[Imc-communication] Call for Media Activists to Join the G8 Preparations - Only 4 Months to Go! Next Meeting Feb 16-18, Berlin

[Anna]

Hi,

The next G8 will be taking place in Germany in June this year. Lots of
preparations are already happening. If you want to know more about the
general state of protest planning, have a look at
http://www.dissentnetwork.org (english), http://dissentnetzwerk.org/
(german), https://wiki.dissentnetwork.org/wiki/Hauptseite,
http://www.g8-2007.de/, http://www.gipfelsoli.org/Home/Heiligendamm_2007
and many, many more linked to from the sites above.

The summit itself will take place at a very small town called
Heiligendamm, situated directly on the Baltic Sea coast, a bit to the
west of Rostock, a city of approx. 250.000 in East Germany, 200-250km
away from both Berlin and Hamburg (for maps see
http://gipfelsoli.org/Home/Heiligendamm_2007/Karten). There will be the
biggest red-zone fence in the history of summits (12km long, 2.5m high,
planned cost for the fence alone: 12 mio. Euro), camps surrounding it
somewhere in the fields, and a week of demonstrations, action days,
blockades, caravans, alternative summit, concerts... both in Rostock,
near the fence and in special locations in the area.

Alternative, grassroots and participatory reporting during major actions
has become part and parcel of the actual actions. With the increasing
dissent and resentment witnessed around the world, however, the
authorities are also becoming more sophisticated both in their
repressive policing measures and the media spin surrounding their
meetings and summits, being the obvious target of big mobilisations. The
need for more networking and cooperation between different alternative
and autonomous media groups, therefore, is a dire need to strengthen our
position.

Different media activists and groups obviously have their own plans and
want to do different things. There are, however, some common ideas and
plans that are being constantly modified, developed and improved. One of
these is an effective dispatch system to disseminate accurate, reliable
and up-to-date information. Another is a so-called media pool, which can
be thought of as a collective source of different media. And, of course,
effective, participatory public media centres that can be more than a
service provided by a bunch of 'professionals' to the 'public'.

There will be media activism of all sorts and we're calling you now to
get involved.

We: a group of people who met during the last 'action conference' in
Rostock last November (http://www.heiligendamm2007.de/index_en.html,
http://de.indymedia.org/2006/11/162042.shtml [de]) to sketch up a
general frame of what we would like to see happening with regard to
media activism in June. People from 5 countries participated, focusing
on video and radio, print, web, translations and dispatch. We want to
build a media centre that provides infrastructure for all types of
independent media making in the city of Rostock as well as
'dependencies' in the camp(s) and in the fields where necessary.
Accessibility and the desire to reach both international public and
activists in the fields will be big challenges.

We are calling you now to participate in:

    * sharing experience of past media centres (what was useful? what
wasn't? how much of what equipment was needed etc);
    * sharing tech creativity (how to reach people spread out in a not
so small region);
    * tech support;
    * finding equipment;
    * writing;
    * recording;
    * filming;
    * dispatch;
    * fund-raising;
    * coordinating our work with the protests;
    * translating;
    * developing concepts for pooling material;
    * thinking about security for both people and material;

A lot of these things need to start well before the summit and the week
of protests surrounding it. But we can promise one thing: this is going
to be BIG, and it'll be fun!

Apart from meeting in person a lot can be done by email. If you have
ideas, want to get in touch with people who share your specific
interest, want to get involved in organising the general set-up:

Get in touch:

IRC: #g8 and #g8-tech on irc.indymedia.org
List: https://lists.nadir.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/g8-mediaactivism
Wiki: https://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/GroupOfEight2007MediaActivism
Next meeting: Berlin, Feb 16-18

Another possibility to meet is the international meeting next weekend in
Warsaw Feb 9-11 (http://dissentnetzwerk.org/node/129) or the next action
conference in April.