[Imc-communication] (EN)(ES)UCIMC: Concern about advertisements for Giga-$ non-free software companies

Sun Sep 24 07:39:18 PDT 2006

Firstly I think this is an important conversation and I would chalk up an
'flame-war' feel of the discussion to how passionately everyone here feels
about the network.

I also think that UCIMC's successes are a good benchmark to talk about where
the movement is 5+ yrs from its inception.

It is too much to sum up so will jump into a couple of points.

Indymedia is at a crossroads as the network has gotten so large and the
publishing itself has changed since '99 and is about to take some much
greater leaps and bounds.

Couple o' points:

+ Open publishing, the hallmark of the indymedia revolution, is no longer
remarkable as blogging and social network sites have become common place.

+ Some Indymedia's like Portland and IndyBay have had great success
following very closely to the original model with large amounts of content
and traffic

+ The majority of Indymedia's in the US have very few features published. An
informal count (see results below) show that almost 3 out of 4 IMCs in the
US have had less than 5 'features' in September.

+ Several IMCs like UC, NYC, and Philly (and there are others) have worked
to create more permanent structures such as 501(c)3 status to further work
within their communities.

Indymedia's in different cities have by necessity taken different approaches
and I think that we should support this. I am not sure what else we can
expect from such a decentralized and autonomous network.

Philly had a model, at least in terms of the website, like Portland's, but
similar to many of the IMCs that have low #s of features we weren't getting
much traffic or posts to our newswire.

We have changed our focus to creating a website that appears less like a
blog, as well as creating structures and working groups that can better help
us work with the communities we are trying to empower.

I think this reflects some differences of perspective of organizers here,
but also the difference in the activist scene as well as overall culture
between Philly and Portland.

I laud the work of UC-IMC but also empathisize with the difficulty between
figuring out efficiency versus the ideal.  That is a struggle we all grapple
with individually on a daily basis and as a network we will always have to
think about.

But I will argue that we need to embrace these different models as we move
forward.

(see results of my survey of publishing in the US below)

best,

-Aaron

Aaron Couch
Philly IMC

  # IMC # of Features in Sept  1 POR 70  2 IndyBay 23  3 NYC 20 (est)  4
Miami 19  5 SANT 18  6 PHL 17 (48 if u count news briefs which are same as
many IMCs features)  7 SEA 15  8 LA 12  9 AUS 10  10 Bos 8  11 RV 8  12 CLE
7  13 COL 7  14 AK 4  15 AZ 4  16 Balt 4  17 MIN 4  18 BM 3  19 MIL 3  20
ROCH 3  21 SB 3  22 HUDS 2  23 NM 2  24 NOLA 2  25 OK 2  26 RICH 2  27 SB 2
28 CHI 1  29 HOU 1  30 NJ 1  31 BUF 0  32 HI 0  33 IDA 0  34 ITH 0  35 ITH 0
36 KC 0  37 MAD 0  38 ME 0  39 NC 0  40 NH 0  41 PIT 0  42 STL 0  43

 44

En primer lugar pienso que esto es una conversaci�n importante y marcar�a
para arriba una sensaci�n del ' flame-war con tiza ' de la discusi�n a c�mo
cada uno aqu� se siente apasionado sobre la red. Tambi�n pienso que los
�xitos de UCIMC's son una buena prueba patr�n para hablar de donde est� 5+
el movimiento a�os de su inicio. Es demasiado a resumir as� que saltar� en
un par de puntos. Indymedia est� en una encrucijada pues la red ha
conseguido as� que grande y publicarse ha cambiado puesto que '99 y es
alrededor tomar algunos saltos y l�mites mucho mayores.

Puntos de los pares o ':

+ el publicar abierto, el sello de la revoluci�n del indymedia, es un
notable no m�s largo pues los sitios de red blogging y sociales tienen lugar
com�n convertido.

+ alg�n Indymedia como Portland e IndyBay han tenido gran �xito el seguir
muy de cerca al modelo original con cantidades grandes de contenido y de
tr�fico

+ la mayor�a de Indymedia en los E.E.U.U. hace muy pocas caracter�sticas
publicar. Una demostraci�n informal de la cuenta (v�ase los resultados
abajo) que casi 3 fuera de 4 IMCs en los E.E.U.U. han tenido menos de 5 '
caracter�sticas en septiembre.

+ vario IMCs tiene gusto UC, NYC, y Philly (y hay otros) ha trabajado para
crear estructuras m�s permanentes tales como estado 501(c)3 para trabajar
m�s lejos dentro de sus comunidades.

Indymedia en diversas ciudades tiene por diversos acercamientos tomados
necesidad y pienso que debemos apoyar esto. No soy seguro qu� m�s podemos
esperar de una red tan descentralizada y aut�noma. Philly ten�a un modelo,
por lo menos en los t�rminos del Web site, como Portland, pero similar a
muchos del IMCs que tienen punto bajo # s de caracter�sticas que no
consegu�amos mucho tr�fico o los postes a nuestro newswire. Hemos cambiado
nuestro foco a crear un Web site que aparece menos como un blog, as� como
crear las estructuras y los grupos de funcionamiento que pueden mejorar nos
ayuda a trabajar con las comunidades que estamos intentando autorizar.
Pienso que esto refleja algunas diferencias de la perspectiva de
organizadores aqu�, pero tambi�n la diferencia en la escena del activista
as� como cultura total entre Philly y Portland. Alabo el trabajo de UC-IMC
pero tambi�n empathisize con la dificultad entre calcular fuera de eficacia
contra el ideal. Eso es una lucha nosotros que toda ataca con
individualmente sobre una base diaria y pues una red nosotros tendr� que
siempre pensar alrededor. Pero discutir� que necesitemos abrazar estos
diversos modelos mientras que nos movemos adelante.

(v�ase los resultados de mi examen de publicar en los E.E.U.U. abajo)

lo m�s mejor posible,

- Aaron
---------- Show quoted text -

On 9/22/06, stacy at cat.org.au < stacy at cat.org.au> wrote:
>
> (EN) Hi all,
>
> I agree that it is unfortunate this discussion devolved into a flame
> war, and diverted it from the real issue at hand.  I also agree that
> the people who do the work usually make the decisions.  But I don't
> agree that this always results in the best decisions.
>
>
-- 
Aaron Couch
Philly IMC --> http://phillyimc.org
Greenadelphia! --> http://greenadelphia.org
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