great 
>number of the attendees were definitely what could be called grassroots. 
>but the vantage point was overwhelmingly towards the vertical, geared 
>towards congress and the old white men that dominate washington dc. and it 
>was kind of ironic to see some of those old white men who were at the 
>conference remark "wow it's so good to get out of the beltway" (i heard 
>this more than once). fuck! if it's so good to get out of the beltway why 
>are you trying to get into the depth of it!?
>
>as others have already mentioned, it was this verticalness that bothered me 
>immensely. grassroots organizing doesn't mean mobilizing the grassroots to 
>have an effect on systems that are inherently anti-community and 
>anti-grassroots. this is what moveon.org does so effectively. mobilizing 
>the grassroots for their own obsoleteness. and this is what free press was 
>doing this past weekend.
>
>i don't think we should leave the media reform scene just yet though, but 
>we should articulate our ideas to them in a clear manner. if not sooner 
>then at the next conference.
>
>
>ali
>sfbay imc volunteer
>
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