[IMC-bristol] conflict resolution links

[Fowler, Pru]

Well said Naomi!  I support this viewpoint of the situation.


On Mon, 08 Mar 2004 21:01:20 +0000 Naomi Smyth 
<savagepixies at hotmail.com> wrote:

> Hi all,
> Sorry I haven't been in touch for a while- I have tried to write some input 
> on this Tony Gosling business but my emails have crashed a total of three 
> times before they could be sent.
> For my part, I was taken aback by Ian's suggestion that in the absence of 
> 'any objections' he remove Tony from the lists. This is no way to conduct 
> the business of a consensus-based collective, and plays into the hands of 
> Tony's perceptions of the rest of the group as an unaccountable  'clique'.
> Maybe this issue has taken up a lot of the group's time and energy (and well 
> done to Kyra for trying to unravel this web of resentment!), but has there 
> been any formal, collective face-to-face discussion of this issue? Until 
> that has occurred, with Tony, Ian and everyone concerned present, I don't 
> think any action to exclude a member of the group can have any legitimacy.
> I was really interested to draw parallels between the things said in the 
> conflict resolution guidelines Sam posted up and what has been occurring on 
> the lists- this charge that Tony is 'disruptive' seems like a knee-jerk 
> reaction to our collective inability to make him toe the line. The question 
> is, what line? If you see indymedia's leftward bias as the most integral to 
> its mission, then Tony's alleged recommendation of far-right websites is 
> unacceptable (although personally as a lefty I believe that it can be useful 
> to remain aware of what the right are saying and doing, and even of the 
> similarities and crossover points in apparently contrary ideologies). If, 
> however, you see the freedom of expression and independence from a set 
> ideology as the most important tenet of indymedia, he has committed no 
> offence against it. Personally, on my acquaintance with him I'd say there is 
> no way Tony is a Fascist. He has also never contravened BIMC guidelines by 
> posting racist, sexist or homophobic content, nor do I believe he would want 
> to. That said, why is everyone so afraid of innocent readers being sent to 
> far-right websites by Tony's links?  If users of indymedia turn to it 
> because they are capable of identifying the bias in the mainstream media, 
> why wouldn't they be equally capable of filtering the messages from neo- 
> Nazis?
> These are issues that urgently need face to face discussion. I think an 
> independent moderator and a dedicated meeting would be a good idea, and I 
> really hope that both Tony and Ian would be up for participating. If that is 
> going to happen I would sound a note of caution and say that I do not think 
> we should assume that someone from UK imc will necessarily be more impartial 
> in this issue now that a member of the UK (or was it Scotland) site has 
> helped to bring this issue of far-right links to everyone's attention.
> One thing which I was trying to say in the crashed emails that never made it 
> to the lists is this: This issue has clearly gone beyond general principles 
> and become very personal. However, I think that the issue of Tom Rintoul's 
> article could have been resolved for the future by changing the guidelines, 
> as was done, to mean that copy needs to be cleared through the collective. 
> This makes sense for everyone, and doesn't have to apply to Tony personally.
>    I realise everyone is wanting to move on from this by now- as it said in 
> the conflict resolution guidelines, it is inhibiting our ability to get on 
> with the main business of the group- but it seems a real shame to me that 
> both Tony and Ian have withdrawn from BIMC business after both of them have 
> worked hard for it since the beginnning- often together as friends. Fair 
> enough, if the next meeting has to keep the issue off the agenda for the 
> sake of keeping going- but lets try to keep talking to each other?
> Naomi
> 
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----------------------------------------
Fowler, Pru
Email: Pru.Fowler at uwe.ac.uk
"University of the West of England"



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