[New-imc] AMBAZONIA (initial contact)

[Jay]

Hello aspiring Ambazonia IMC! (and other african imcs by cc, so they can be in
contact with you as well),

This is Jay again from the Philadelphia Independent Media Center, and the
new-imc working group, the group composed of volunteers from around the world
that helps welcome new independent media centers into the Indymedia network.  

I know you have already received some communication from us.  You are at the
beginning of what will be a challenging yet worthwhile endeavor.  The new imc
working group (new-imc at indymedia.org) is here to help you along through the
process of forming an active, powerful, sustainable independent media center.  

First we suggest you take a thorough look at the page at
"http://newimc.indymedia.org".  There are directions here about how to proceed
through the process of organizing an IMC, both in short and long versions. 
There you will also find essential documents, like the network's draft
principles of unity, and our draft membership criteria (to which you must
respond point by point when you're ready to join the network), as well as a
frequently asked questions file and a global network overview to answer some
questions you may have.  Take some time to look at this information, circulate
it among your group.  Feel no pressure to rush.  We're all interested in seeing
an Ambazonia IMC come to be as soon as possible, but not at the expense of good
organizing.  

One main thing to do right now is to do as much outreach as possible.  The
strongest IMCs are those that are really built from the ground up -- composed
of professional and non-professional journalists, activists, union members,
artists, mothers and fathers, etc.  A primary goal of Indymedia is to provide a
way for people who are not already "journalists" to become the source of
information about their lives and ideas.  This idea is more untraditional in
some places than others, but you can imagine how powerful an IMC is when it is
composed of people from all sectors of the community.  Then it is an
information source that *belongs* to the community -- much different than an
information source provided solely for the benefit of the community.

One other thing I'm sure you already know is that IMCs don't have to exist
entirely on the internet.  In places where Internet access is rare, an IMC must
find ways to get the information out onto the street.  Perhaps rather than
viewing your eventual IMC website as the home of the IMC, you will be able to
envision the website as a gateway between Ambazonia and the rest of the world. 
Information will flow from Amabazonia through the web site to the world, and
from the world through the web site to people in Ambazonia.

We know this process of joining the network may be long and sometimes
frustrating, but our goal is to not put you through lots of work without a
goal.  We have found the most effective IMCs to be those that do the most
planning and organizing from the beginning.  Take the time to do good work now,
and you will no doubt have a wonderful, long-term project.

Feel free to ask any questions as you go along, both to me (jay at tao.ca) and the
new-imc working group (new-imc at indymedia.org).

Jay
***
>
> Proposed IMC Name: Ambazonia Indymedia 
> Contact Name: Egbe-Mbah Valentine Eben 
> Email: vally_x at mailcity.com 
> Phone: 00491747231738 
> City: Buea 
> State: South Zone 
> Country: Ambazonia 
> Tech Contact Name: 
> Tech Contact Email: vally_x at mailcity.com 
> Tech Contact Phone: 
> Regional Focus: yes 
> Issue Focus: yes 
> Event Focus: yes 
> Critical Dates: October 1st 2002 
> Supporting Groups: 
> Other comments: We\'ve been in discussion with a couple of groups interested
> in getting a source of news available that the people of Ambazonia can trust.
>
> Resources to contribute: Our group is made up of mostly Journalist and
> lawyers with alot of experience and I think if the situation comes up where
> they can, they\'ll be able to help.
> Why we want to be an IMC: IMC Ambazonia is made up mainly of Journalist,
> Lawyers and media activist who are very disgusted by the way the annexation
> regime of French Cameroon has made it virtually impossible for the public to
> get unadulterated news. And throught the network we want to offer both the
> people of Ambazonia and the rest of the world news of the nightmare going on
> in that country as well as news of happenings in the whole central African
> sub region. 

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