[IndyMedia Bombay] IMC BOMBAY/MUMBAI : INITIAL MISSION STATEMENT

[boud]

just a reminder in a single email of the initial mission statement
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/new-imc/2002-June/003642.html

Why we want to be an IMC: INDY MEDIA BOMBAY:

As we watch the political situation in our country deteriorate, a lot
of us want a voice - a chance to make a difference - our hope is that
Indymedia here gives concerned people a common platform to interact
with eachother and serves as a catalyst to transform that into real
action. Also, a platform which takes the "freedom of press" away from
the few who actually happen to own the press, to the people - a place
where everyone is the media, and everyone is part of the process of
"news reporting" and shaping public opinion.

Perhaps one of the biggest problems facing our country today is that
the majority of people don't have a voice, have no way of being
heard. While we fully understand that the internet isn't something the
majority has access to, we will endeavour to give the "silent
majority", the powerless and the down-trodden a voice as far as
possible by not restricting the concept of a "free and independent
media outlet" only to the internet.

Indy media Bombay is a forum for students, mediapersons, activists,
academics and other citizens who feel the need for an independent
space to express their ideas, report news, encourage debate and
stimulate public discussion. A space that their own professional
structures are unable to provide.

The tendency of some narrow local, national and global forces to
monopolize public discourse makes it difficult for an open expression
of ideas and political action within the mainstream media and other
such public institutions. Especially those concerned with
environmentalism, gender issues, sexuality, ethnic violence,
secularism, freedom of expression, hunger and deprivation.

Indymedia Bombay hopes to bring in these issues within public
attention through information exchange as well as action. It
acknowledges that even within mainstream structures there are
individuals and groups who sympathize and are willing to act on these
issues, provided they can find a space to operate from. This, in turn,
can also shape the way mainstream public discourse operates and
perhaps even radicalize itself.

We also believe that we must be as open and creative as possible in
the articulation of our political vision and use the forum to innovate
and experiment in terms of form as well as content.