[CIMC-work] Our concerns, IMC decision making and US-IMC

[DickReilly at aol.com]

Hi all

Below you'll find a post from Philly IMC to the IMC Process list dated Oct 1. 
2003, that mirrors some - but not all - of our concerns about the new US-IMC 
site. 

It's instructive to note that despite these concerns, Philly did not block 
the proposal...which had already successfully passed through new-imc working 
group and had been referred to IMC-Process for final approval.  After trolling 
around both the new IMC and IMC process lists to learn more about how this 
unfolded, I found a request from Rochester IMC (via Earthman) for a one week 
deadline delay on Oct 2.  A week later, ( Oct. 9 ) the US-IMC affinity group 
announced that the final extended deadline for decisionmaking  had expired and that 
without existing blocks ( none were registered during this extension),  the 
US-IMC has been approved by the IMC-Process group - the final step in becoming an 
official IMC site. FYI, we have a liasion from Chicago IMC , Chris K. on this 
list. No previous concern or objection was lodged by by Chris or anybody else 
from Chicago IMC on either lists - as far as I can tell - before the deadline 
expired.  

So the question is, this late in the day, -- where to send Chicago's 
statement?   According to UIC IMC's Sascha Meinrath, the  US-IMC project will take the 
concerns previously expressed under consideration internally as the project 
evolves. To wit:  "The group has a wikipage at:<A HREF="http://brainstorm.ucimc.org/ucimcWiki/imc-us">
http://brainstorm.ucimc.org/ucimcWiki/imc-us</A>  This wiki contains both functionality desires and concerns that 
the IMC-USaffinity group will address as they  move forward with the IMC-US 
project."

IMHO, this already seems like a done deal. The  US IMC organizers have 
seemingly completed  the appropriate process for becoming a new IMC without a block 
from other IMCs ...despite existing reservations or questions, and one 
extension of the decision making deadline.   It looks like to me that if we want our 
concerns aired,  someone from Chicago will now have to sign up as a 
participating liason with the US-IMC project from Chicago IMC.  Any suggestions? 

- Best, Dick R. 


Philly IMC Concerns on US-IMC. 

The Independent Media Center of Philadelphia does not place a formal block on 
the entry of IMC-US, but expresses concern and makes the 
followingsuggestions:- 

That the founding documents, mission statement, and the official textof the 
site itself be translated at least into Spanish, and that the siteprovide 
readers with the technical ability to post in the differentlanguages spoken within 
the US, and to view posts sorted by language.

That there be a regular interface between IMC-US and the 
translationlistserves and collectives an international translation tools alreadyavailable within 
Indymedia, in order to make this linguistic diversityreal.  

- That participants in internal discussion make an effort to keep themailing 
list bilingual, and that the coordinators conduct real outreach toinclude 
non-english-speaking participation, and that this be reflected inthe outreach 
statement of the founding documents.- That the phrase in the outreach statement, 
"Additionally, the outreachgroup would contact other independent media 
organizations (especiallythose in areas where there are no IMCs) to spread the word 
about theUS-IMC website" be changed to "Additionally, the outreach group would 
contact other independent media organization (especially those in areaswhere 
there are no IMCs) to encourage mutual aid and support,collaboration, and to 
invite input and support to the US-IMC website," sothat the process is more 
reciprocal

.- That the IMC US internal discussion include direct participation from 
allthe US-based and US-territory-based IMCs whose news they syndicate.- That there 
be a clearer explanation of the process of human involvement 
indecision-making within IMC US.  If it is not to be a purely automaticsyndication site, then 
the process of feature-writing and sorting offeatures should be made more 
clear and should include direct participationfrom representatives of all of the 
sites syndicated, with provisions forbroad democratic participation, for example 
by providing for periodic face-to-face meetings based regionally.- 

That the IMC-US list be made more accessible to broad participation 
ofIndymedia volunteers by linking to the IMC-US internal list from the site<A HREF="http://lists.indymedia.org,/">
http://lists.indymedia.org,</A> placing founding documents on Wiki pages at<A HREF="http://docs.indymedia.org,/">
http://docs.indymedia.org,</A> and encouraging broader participation inthe list. - 

That the site layout be changed so that the syndication newswire headerreads, 
"collected features from participating Indymedia Centers within the US," 
rather than just, "Collected from the IMC Network".- That wherever the official 
site text and documents make reference to"America" "American" or "Americans," 
these be changed to "United States"and "US and US-territory residents."- That 
the newswire have an open publishing feature as well as a syndicationfeature, 
using for example the same format as the global site, toencourage democratic 
participation in the news-making process

.- That inasmuch as the site layout and feature selection are influenced 
byhuman decision-making, the coordinators emphasize cross-bordercollaboration, 
such as projects of the Northeast North America grouping,border camps, the 
current realities of the impact of US policy on therest of the world and especially 
Latin America, and other trans-border issues.

- IMC Philly is already actively involved in regional organizing such asNENA 
and regional and national independent media collaboration on issuessuch as 
radio broadcasting and media ownership.  We will maintain contact with IMC-US to 
help encourage broader and more democratic participationand diversity.  At 
least one of our volunteers, SuZQ, will stayinvolved with IMC-US process and will 
volunteer translation assistance.

-Mike R
Philly IMC
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