[Boston-editorial] should boston indy continue, by default, as a news source for leftists?

[Pete Stidman]

Hey Tim, 

one of the things we talked about was whether we
should change the meeitng time or not.  If it was on a
different day of the week, would you want to come?

-Pete


--- TL <saoirse1220 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> I agree that we should be careful w/ the reposts
> because that could lead down a slippery slope to a
> kinda place that IMC has always distinguished itself
> from. The particular article in question regarding
> the
> Yale professor, though interesting (like many
> articles
> at sites like CounterPunch are) is a real stretch
> anyways given that its about a connecticut issue.
> 
> what makes sense to me (or at least what I assumed
> was
> the policy anyway up until last week) is that
> reposting in the center column should pretty much be
> limited to situations like a) It comes from the
> writer
> his/ herself, which i guess could just be considered
> posting anyway and b) when theres some sort of
> understanding made that the writer's down with their
> article being featured on IMC. 
> 
> Now the Pitt thing was a special case though in
> hindsight Im not so supportive of the decision as I
> was because I had thought for some reason that he
> sent
> it himself, which wasnt the case. but not only that
> but that it wasn't anything even posted to the
> newswire or other news but was something Matt read
> on
> the Mobe-list (?) Now im not sayin that im now
> against
> it being centered im just not for it happening again
> maybe. 
> 
> as for the tensions with anarchists/liberals and how
> we're percieved, etc... for me the view of IMC as
> mouthpiece for the Anarchist movement should be just
> as troubling as IMC being news service for
> Liberal/reform. 
> (admittedly the latter sound alot worse but Im
> talkin
> about ideals here) I mean "by default" we're
> obviously
> leftist newssource but that comprises a wide
> spectrum
> of groups and agendas and perspectives and to be
> pegged down to such a limited slice of that spectrum
> 
> (which i dont think we actually are) just aint
> right.
> now of course I do recognise the fact that in past
> and
> in present IMC has had a real close relationship w/
> the anarcho crowd that said I think that the notion
> that we're alienating that movement is not something
> that, outside some individual miscommunications and
> squabbles on listservs which shouldnt happen of
> course, we shouldnt be getting all up in a bind over
> this because as of now I think thats kindof an
> unfounded notion. whether people are actually
> feeling
> that way or not. I mean on may day for instance we
> have like equal coverage of both their event and the
> rally. 
> 
> I have always understood Independent Media to mean
> "independent" of the agendas and groups and not as
> some particular group's own independent newsservice.
> 
> 
> theres alot of stuff that needs addressing and Im
> saying that right now as the ass who cant commute up
> to the one place today where things could be
> adressed
> which i regret deeply because over the past week
> theres been alot of important stuff talked about on
> the list. 
> Im looking forward to hearing what people are gonna
> come to today
> peace
> tl
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> --- Pete Stidman <pstidman at yahoo.com> wrote:
> 
> > OK.  I can tell tensions are running high here. 
> At
> > first I thought this yaley prfessor article was a
> > post
> > (not a repost) so I started getting it ready for
> > centering, but then I saw that it was a repost. 
> > Generally we don't do reposts, which is probably
> why
> > Matt brought it up for review by the collective.  
> > 
> > I don't think we should center this and here's
> why. 
> > Already centering pitts article has caused some
> > contentiousness in the collective, and I think
> both
> > sides have some valid points.  But we should
> > remember
> > that we are primarily a news access point for
> folks
> > who normally wouldn't have access.  If we start
> > reposting, the flow could be enormous.  it could
> > drwon
> > out the voiices we hope will surface on our site. 
> 
> > 
> > For the same reason I am against posting the jam
> > plain
> > gazette article, even though it is closer to home.
> 
> > What we could do with that, is contact the author
> > and
> > make sure they know about us.  The Obain issue is
> > improtant to alot of people but is also resolved
> and
> > not front in peoples minds so theres an added
> > disincentive. 
> > 
> > We need to start finding ways to get more writers
> > involved here, which is why I've finally started
> > doing
> > the writing workshop, which despite a low turnout,
> > went extremely well.  
> > 
> > With time and perseverance I think we can reach
> our
> > vision of having a site that gives voice to the
> > voiceless and all that, I definitely don't think
> we
> > should lower the bar by allowing reposts aside
> from
> > the very rare one that all agree on (the pitt
> > article
> > had 3-4 editors supporting it).
> > 
> > And let's try to keep the drama level down if we
> > can. 
> > change is possible here, this is not the battle
> for
> > the future of everything.  We're all reasonable
> and
> > fairly flexible here.  
> > 
> > -Pete
> > 
> > 
> > --- sharpie at riseup.net wrote:
> > > Hey folks, so I don't necessarily have an issue
> > with
> > > reposting this
> > > feature, but I think the action we take makes a
> > > clear reflection on our
> > > editorial policy.
> > > 
> > > Before I continue I want to make something clear
> > > that I think may have
> > > been misunderstood in the past. My issue with
> > Boston
> > > indy and its
> > > relationship to the anarchist community is due
> to
> > my
> > > feeling that Boston
> > > indy's actions have prevented it from being a
> safe
> > > and accessible space to
> > > the Boston Anarchist community. In its current
> > > state, the site is a news
> > > source primarily of interest to radical
> > > leftists/anarchists. As well I
> > > feel that the nature of the features posted to
> > > Boston Indy and discussions
> > > on various lists are more supportive of a more
> > > liberal/reformist
> > > perspective, to the degree of possibly even
> > > alienating the Boston
> > > Anarchist community.
> > > 
> > > I do not necessarily believe that Boston Indy
> > should
> > > be a mouthpiece for
> > > the anarchist community, nor do I think that
> > Boston
> > > Indy should produce
> > > more "anarchist" features, I just feel that we
> > > should make an effort, if
> > > we are going to continue to be a radical/leftist
> > > news source, to not
> > > alienate one of the more vibrant communities of
> > this
> > > type within Boston.
> > > 
> > > Now, hopefully having cleared that up, I'll
> > > continue.
> > > 
> > > The David Graeber issue, while interesting,
> > occurred
> > > in New Haven
> > > Connecticut. Connecticut has at least 2 active
> > > Indymedia Centers, and I
> > > believe New Haven has 3 Indymedia Centers within
> > > about 100 miles. I don't
> > > necessarily feel like it's super important that
> we
> > > feature this article,
> > > when there are closer centers that could do
> > > something, perhaps we can put
> > > some sort of alert that suggests readers look to
> > > more local centers in
> > > order to find out more.
> > > 
> > > However, if we are interested in reposting this
> > > article about David
> > > Graeber, I would like to know if the editorial
> > group
> > > is also interested in
> > > posting an article in the Jamaica Plain Gazette
> > > about the victory of
> > > students and teachers in keeping Attouoman
> Obain,
> > a
> > > teacher from the Ivory
> > > Coast, in the United States, though his visa has
> > > expired.
> > > 
> > > If we decide that this local story is not worth
> > > posting/outside of our
> > > guidelines, but the Graeber story is, then it
> > seems
> > > we will be making a
> > > policy decision to post news of interest
> primarily
> > > to radical leftists and
> > > not necessarily the disparate locally focused
> > > communities in the Greater
> > > Boston area.
> > > 
> > > I will be posting a copy of this article to the
> > > Boston Indymedia newswire
> > > momentarily.
> > > 
> > > solidarity, see you tomorrow afternoon.
> > > sharpie
> > > 
> > > 
> > > _______________________________________________
> > > Boston-editorial mailing list
> > > Boston-editorial at lists.indymedia.org
> > >
> >
>
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/boston-editorial
> > > 
> > 
> > 
> > 		
> > Yahoo! Mail
> > Stay connected, organized, and protected. Take the
> > tour:
> > http://tour.mail.yahoo.com/mailtour.html
> > 
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> >
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> > 
> 
> 
> "And I say to my people's masters
> Beware,
> Beware of the thing that is coming
> Beware of the risen people"
> - Padraig Pearse, "The Rebel"
> 
> 
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