[Imc-communication] [Imc] question regarding UCIMC

[stacy at cat.org.au]

Hi all,

Thanks for that clarification, Cat.  You obviously put a lot of time  
and thought into your position.

I just wanted to remind folks of a discussion along the same lines  
that happened in July 2005, where the UC-IMC video collective admitted  
that the 501(c)(3) charity status was preventing them from being  
independent journalists:

"In several situations, there was concern that we could be "influencing
legislation" if we were to report on an incident or story with regards to
local politics. It was a very frustrating situation as we did not want to
jeopardize our IMC's 501(c)(3) status because of our video collective's
actions, and yet we felt our hands were tied and we were unable to report
important information on our local political climate to our community."
http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/imc-communication/2005-July/0716-qs.html

cheers,
stacy

Quoting bmedia at riseup.net:

> brian said:
>
>> I have been in conversation with the Portland IMC for example
>> about the money issue
>> and we have turned to discussing our efforts videotaping police.
>
> as the portland imcista who has been talking with brian, i would like
> to make it very clear that my concerns over the money issue have, in
> no way, been erased by our side conversation regarding videotaping
> police brutality. i think that i have come to the understanding that
> the people at UC are not necessarily bad people, but are nevertheless
> making unquestionably bad decisions with regard to money, and are
> unable to absorb the meaning behind any criticism of the path they
> have chosen. this message from brian points up yet another reason for
> concern.
>
> i did not realize that UC has been printing rosey commercials for
> "sustainers" in their newspaper. this seemed like the logical next
> step on the slippery slope of capitalist compromise that UC has
> embarked upon from the very beginning. however, i had no idea that
> they had already actually taken that step.
>
> i am disheartened that the people at UC seem to have no will to
> understand the very real concerns that so many of us in the IMC world
> have about the corporate model that UC has adopted and continues to
> call "IMC." i am also disheartened to see the depths to which the
> desire for money has apparently permeated and obstructed UC's ability
> to see the truth. Brian has stated that
>
>> Our blurb is not so much an advertizement as an informational bit.
>> And if the sustainers pulled out, it would have NO influence on our
>> editorial decisions.
>
> how very, very sad. of COURSE it is an advertisement. it is a blatant,
> naked infomercial. naturally, that is why these businesses "sustain"
> you. and of course you would make compromises in what you say or do
> not say because of your desire for their money. you already have. of
> COURSE it has already influenced your editorial decisions. you would
> never have featured such fluff if not for the need to please your
> sponsors. on some level, surely you know this. yet you continue to
> deny that this money mindset has any effect on you at all. just like
> an addict insists that s/he can quit any time s/he wants to.
>
> i have privately urged brian and other UC people to look for new ways
> to do things, to seek alternatives to the corporate, money-dependent
> model. brian, i have begged you to try the truly creative,
> imaginative, DIY tactics that have set so many IMCistas free from the
> kinds of destructive compromises that so many well-meaning people make
> when they suck from the capitalist teat -- the very pattern of
> cascading compromises that i see UC making. but the response has been
> the predictable denial that i would expect from any addict.
>
> You have insisted that yours is "just another way to do things," just
> another tactic, and have demanded that i respect your autonomy and let
> you just head off the ledge even if you drag the name of the work that
> i do with you. Brian, this is not "another" way of doing things. it's
> the same old way. and it's a dead end. it co-opts those who play by
> those rules into a morass of compromises. and it infects outward.
>
> we talked about the compromise you made with having a "president."
> remember? when i asked you why UC has a "president," you said that UC
> looks weird on paper, because you had to have this kind of hierarchal
> structure in order to please the bank. you had to please the bank,
> because you needed a $150,000 loan. you needed a $150,000 loan because
> you bought a BUILDING. ...and so on and on and on. do you not see how
> one unimaginative decision, one compromise, led to another and another?
>
> this same contagion of compromises leads from UC to other IMCs when,
> for example, UC sponsors some other project, but only if they jump
> through the hoops that you have set up -- that, as you pointed out,
> you have to set up because the IRS requires you to. see how that
> works? it just sucks people in. as when you advertise on your site
> that "IMC is now hiring," giving the impression that it's acceptable
> for an IMC to use paid employees. in my opinion, it is not. but UC has
> done so, in the name of all IMCs. and as boud has pointed out, when UC
> advertised for those positions, they required applicants to be
> proficient in proprietary software -- thereby spreading that disease
> as well. yet when boud went to the trouble of pointing out
> alternatives, silence from UC. no effort seems to have been made to
> ackowledge, respect, or consider any of the concerns or suggestions
> that people have expressed with regard to the necessity of doing
> things differently around money. this saddens me.
>
> Cat
>
>
>
> Quoting Brian Dolinar <briandolinar at gmail.com>:
>
>> Hey UK.
>>
>> I can assure you we are not beholden to sustainers and contributors.
>> The $30k grant willl help us make it the community center we dream of.
>> We can apply again next year, but if it doesn't come through we will
>>  not fold.
>>
>> I can speak most directly to our work at the Public i, our newspaper.
>> We have sustainers and list their name on the back page.
>> Recently we have decided to do very short features on our sustainers.
>> This month we're covering an international foods store, World Harvest.
>> The store's owner is Iraqi and has family members who have died in the
>> conflict.
>> He has spoken out against the war and has a progressive agenda.
>> These are the alliances we our comfortable building with the biz community.
>> Our blurb is not so much an advertizement as an informational bit.
>> And if the sustainers pulled out, it would have NO influence on our
>> editorial decisions.
>>
>> I would emphasize that independence means
>> independence from the mainstream media.
>> I personally cover stories on racial profiling, police brutality,
>> legal frame-ups
>> that get no play in the local rags.
>>
>> Additionally, I hope that we can respect one another's independence
>> or autonomy
>> while building a global network of IMCs.
>> And learn from one another's successes and failures.
>> I have been in conversation with the Portland IMC for example
>> about the money issue
>> and we have turned to discussing our efforts videotaping police.
>>
>> I would like to know if any other IMCs have utilized state grants.
>> In this time of budget cuts, i'm quite surprised to be getting any dough.
>> We should spend it quick before they take it back.
>>
>> In solidarity,
>>
>> BD
>>
>> On 9/13/06, Notts IMC <notts at indymedia.org> wrote:
>>> Hiya,
>>>
>>> I have been following the discussion about the paid UCIMC workers on the
>>> imc-communication email list for a while now. I've just read the following
>>> article:
>>>
>>> Urbana Independent Media Center Awarded $30,000 Grant From The Illinois
>>> Arts Council - http://www.ucimc.org/feature/display/148743/index.php
>>>
>>> My question is to what degree the Urbana Independent Media Center relies
>>> on funding coming in from outside funders. If funding would be rejected,
>>> could the project carry on with its work? After all, that seems to make it
>>> an INDEPENDENT media centre, meaning you are not dependent on something or
>>> someone to be able to run the project.
>>>
>>> See Wiktionary: http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/independent
>>>
>>> Wietse, UK IMC
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> IMC mailing list
>>> IMC at lists.ucimc.org
>>> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/imc
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Brian Dolinar, Ph.D.
>> 303 W. Locust St.
>> Urbana, IL 61801
>> briandolinar at gmail.com
>> _______________________________________________
>> IMC-communication mailing list
>> IMC-communication at lists.indymedia.org
>> http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-communication
>>
>
>
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