[Imc] print group meeting notes

[David Young]

Print Meeting, 16 September 2001

These notes are pretty long.

Attending: John Wason, Aaron Koonsman, Michael from Decatur, Sandra Ahten,
           Rob Dunn, David Young, Darrin Drda, Scott Smith, Brent
           McDonald, Paul Mueth, Belden Fields, Pauline Bartolone

           (lemme know if I missed someone!)

Main topic: Shall we re-focus the issue on the Sept. 11 events?

Sandra: Shall we dedicate the issue to Sept. 11 exclusively? Other
        articles may look out of place. Suggests everyone give their
        opinion.

Rob: We badly need an alternative viewpoint.

Dave: Ditto. Does not object to 11th becoming exclusive focus.

Mueth: Suggests an article focusing on the violence of structural
       adjustment and the World Bank/IMF meeting.

Belden: Will write a piece that turns the discussion from "Assault on
        America" to a human rights violation and an offense against the
        international community. Will discuss seeking justice at the
        Int'l Criminal Court @ The Hague instead of retaliation.

John: We might have had a weak issue because articles were not coming in,
      and the WTC issue overshadows lots of topics. No objection to
      dedicating the issue exclusively to 11th.

Aaron: Favors using the material we'd discussed at the previous meeting in
       addition to the 11th material. Don't over-do the 11th issue. It's
       frustrating that the mainstream media put aside all other news
       for this event.

Michael: Concerned that we may be "psising against the tide" of the
         overwhelmingly violent mainstream media response, but thinks
         we should do it anyway.

Pauline: There are environmental issues of great importance, e.g.,
         the Bellflower dairy, asbestos & mold from collapsed buildings,
         Alloy Casting Co. article from Lindsay.

Brent: Stick w/ material we have, but don't ignore the mountain
       of info we can use that speaks to the 11th. Strike a balance
       between an alternative view and sensitivity to the community.

Darrin: Devote all or most to this weeks' events. Don't be chilled by
        controversy, serve our role as an alternative voice. Pull stuff
        from our newswire.

Following the go-around, there was a discussion of which articles to
print. Some articles will be postponed, some sections' content will
change:

    Rose's media piece is "evergreen"; will print in a later
    issue. Instead, an article on Saga Communications' purchase of
    the Octopus.

    Arts section may contain Scott Rettberg's (sp?) newspoem, "Shit."

    For environment, Bellflower dairy article by Molly Stentz. 500-600
    words. "Needs context," sez Wason.

    An article on Matt Hale's appearance will appear.

    Belden will write his article concerning attacks on the 11th and
    human rights tonight.

At our next meeting, we will consider pieces on the 11th from a pool
that is expected to include such articles as these:

    Articles on newswire by Scott Webber, Sam Smith, and other national
    pieces, which Wason will take a look at. Darrin will point him to
    "Letter from President Bush," what Bush could have said in his
    address.

    A letter by Sarah Kanouse. (Sent to the DI?)

    Darrin's letter about honoring the dead by defense of liberty at
    home instead of retaliating abroad.

    A letter from the Islamic community. Aaron is working on this.

    Sandra on peace and spirituality.

    An article on the 100 who met at IMC.

    What can individuals do? ---from St. Louis IMC

    Bob Naiman article on Clinton illegally over-riding Congress's
    mandate to IMF. (Sorry, might have gotten that wrong.)

    Latin America solidarity meeting and a peace rally may occur in
    Washington in spite of World Bank/IMF meetings' postponement. Locals
    will go.

The issue after next, we may run articles on:

    Civil liberties after the incident: network eavesdropping w/
    Carnivore, etc.

    Michael on restrictions to the right to organize and their effect
    in Decatur.

Michael from Decatur addressed the group about the need for Indymedia
in Decatur. Volunteered to write articles on labor (esp. Firestone)
and school system. Also, he volunteers to distribute public i in Decatur.

Cartoons: The fleeing Vietnamese illustration is well-liked, but poorly
          rendered.

-- 
David Young                   On the Job Consulting
dyoung at onthejob.net     Urbana, IL * (217) 278-3933