[imc-memphis] Indymedia Primer - resend

Fri Mar 4 18:20:28 PST 2011

Hi!!!
Totes agree Melanie.
This is Jeffrey.
Please all, who are you.
Chalrie Sheen is upstaging Wisconsin left and right in news and I'd like to
share this  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ArfGK31w-g

I think the insight of whomever mentioned micro-reporting in neighborhoods
beyonf CY is a good one.  When corporate editorial staffs control the flow
and content of media then working class communities get almost totally
excluded from representational space; one might conclude from watching the
TV news and reading the paper that the working class is a narrow minority of
this city, if it exists at all.  Clearly micromemphis's focus on CY does
nothing to subvert this.  So, I think one function of an independent media
platform in Memphis could be simply be to share, and validate, the every day
life stories of working people in this city.

While I say this, though, I am nagged by that limitation that keeps us from
all being the most awesome organizers ever - hours in the day.  Most working
folks don't have gads of time to spare for amateur journalism.  What time
they do have they will continue to be dominated by the urgent concerns of
daily life until folks are organized.  What does that take?  Organizers!!!
 and oops, we land firmly back again at the doorstep of the question of
limited capacity.

This brings me to another possible function of an independent media platform
in Memphis, and one I think that would be the primary function in the
current period: coverage and archiving of political work.
If the people on this list-serve look anything like the people in the room
at MSPJC community meetings I'll wager that many of you all who will read
this are involved with community organizing of one type or another.
 Building people power (read: organizations that can win!) around the issues
that most effect students and working people in this city is the keystone of
social change.  For me that means I'm not going to prioritize seeking out
lots of different stories around Memphis to go on an IMC.  But also I
realize that dismissing an independent media platform right now because of
that would be foolish.

We have limited capacity in our organizing and a platform like this can
really be a tool to help with that.  When I look at my own experiences with
organization I think I can see how...
-It will continue to be important to get the corporate media to our events,
because nothing is going to have near their viewership, but they usually
screw up the messaging.
-Nothing will substitute face-to-face conversations but sometimes you can
only get into limited depth about an issue with someone because there are
lot of different folks to talk to.  --Sometimes we don't ever spend the time
to articulate our positions on an issue as broadly and deeply as we should.

-We do a poor job archiving all our work.
-And there is no clear picture of all the different political work going on
in Memphis, something that would help organizers build relationships,
coalitions, and shared campaigns, as well as give new folks a full picture
of whats available to get involved with.

Into all of these different gaps I think an IMC would fit.  All of us, with
the different issues we are organizing around, are naturally cut out to
cover those issues and way people are struggling against them.  We are
wrapped up in these struggles anyway, we know the context well, maybe we
just haven't taken the time to write it all down, and we need more coverage
to boot!!  An IMC can be a way to connect news about events to the real
story behind those events, the social context that a rally or a teach-in is
responding to.  An IMC can also serve to connect different events to each
other, either from one organization to another, or within a single
organization over time.  It will help us keep track and make sense of the
different things going on in one organization, and in the city as a whole.
 Personally, I think* this* function of an IMC would not tax myr capacity to
do main-focus political work, and would in fact even make it better.

I think an IMC would be an asset for all people doing political work in this
city, and so those folks will be in favor, even willing to help make an IMC
happen. Wouldn't be surprised if the first stories that are going to be
written came from organizers who deeply know about some issue about which
they want and need to get the word out. Inviting organizers we don't know to
share their stories will also be a way to strengthen Memphis and get to know
other folks in the fight for social justice around the city.

en sum:  I think that in its first and current stage, an IMC should be
constituted as a distribution hub for raising awareness about different
issues and struggles in Memphis, their background and how they develop.  I
think this function will get an IMC off the ground the soonest possible,
with the broadest exposure that is possible right now.  Today, this is the
way I am personally interested in being involved.

Sorry for the awfully long email, lets have  closing bites
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZP6y6_EsNvQ

-onward! yay!

J Lichtenstein

On Fri, Mar 4, 2011 at 9:30 AM, Memphis IMC Discussion List <
imc-memphis at lists.indymedia.org> wrote:

> Just popping in to say I think Memphis Indymedia is an excellent idea.  I
> don't know who all is on this list, but some of the folks in MSP were
> talking last year about the need for a truly independent news outlet in this
> city, and how they would like to be involved but they needed more people.
>  So I'll definitely talk to them about this if they're not already signed
> up.
>
> Along those lines, I think it makes sense to maybe say who we are.  It's
> most likely that we all know each other, but because this is a listserv we
> can't see to whom the emails are going, which kind of makes me feel like I
> am talking to a bunch of strangers even though I know that I'm not.  So
> anyway, I'm Melanie.
>
> Also, we need to remember to sign our emails.  Since the 'from' will always
> list "imc-memphis", if you don't sign your email, nobody will know who sent
> it, which is likely to become super-confusing once we start getting more
> active.
>
> -- Melanie
>
> On Thu, Mar 3, 2011 at 9:56 AM, Memphis IMC Discussion List <
> imc-memphis at lists.indymedia.org> wrote:
>
>> Hey y'all check out this micro-reporting being done here.....
>>
>> http://www.micromemphis.com/
>>
>> It would be great to have this for some neighborhoods other than the
>> over-resourced CY.
>>
>>
>> On Mar 2, 2011, at 11:39 PM, Memphis IMC Discussion List wrote:
>>
>> Yes we should form an independent committee to discuss Indymedia and
>> move forward.
>>
>> As for the content, it will come. One of the neat things about Indymedia
>> is that we provide an "Open Publishing Newswire" where _anyone_ may
>> publish an article. Then we as "editors" must ensure it adheres to the
>> principles we determine, ie, the PDX principles listed here:
>>
>> We are citizen journalists, and maintain a safe space for others of our
>> kind, whomever, wherever they may be.
>> We do not discriminate and do not publish articles that promote racism,
>> homophobia, sexism or other oppression agains human or non-human
>> lifeforms.
>> We do not advocate detailed criminal activity.
>> We do not print libel or slander.
>> We do not publish commercial advertisements.
>> We do not spread dis-information.
>> We do not sabotage Peoples' struggles.
>> We do not parrot corporate media.
>>
>> If we're not getting enough content locally, we can always re-publish
>> content from other newswires.
>>
>> The main point is to get the station off the ground, for which we
>> definitely need a committee....
>>
>> James Traynor
>> james at earthroot.net
>> +1 303 819 2625
>>
>>
>> On 03/02/2011 02:45 PM, Memphis IMC Discussion List wrote:
>> > Let's get this going.
>> >
>> > I think one of the greatest challenges we will face is enlisting a crew
>> of folks to write and post the news, videos....etc. It seems like we have a
>> lot of people that are posting to independent blogs, sites, and social
>> networks. So it may be as easy as getting a group of committed folks
>> together that would commit to cross posting what they are already doing.
>> Thoughts?
>> >
>> > I would also suggest that we co ahead and set a first face-to-face
>> meeting of the group so we can start to move....
>> >
>> > On Mar 2, 2011, at 1:35 PM, Memphis IMC Discussion List wrote:
>> >
>> > Howdy folks -
>> >
>> > After Monday's meeting pretty much every new subscriber has been added
>> > and verified, so now here again is the primer email I sent before with
>> > details on what's what and how to proceed.
>> >
>> > Please now everyone check this out and let's start the discussion for
>> > proceeding with this. We currently have this list serv, and eventually
>> > we want to get memphis.indymedia.org set up. I have server space for
>> > this, as does the MSPJC, and once we get on the same page in terms of
>> > responsibility and expectations we can move forward with the official
>> > application to Indymedia.
>> >
>> > Respond to this email to join the discussion.
>> >
>> > Welcome to the imc-memphis discussion list!
>> >
>> > Here we enter preliminary discussions on what it takes to establish the
>> > Memphis Independent Media Center - an all-volunteer, independent
>> > journalist collective. Tell us all what you think, and ask whatever
>> > questions you have, big or small.
>> >
>> > This is a discussion list. Please reply to this email with
>> > questions/comments which will broadcast to all 13 subscribers (so far,
>> > including Nick Cooper, our delegate/facilitator from Houston IMC) as a
>> > means of moving forward with the discussion of the Memphis IMC mission
>> > and modus operandi.
>> >
>> > If you get too many emails from this list, please click the link at the
>> > bottom of any email to change your settings to a daily (or weekly or
>> > whatever) digest of list activity.
>> >
>> > Please take time to read the documentation on creating a new Indymedia
>> > working group here. If you encounter the security certificate error,
>> > click through to make the exception so you can view the page, and ignore
>> > the dead links where applicable:
>> > http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/NewImc
>> >
>> > This email list is for us in Memphis to discuss the logistics and
>> > responsibilites to move forward with this collective. Memphis has waited
>> > a while to fulfill IMC process items 1A, 1B and 1C, but now the iron is
>> > hot, so let's keep this going for everyone's benefit.
>> >
>> > For those of you who are not completely familiar with IndyMedia, or if
>> > you're sick and tired of corporate-sponsored journalism for profit,
>> > please visit http://indymedia.org or check out one of the local sites
>> > (what we aim to provide in Memphis):
>> >
>> > http://neworleans.indymedia.org/
>> > http://atlanta.indymedia.org/
>> > http://houston.indymedia.org/
>> > http://chiapas.indymedia.org/
>> > http://athens.indymedia.org/
>> > http://southafrica.indymedia.org/
>> > http://nyc.indymedia.org/
>> > http://italy.indymedia.org/
>> > http://portland.indymedia.org/
>> > http://indymedia.nl/
>> > http://la.indymedia.org/
>> > http://israel.indymedia.org/
>> > http://beirut.indymedia.org/
>> > http://mexico.indymedia.org/
>> > etc etc etc etc etc
>> >
>> > Also here are other (open) Indymedia Mailing Lists, like this one we're
>> > now using:
>> > http://lists.indymedia.org/ (already posted, we are).
>> >
>> > Here in Memphis we could stop with just an email discussion list, but
>> > it'd be most excellent if we can publish memphis.indymedia.org for the
>> > World to read. But we have to come together (please read the NewImcHowTo
>> > link above and the items below)
>> >
>> > Most sites have the same editorial policy and publishing guidelines.
>> > Here is a great example from PDX:
>> > http://publish.portland.indymedia.org/en/static/edpolicy.shtml
>> >
>> > Editorially, in a nutshell:
>> > We are citizen journalists, and maintain a safe space for others of our
>> > kind, whomever, wherever they may be.
>> > We do not discriminate and do not publish articles that promote racism,
>> > homophobia, sexism or other oppression agains human or non-human
>> lifeforms.
>> > We do not advocate detailed criminal activity.
>> > We do not print libel or slander.
>> > We do not publish commercial advertisements.
>> > We do not spread dis-information.
>> > We do not sabotage Peoples' struggles.
>> > We do not parrot corporate media.
>> >
>> > It is the responsibility of the Editors' committee (yes, another
>> > committee) to define and uphold these principles, in accordance with the
>> > consensus of Global IMC Movement.
>> >
>> > As PDX put it so eloquently, "the world sucks right now....stay strong
>> > and focus on the world we want to create." For this, journalism and a
>> > well-informed populace is KEY.
>> >
>> > Of course there's more...
>> >
>> > We also need:
>> > (6A) A Mission Statement (easy enough, and examples from our peers are
>> > posted on the NewImcHowTo page)
>> > (6B) An editorial policy (ie, what I just pecked above paraphrasing PDX)
>> > IMC Wiki documentation
>> > (7A) Membership Criteria (see
>> > https://docs.indymedia.org/Global/MembershipCriteria)
>> > (7B) Principles Of UNITY (see
>> > https://docs.indymedia.org/Global/PrinciplesOfUnity)
>> >
>> > And still a bit more (it's all on the NewImcHowTo page). Yes, we have to
>> > form one or two more committees (can we call them circles or councils
>> > now and then?) And then we're ready to start broadcasting independent
>> > media from Memphis!
>> >
>> > Everyone - please check all this out as best as you can, and add your
>> > input. I'm just one human guy and I don't speak for everyone. This is
>> > YOUR IMC - let's get it UP. At the very least, reply with a 'ping' or
>> > 'twinkle' to show your support and participatory ambition. Once we get
>> > through the seeding process we'll have a nice wire for anyone to publish
>> > to and a platform to join others around the world in this wonderful
>> > concert. We can do this...
>> >
>> > Yours Cooperatively,
>> > -James
>> >
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Imc-memphis at lists.indymedia.org
>> http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-memphis
>>
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>>
>
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