[Imc-newsroom] Free Speech

[Mike Perry]

A friend of mine lies sick on her death bed. She cries in pain, every
day and every night. The media proclaims how she must live, the
government claims to support her, corporations claim to pay her life
support bills. Yet she continues to die, slowly, painfully. Her medical
chart simply reads "Speech, Freedom of. Affliction: Suffocation"

She's a very important friend of mine, and I imagine yours too, though
some of you may not know it, or though you may claim it, you may not
know how to truly help her. A tear came to my eye when I read a recent
advertisement in the Daily Illini. It must have shot a bullet right
through her already weakened physique.

I'm not talking about the Horowitz ad. I'm talking about the response.
It pains me to see a group of people who believe they have the right
cause, but instead of trying to educate people on their point of view,
they use the majority of their valuable resources to run a full page ad
in the Daily Illini decrying the very system that would allow them to
make the largest difference. The arguments they made in their tiny
handout are excellent. These are the arguments that should have been
made in their full page ad.

But instead, their leaflets lie crumpled, turned town, or tossed away,
while the only message people see are those advocating ignorance,
repression, and denial. 

The advertisement may have polarized the campus community. But I say let
us be polarized. Enough with the fence sitters. At least people who are
polarized know what they fight for. No one wins tug of war by pulling at
the middle. It is only by being polarized that we can see the opposition
clearly, discuss with them our differences, and hopefully come to at
least an understanding, if not a conclusion.

So in the interest of understanding, let me close with a few words of
advice to all involved.

To the INITIATIVE Project I say: Instead of spending your resources
fighting the process, a basic inalienable right, trying to silence the
opposition, spend them toward education, promoting information. If your
view point is truly correct, the people will realize this when given
the facts. Nothing goes away with repression, only education.

To the Daily Illini I say: While I commend you on your stance on free
speech, yielding it over to advertisements or regular authors only allows 
those with money, connections or power to have a voice. (You do have
the small two column letters box, but this is not enough).

To the Public I say: If this whole mess infuriates you, I urge you to
visit urbana.indymedia.org, and get involved. Modern media is either
sensationalist, commercialized, or muzzled in its desire to be
"unbiased" (Telling us the what, never the why). The indymedia group is
starting work on a global subject guide to inform the people, to promote
educated discussion, and to give everyone a voice. If you have anything
to say about an issue, contact imc at urbana.indymedia.org. We're working
hard to give you a voice. I know you have ideas, voice them. Become the
media.

Finally, to the ignorant and apathetic I say: no one is "hiding behind
free speech." She's barely alive. We're just trying to hold her up.
Don't let our friend die. She's all we have.

-- 
Mike Perry
Hacker in Chief
fscked.org media conglomerate