[IMC-UK-Features] feature proposal: Go Indymedia, go! - Response to the SHIfT article

[wietse]

Hiya,

First of all thanks to Shiar and others for writing this response. It is 
evident that a lot of tiem and effort has been put into it, so well done.

freethepeeps at aktivix.org wrote:

> So, it appears to me that the Atzmon Affair has never been closed - and we are
> in danger of repeating what happened when FIT started attacking the movement -
> the wisdom was "ignore them - don't let them distract you from your work" and
> so the response to them is at a time when they have developed a bigger array of
> tactics - had we implemented FITwatch right from the start, we might even be
> able to hold the occassional demo every now and again......
>   

I agree that ignoring things isn't going to help but I think you have to 
look at each situation seperately. In this case I agree with Tony and 
Guido that responding to the SHIFT article by bringing it to the middle 
column will bring more attention to the issue(s) than the SHIFT article 
would do on its own. Just to reiterate what Tony said about the SHIFT mag:

" Why give Shift any extra readers - they seem to have a high opinion
of them selves and a low opinion of the movement judging by past
articles. They do not acknowledge the complexities of the issues, or
the wider discussions you bring up about an open publishing site and
print media - but i guess there is a academic paper there on a plate
for them! "

Instead of the feature I would suggest to contact SHIFT and ask them 
about publishing the response in their next issue. Also I think the 
response shouldn't be reffered to as a 'collective response'. If it was 
then it should include every opinion on the issue, within the imcuk 
collective..

However, I do appreciate people's effort put into writing the response 
and I think it should be published, just don't think the middle column 
is the best place..

Cheers, Wietse.