[New-imc] Online form: Proposed new IMC! (Iowa City)

[iowacityindymedia at hotmail.com]

Submitted by: Amanda Seals <iowacityindymedia at hotmail.com> on Thursday, June 21st, 2007 @ 8:34:18 am (-0700)

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proposed_imc_name:
Iowa City

proposed_imc_url:
iowacity.indymedia.org

current_url:
none

city:
Iowa City

state:
Iowa

country:
United States

contact_name:
Amanda Seals

contact_email:
iowacityindymedia at hotmail.com

contact_phone:


tech_name:
Dan Bell

tech_email:
danbell.org at gmail.com

tech_phone:


focus:
regional_focus

critical_dates:


supporting_groups:
ArtThink, Velocipede, Univeristy of Iowa Anti-war Committee

introductory_statement:
IMC working group,

Places across the country like Iowa are often written off as rural, uneventful, irrelevant. These are the places that are ignored and forgotten and often are the places that are the easiest for those in power to exploit, destabilize, and when the time comes, depopulate. Like all other sacrifice zones the world over, the agri-industry sacrifice zones are unquestionably written off as disposable resources that must be exploited for national or international advantage. They are controlled by the very few in spite of those who call it home. 98% of Iowa’s land base has been developed, the vast majority going to cash crops, large landed estates, and national and international corporations. The human population is always in competition with the domestic pig population in terms of shear numbers. Iowa’s water quality is ranked dead last when compared to the other 49 states in the union. Just to name a few examples of local interest ceded to industrial interest.

The need for Independent media sources in the U.S. agriculture centers is nothing if not dire at this point in history. The U.S. right now is focusing on agribusiness as the industry to carry its industrial weight into the foreseeable future. Artifices of global empire have always been Dependant on exploitable resources to gain power and subjugate others with horrible and irreversible effects. To follow this “progress’ chronologically you would see the global mass exploitation of human labor, followed by timber, coal, and oil with countless others making their own bloodied contributions and distinct footprints on the face and psyche of the world. The current clamoring for domestic energy sources and pseudo green technologies like virgin ethanol and virgin bio-diesel potentially puts us at the threshold of a new era of industrial exploitation, and Iowa is at the center of it.

The assertion that homegrown biologically produced energy alternatives are sustainable and domestically produce (I think he means “producible” but I’m not sure) is, on the surface, welcome news to a nation weary of resource wars in the middle east and less overtly Latin America. But upon closer inspection, the notion of utilizing what might otherwise be a food crop produced in the now “conventional” means of industrial agriculture (i.e. pesticides, herbicides, GMOs, soil denuding, land consolidation, intensive crop rotation, further clearing natural carbon remediating environments), the potential for humanitarian and environment aberration are immediate and profound. When set against the backdrop of globalization and free trade, the portent is one of global sacrifice zones for global imperialism, food scarcity for the world’s poor, and increase in ecological destruction and unstable global temperatures: haunting to say the least.

Iowa will soon play a key roll in global politics as well. Being that we are a caucus state and will select the democratic candidate for the next presidential election, honest non-industry affiliated media is crucial.

If there ever was a time for Iowa to establish a mechanism of popular resistance and tools for proliferating truth independent of corporate interests, the time is now. We are a group of organizers that are committed to independent media, unreported and under-reported news. We are committed to community and collective decision making. We see the true potential benefit local Iowan activity may have on a global scale and want to fill the void in independent media that has long been felt.

Thanks for your time and commitment to truth,

Iowa City IMC


resources:
We have the energy and connections to get involved with our local access TV station. All of our collective bring organizational skills in a variety of forms, including web applications. We've started a wiki to gain momentum and keep on top of developments in the application process. Some of our collective are affiliated with the University of Iowa and have access to OC45 connections and a wide array of technical support. Our technical contact works in video and has access to and knowledge of recording and production equipment. The UI surplus offers a lot of used equipment for sale at cheap prices.

outreach:
NOTE: Tokenization is an insidious and alarmingly acceptable form of racism.
ANSWER: After our first meeting, outreach and diversity has remained consistent and constant on the agenda. We have networked with students of color groups, immigrant rights groups, anti-war groups and the queer community. Our goal is not to target specific people or groups for specific roles, but to maintain transparent availability to all communities.

identity_makeup:
With the amount of people in attendance we reflect the diversity of Iowa City quite accurately, but we are taking great pains to include all underrepresented people in this area regardless of a number in a census demographic. We’ve created and distributed flyers all over the area.

steps_represent_diversity:
Outreach and diversity have been consistently discussed and while we currently represent our community well given our small number, we will continue to seek out diverse voices to provide insight and perspective. Three of our members are bilingual (Spanish-English and Japanese-English) so we will be translating fliers and talking about the IMC at local community centers and social venues.

steps_involve_new_workfields:
As a collective, empowering people to be the media and work collectively sharing rotating roles within the group is essential to longevity and availability for all involved and interested. Skill sharing html, photography, facilitation, audio, video, writing within the community are short and long term goals. We encourage people do what they’re comfortable doing without marginalizing their identified or perceived gender.

username:
Amanda Seals