[Imc-finance] Fwd: 2002 Ford Grant -- Draft 3

[Sheri Herndon]

hi everyone,
for those of you who haven't seen the ford grant drafts, here's the 
last one.  i know that toni just posted a link to this document on a 
wiki, but i figured this might be easier access.  i send this so that 
people can see in actuality what kinds of things were written instead 
of relying on speculation.
solidarity,
sheri


>
>
>INDEPENDENT MEDIA CENTER PROPOSAL - September 15, 2002
>
>PROJECT TITLE:
>
>Indymedia Convergence Fund: Building foundations, connecting a movement
>
>GRANTEE INSTITUTION:
>
>Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center
>
>ABSTRACT:
>
>The Indymedia Network (Network) is comprised of over 80 affiliated
>Independent Media Centers (IMCs) from dozens of countries throughout the
>world.  Their publishing, organizing, and decision-making are as
>democratic and decentralized as possible and the Network's websites and
>email lists are the primary tools for organizing and distributing media
>coverage. Indymedia's ballooning participation and growth have pushed
>internet organizing and online decision-making into new territory -
>greatly challenging the future development of Indymedia as a vibrant
>network.  Increasingly, Network participants are calling for a convergence
>of local IMCs, both regionally and globally, to build the IMCs'
>communication infrastructure. Connecting IMCs through face-to-face
>meetings has been a critical medium for sharing information about
>cutting-edge technology, improving cross-cultural communication, strategic
>planning, building trust, and democratizing the Network.  Moreover, a
>convergence provides an opportunity for critical self-examination and
>documenting our development.  These gatherings have the potential to add
>unprecedented breadth and depth to global Indymedia's organizing and media
>coverage.  A fund for a convergence of IMCs to support regional gatherings
>of Indymedia participants is a crucial first step.  Including financial
>support for a fiscal coordinator for a 2-year period (10/01/02-9/30/04),
>the total budget is $50,000.
>
>PROBLEMS/OPPORTUNITIES:
>The Network is facing its greatest organizational challenges now as it
>surpasses 80 media centers in number and continues to grow at an
>exhilarating rate; currently, the Network lacks adequate structure to deal
>with all of the problems and opportunities presented by this growth.  As a
>decentralized network of local, autonomous IMCs and project-based working
>groups, much of the work takes place at the local level, but there are
>some decisions, processes, and collaborations that require coordination at
>a network-wide level. Global Network issues include: (1) approving and
>codifying a set of principles and criteria for membership, (2)
>establishing a
>Network-wide decision-making process and communication structure, (3)
>raising and disbursing Network funds, and (4) developing strategies for
>greater effectiveness.
>
>No other project is pioneering this kind of communication system that is
>locally based, democratic and participatory, non-hierarchical, and
>transparent.  In many parts of the world, most media is centrally
>controlled by the state; what remains is dominated by large centralized
>media conglomerates; Indymedia has the potential to establish alternative
>media in locations without substantial free speech rights.  Indymedia is
>not only a unique and powerful communications Network, but an emerging
>model for an alternative form of online organizing, networking, media
>making, collaborating and explicating and connecting global and local
>issues.
>
>To date, the majority of Indymedia's network-wide coordination has
>occurred over the Internet. With all of its advantages, email
>communication poses serious challenges and limitations. The Network's
>experience with email-based decision-making and collaboration raises
>issues of representation, English-language bias, gender imbalance, the
>need for discussion facilitation, and north-south inequities regarding
>internet access.  Despite the challenges of email communication, Indymedia
>continues to be at the forefront of media organizing.  The Network's
>achievements and effectiveness will be multiplied exponentially though
>opportunities to collectively resolve some of its more pressing issues.
>
>Previous opportunities to gather in person, have seen astounding results:
>major steps forward in our organizational development and knowledge
>sharing and the incalculable sense of increased trust.  These past
>opportunities to gather face-to-face have been humble efforts, created on
>minimal budgets, and tagged on to other planned events; and as such, have
>had their limitations. The need for gatherings of IMCs has never been
>greater. We are simultaneously building upon the collective knowledge of
>activists and organizations that have gone before us and creating new
>dynamic models that deserve reflection, documentation, and discussion. The
>opportunity to share our history, innovations, analyses, agreements and
>disagreements would allow us to better share the work we are doing with
>others.
>
>ACTIVITIES:
>
>Within two years, Indymedia will hold regional convergences.  These
>gatherings will provide unparalleled opportunities for regional
>coordination, communication, and networking, but their primary focus will
>be to determine and formalize the structures, processes and critical
>operational issues that comprise the foundation of the Indymedia Network
>in order to build stronger regional relationships among IMCs.
>Specifically, this grant will enable: 1. a series of regional meetings of
>Indymedia participants; 2. the collecting of proposals and ideas from the
>Network through local, regional, and global email lists; 3. the
>dissemination of work from previous regional meetings to future ones and
>the creation of additional resources for each successive regional meeting;
>4. the conducting of interviews and surveys to elicit substantially
>complete broad-based and network-wide, constructive feedback; and 5. the
>education of Indymedia participants about the Network, and about networks
>in general.  All toward the purpose of constructing: 1. decision making
>processes; 2. methods of multi-lingual communication and document
>development; 3. identifying technical bottlenecks; and, 4. drafting "best
>practices" documents;
>
>DELIVERABLES:
>
>1. Education: bring the whole Network up-to-date on Network issues,
>resources, and history.
>2. Feedback: an extensive set of documents written by convergence
>participants of ideas and constructive criticisms about Indymedia.
>3. Draft Documents, such as bylaws, decision-making, and fund
>disbursement.
>4. An annotated list of regional issues.
>
>OUTCOMES:
>
>Internal:
>
>*  Increased cooperation and coordination within the Network.
>*  Greater diversity of participation on global e-mail lists.
>*  Faster decision-making processes.
>*  Greater participation of IMCs from the Global South.
>*  Creative non-email-dependent strategies for Network-wide communication
>and representation.
>*  Strategic, rather than strictly responsive, Network-wide media
>collaboration.
>*  Increased skills and capacity building.
>*  Communication and information bridges built between technology savvy
>and "non-tech" Indymedia groups.
>*  Improved awareness of legal/regional issues related to Indymedia.
>*  More equitable gender balance with more women involved in all levels of
>the organization, including technology development.
>
>External:
>
>*  Build new and stronger international relationships.
>*  More accountable relationship and communication with grassroots
>movements.
>*  Open up Indymedia to broader participation.
>*  Better connections and communication with scholars and policy people
>
>BUDGET ($50,000 total):
>
>Financial Coordinator:  travel grant and conference funding
>organizing/administration (leading up to and during regional conferences)
>- $10,000 stipend disbursed over the 2-year grant period (October 1,
>2002-September 30, 2004).
>
>Regional Conference Fund: travel grants, reimbursements, and direct costs
>of conference-related activities - $40,000 to be disbursed over the 2-year
>grant period (October 1, 2002-September 30, 2004).
>
>ORGANIZATIONAL PROFILE:
>
>Indymedia is an international Network of independent media collectives,
>currently spanning over 80 cities in 3-dozen countries on 6 continents.
>IMCs each have a local website where publishing text, images, video, and
>audio to the newswires is open to everyone.  Local collectives of
>media-makers, computer programmers and activists run each local website.
>Some IMCs have facilities, wherein media trainings, production, and events
>can take place. Many IMCs have ongoing projects in print, radio,
>television, or video.  At the global level, Indymedia is composed of
>numerous Network-wide working groups based upon format, process, or
>project.
>
>Indymedia is rooted in a long history of media activism. Media and
>technology activists from several countries contributed to the vision that
>ignited the first Independent Media Center, in Seattle in late 1999.
>During the World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial meeting, hundreds of
>independent journalists used the www.indymedia.org website to distribute
>authentic and immediate accounts of what was taking place in the streets
>of Seattle. Their accounts, free from the constraints of the
>corporate-controlled media, presented a very different view, which
>captivated readers and audiences around the world.
>
>The vision of grassroots, participatory, direct-publishing journalism
>caught on, and in the two years following the WTO protests, groups of
>independent media makers from Australia to India, Jerusalem to Nigeria,
>Norway to Uruguay, have organized local media centers.  Innovative
>international media collaborations like the No New Rounds radio webcast
>from Doha, Qatar (a
>Greenpeace/Indymedia production), shared radio webcasts from New York and
>Porte Alegre during the WEF protests and World Social Forum events
>(Indymedia/Democracy Now), and the Mobile ((i)) caravan in Argentina, have
>become hallmarks of Indymedia ingenuity.
>
>Indymedia is a decentralized, non-hierarchical Network, organized around
>shared principles of direct democracy and collective decision-making. Most
>decisions are made at the local IMC level, often using a spokescouncil
>model with working groups acting as committees.  The local
>IMCs make autonomous choices about organizational priorities and financial
>issues.  Many people take on coordinator roles and exhibit leadership or
>initiative in helping move the collective forward. Thus, leadership in
>Indymedia is shared collectively.  Local IMC's and global working groups
>raise their own funds, or receive them from other, contributing IMCs. The
>global
>Network has funds in the bank, but is currently finalizing a process for
>distributing them.  A rough estimate of $300,000 as an annual Network
>operating budget is an extrapolation from the budgets of several IMCs -
>not counting the immeasurable in-kind donations of full- and part-time
>organizers, "techies," and hundreds of passionate volunteers.
>
>Indymedia's decentralized structure allows for tremendous creative freedom
>and initiative. It also creates difficulty in Network-wide
>decision-making. One of Indymedia's greatest challenges is striking a
>sustainable balance between the concepts of "decentralized" and
>"networked" - having enough network-wide organization to coordinate
>effectively, while maintaining a flexible, dynamic structure that will
>continue to support creative impulses and impromptu collaborations. As a
>volunteer-run organization, some participants suffer from burnout, and the
>Network risks additional loss from the most active participants,
>particularly when projects or forward-movement is derailed by lack of an
>established process.  Many core Network participants have spent long hours
>in email discussions and critiques, tackling issues of process and seeking
>creative solutions, especially in regards to network-wide decision-making.
>We are convinced that the important work of identifying our common ground
>and establishing Network-wide structures cannot be done online. We are
>encouraged by the prospect of finding support for face-to-face gatherings
>at this critical juncture in our organization's history, and using the
>opportunity to solidify and strengthen the positive work that has already
>been accomplished.
>