[imc-melbourne-work] Re: [G20media] Melbourne Indymedia Suspends Open Publishing

[and]

Only just saw this.
Once clarification...
<snip>
On 13/06/2007, at 12:15 PM, Anna Helme wrote:
> Given the state of things at the moment it may take a while for  
> someone to get back to you about appearing on a panel. Andrew and I  
> have gone up to talk about EngageMedia (and launch the site  
> actually) at TINA in the last couple of years but haven't really  
> engaged with it this year. Andrew would have lots to say about  
> Indymedia I think, from a very critical perspective, as he was very  
> involved for some years now but is quite over it and left the  
> collective a few months ago.

AFAIK I haven't left :) It seems I am still here, just largely  
inactive and only doing bits and pieces of emergency things like  
adding new blocked keywords (not that i need to now) or helping  
facilitate archives getting back online. I haven't left yet but will  
let you all know if I do :)

>
> There are some interesting things being talked about on the  
> Indymedia front - one idea is to make an Australian Indymedia site  
> - and run local news for each city off that. This may work much  
> better as there are fewer programmers and sys-admins to go around  
> these days, and it would lessen the work to maintain only one site.  
> Of course viable editorial collectives must form for each local  
> branch or it won't function. But upgraded software will benefit the  
> ability to moderate and editorialise user-generated content immensely.
>
> Another idea going on globally is Indymedia Alternatives. I was  
> following the discussion on this in the first few months but  
> haven't really kept up with it, but the idea with this was two-fold  
> - to design a site around positive alternatives to help shape the  
> movement into coming up with ideas and models for change rather  
> than mere criticisms of the status quo, and secondly to rethink web  
> technologies and figure out what to do next with news publishing  
> and community sites - to be a revolutionary new way of doing things  
> as Indymedia was in its inception.
>
> Many of the problems with Indymedia are seen to be with the wider  
> "movement" itself - the anti-capitalist movement that has gathered  
> for mass summit protests since Seattle. People are questioning the  
> value of protest and what it can achieve in these times - and this  
> is obviously central to what Indymedia is all about and what it is  
> often used most effectively to support.
>
> People are also wondering how to promote their content in the black  
> hole of the Internet, and how to filter the Internet to find the  
> content they want to see. Methods of doing this such as social  
> bookmarking and tagging have not necessarily been picked up by  
> Indymedia sites. I suppose Indymedia folk are looking at the big  
> online community sites like MySpace, big publishing sites like  
> Flickr and YouTube, to try to steal the best ideas of how to  
> network people and provide publishing space effectively whilst  
> using these tools for social change rather than naval-gazing, happy- 
> snaps and funniest home videos. There is much to learn by huge  
> collaborative news sites like Slashdot.
>
> Indymedia is also trying to move away from home-grown codebases to  
> big content management systems like Drupal and Plone in order to  
> cut down on time spent developing features that are already available.
>
> But Indymedia has to work out what it wants to be to serve a  
> movement that isn't always able to articulate what it is or how to  
> achieve it's goals of global social justice either. It's really a  
> time of questions rather than answers, it seems.
>
> I'll send you an email address for Louise as this email went to me  
> not the g20media list. Hope you're well, glad to hear you're doing  
> NYWF and livening it up a bit this year! :)
>
> Cheers,
> Anna
>
> Nicolas Low wrote:
>> Hey there Anna,
>>
>> How's trix? I'm sorry to hear that things are on hold at Melbourne
>> Indymedia. It's a huge job and there has to be fresh blood to keep  
>> it going
>> - it was amazing to be part of it in a small way during the G20,  
>> but alas
>> that was the extent of my ability to contribute. I've checked in  
>> many many
>> times over the last few years and I wanted to let you guys know  
>> that the
>> work you've done is amazing and valuable. Whenever I see something  
>> on the
>> news related to activism, it's the first place I check.
>>
>> I'll pass on the word on a few websites and lists I have access  
>> to, and
>> fingers crossed there's some new energy out there to take it over.
>>
>> I'm co-coordinating the National Young Writers' Festival this  
>> year, so I
>> know what it's like to be part of something which has a glorious  
>> history but
>> not so much current energy behind it. I'm part of the fresh blood  
>> that's
>> trying to keep the NYWF alive, but it was pretty shaky last year.  
>> We're
>> looking good this year and there's going to be a shitload of stuff
>> happening, but it's never easy when everything relies on our  
>> volunteer love.
>>
>>
>> When I saw the e-mail, I had a thought: would one of the Melbourne  
>> indymedia
>> crew like to come to Newcastle for NYWF / This Is Not Art in  
>> September to
>> talk about what's been happening? We're doing a session on on-line
>> publishing, looking at discussing different strategies for making  
>> it viable,
>> and I think it would be really valuable for people to hear about  
>> Melbourne
>> Indymedia's journey, why you've had to suspend the site, and also
>> potentially put a call out for new blood and energy. There's going  
>> to be
>> around 1000 young writers there and it's a pretty good opportunity  
>> to get
>> some newcomers excited. It's in NSW, but there's a huge Melbourne  
>> presence
>> going to be there.
>>
>> We're also doing a 'messages to the media' skillshare about ways  
>> of handling
>> mainstream media for activists - something you guys might also  
>> want to feed
>> into? It's going to be talking specifically about G20, but also  
>> with an eye
>> out for what'll happen at APEC. I'd particularly love to get in  
>> touch with
>> Louise and see if she'd be up for that one, especially given the  
>> ongoing
>> madness of the Gunns lawsuit. If anyone getting this has an e-mail  
>> for her,
>> that would be great.
>>
>> Anyways, I'd love to know your thoughts.
>> Peace,
>> Nic
>> 0424 832 231
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: g20media-bounces at axxs.org [mailto:g20media-bounces at axxs.org]  
>> On Behalf
>> Of Anna Helme
>> Sent: Tuesday, 12 June 2007 3:07 PM
>> To: undisclosed-recipients:
>> Subject: [G20media] Melbourne Indymedia Suspends Open Publishing
>>
>> Please pass on to interested folks.. Melbourne Indymedia has  
>> suspended open publishing.
>> A public meeting will be announced in the next couple of weeks to  
>> explore the future of
>> Indymedia - whether or not it will continue at all - and if so  
>> what shape it should take.
>>
>> You can email collective at melbourne.indymedia.org in the meantime.
>>
>> If there is a real need for an activist news/analysis site for  
>> Melbourne then a new collective
>> will have to emerge with fresh ideas about where to take it. New  
>> software needs to be
>> developed, and a web-developer or two with time to invest need to  
>> be found to make this
>> happen.
>>
>> Anyone interested in forming part of a new editorial collective  
>> should also take this
>> opportunity to get involved. Indymedia needs to rethink its  
>> identity in a world where anyone
>> can blog or publish on the web - unlike the early days when IMCs  
>> were initially formed.
>>
>> Individual blogs don't allow the same capacity for community- 
>> building as a site where
>> many can post and share their news and ideas. But maintaining an  
>> online community and
>> figuring out who can speak, and which issues should be featured is  
>> not an easy task -
>> there needs to be the will behind it, a real need for the  
>> community to exist.
>>
>> If social justice and environmental campaigners and the "activist  
>> community" still want
>> to make use of this resource and the global network of independent  
>> news sites then they will
>> have to be involved in shaping what Melbourne Indymedia becomes...  
>> alternatively the
>> site will collapse and something fresh may or may not appear to  
>> replace it.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Anna
>>
>> Statement and email from Takver from the Melbourne Indymedia  
>> Collective follows....
>>
>> - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
>>
>> Statement featured on Front Page of Melbourne IMC:
>>
>> Open publishing has been suspended on Melbourne Indymedia as  
>> numbers in
>> our editorial collective are insufficient to manage the site  
>> effectively
>> and responsibly. We realise that MIM has played a vital role in
>> reporting activist news from Melbourne, around Australia and
>> internationally. To this end the present collective will be assessing
>> options for how best to provide an activist news service in the  
>> future.
>> If you wish to get involved, please contact us, or subscribe to our
>> mailing list.
>>
>> While open publishing is suspended, our collective suggests if you  
>> have
>> a well researched, well-written story about Melbourne events, you  
>> should
>> post the story to Sydney Indymedia. We thank our many loyal  
>> readers and
>> contributors for several years of grassroots journalism and media
>> activism and hope we can resume reporting with an even better  
>> interface
>> at some stage in the future.
>> Melbourne Indymedia Collective
>>
>> http://melbourne.indymedia.org/index.php
>>
>> ++++++++++++
>>
>> A linked article gives some reasons:
>>
>> Basically, irate users and spammers have become more persistent in  
>> their
>> attacks and without a software upgrade or a collective of several  
>> people
>> to actively moderate posts and do features, the site is  
>> unworkable. If
>> numbers are insufficient to moderate the site effectively, then the
>> only responsible action is to stop open publishing.
>>
>> I think this is the responsible thing to do for our loyal readers and
>> contributors, many of whom have openly complained about spam and
>> crossposts being published and unmoderated.
>>
>> http://melbourne.indymedia.org/news/2007/06/146534.php
>>
>> As an editor of 4 years standing here are some personal comments:
>>
>> One of the factors leading to our current situation was the  
>> debilitating
>> conflict with ML in Darwin during 2006/2007 and the perceived lack of
>> organisational solidarity displayed by the network resulting in  
>> active
>> members of the Melbourne collective drifting away from Melbourne
>> Indymedia into other projects. We haven't been able to generate more
>> interest or more involvement in the admin/site editing/ feature  
>> writing
>> of the site since.
>>
>> The weekly radio program on community radio was well organised  
>> this year
>> with more people involved, but no one understood that basic site  
>> admin
>> and editorial has fallen really to a couple of people for quite a  
>> long
>> period of time. In terms of reporting there is really only 2 or 3 ppl
>> (of whom I include myself) who actively report to the newswire on
>> activist events and demos in Melbourne.
>>
>> The actual trigger for the decision to suspend publishing was an  
>> irate
>> regular contributor from Sydney (Parrot Press) who spammed the local
>> newswire with over 200 posts in 4 days, after other contributors  
>> and an
>> editor criticised him for overwhelming the site with his posts and
>> crossposting irrelevant comments. Attempts were made to de- 
>> escalate the
>> situation which proved fruitless. IP logging was temporarily  
>> turned on
>> in an attempt to block the user, but the user was using proxies, so
>> could not be effectively blocked from spamming the wire or  
>> threads. So
>> our collective reluctantly decided we no longer had the time or  
>> energy
>> to moderate and should close down open publishing.
>>
>> Over the last few years we have seen the rise of blogging, and
>> particularly moderated group blogs that have drawn people away,
>> particularly when there is the constant verbal harassment in  
>> Indymedia
>> comment threads. Leftwrites (www.leftwrites.net) is one prominent  
>> blog
>> primarily based in Melbourne that analyses the news from a broadly
>> leftist perspective (left social democrat to anarchist) that has
>> attracted some of our readers (and criticism from others). The  
>> rise of
>> blogging gives everyone with access to the internet a voice, but  
>> it is
>> not the same as producing a news site, which Indymedia at its very  
>> basis
>> is about: grassroots and activist news.
>>
>> Spam control has been an ongoing battle of which Melbourne managed to
>> stay mostly ahead, but it has been a constant drain on time and  
>> energy,
>> requiring tweaking the software and manual moderation. To stay  
>> ahead of
>> the game at this stage we really needed a software upgrade. A
>> development site using drupal had been 80% completed. If this new  
>> site
>> had been completed and put into production our decision to suspend  
>> open
>> publishing may not have been necessary.
>>
>> Melbourne does need an activist news site, and open publishing  
>> should be
>> part of that, but I have come to the conclusion that more editorial
>> control needs to be asserted to increase the standard of articles  
>> on the
>> principal newswire. Open publishing should be used to generate new
>> contributors and news postings, but should not be allowed to dominate
>> the site editorially as it has with the newswires and present  
>> software
>> (sf-active) used in Melbourne. Indybay has made sf-active work,  
>> although
>> I know there is a lot of moderation going on in the background to  
>> make
>> it effective.
>>
>> We need to empower article contributors by letting them decide if  
>> they
>> want all comments, be able to approve comments, or choose no  
>> comments.
>> Remember if a poster chooses no comments in a well written article,
>> balance can be achieved by promoting a well written critical  
>> article in
>> response. Too often I have seen contributors being turned away from
>> Indymedia by the extent of abusive or destructive comments,  
>> because we
>> provided no option to turn off comments, and we have not had the  
>> time or
>> energy to moderate effectively.
>>
>> I also want to reward consistent contributors of good articles by  
>> their
>> articles being promoted without moderation. That is where userids  
>> should
>> come in. A contributor should be able to build a profile and can  
>> then be
>> allowed priviledged posting access.
>> One of the carrots we should be offering our contributors is that
>> promoted articles will be indexed by Google News. So that reports by
>> grassroots activists can be accessed alongside corporate media  
>> reports.
>> My greatest pleasure last year was seeing a woman involved in an
>> industrial dispute, not previously an Indy reader, from one of those
>> union solidarity pickets that go for several weeks in the suburbs,  
>> begin
>> to post to MIM, and their posts were featured in the centre column  
>> and
>> picked up by Google News to counterbalance reports in the mainstream
>> papers of The Age and Herald Sun. Similarly with Tasmanian forest
>> protests in which forest activists were able to counterbalance the  
>> PR of
>> the timber companies thru indy articles. We became highly useful in
>> 'getting the news out' not just to our Indymedia scene but to a much
>> wider audience. It was very empowering to those contributors and  
>> to us
>> as media activists.
>>
>> The real test is can we bounce back and provide something better  
>> than we
>> had today that allows us to concentrate on grassroots and activist  
>> news.
>> I hope so. The next several weeks we will find out whether the  
>> Melbourne
>> collective can regroup and continue a presence with a dedicated site.
>>
>> There is also a new idea being put forward of an Australian  
>> continental
>> IMC. A few people across Australian IMCs have started  discussing  
>> this
>> possibility along the lines of us.indymedia, uk.indymedia, or even
>> aotearoa IMC. We might see where that takes us as well.
>>
>> in solidarity
>> Takver
>> one of Melbourne IMC
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> imc-melbourne-work at indymedia.org.au
>> http://lists.indymedia.org.au/mailman/listinfo/imc-melbourne-work
>>
>>
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>
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