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

[Pete Stidman]

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
> 
> 
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>
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> 


		
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