[New-imc] Welcome Michigan IMC!!

[Jay]

The below info from the Michigan IMC passed through the imc-process list with
no dissent.  Welcome, Michigan IMC!  Thanks for your patience throughout the
new-imc process.  I'm sure great things will come out of the Michingan IMC,

Jay

>
> The forming Michigan Indy Media Collective submits the following to show that
> it has satisfied the New IMC criteria and would like to move forward in the
> process of becoming an official member of the Network of Independent Media
> Centers.  Check out the Michigan IMC site at "http://www.michiganimc.org".  
>
> Introduction: submitted in late March
>
> Why we want to be an IMC: For a growing number of reasons, it has become
> quite apparent how much Michigan could benefit from a local IMC. The main
> reason we are seeking an IMC now is that on May 2, the G8 will meet in
> Detroit for an energy summit. People in MI are beginning to mobilize around
> the G8 meeting, hoping to make public the general destructive nature of the
> G8's neoliberal doctrine and, specifically, the G8’s politically and
> ecologically destabilizing dependence on gas and oil. An IMC website would
> help connect activists throughout MI and the world so that our resistance to
> the G8’s policies might become as effective and visible as possible. 
> The life of MI-IMC would not die as soon as the G8 pack up their bags and
> leave town. Throughout our state, people are confronting issues that have
> relevance both locally and globally. IMC will help connect MI activists both
> within the state, and to the rest of the online world. Personally, I devote
> the majority of my activism to a United Students Against Sweatshops (USAS)
> group at Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI. A MI-IMC will be a
> great resource in helping to link my USAS group with our state’s four other
> USAS cells. Moreover, MI-IMC will help link a wide range of other groups that
> desperately need to know that they are not alone in their struggles. This
> list would include, but will in no way be limited to, anti-war groups such as
> the Detroit Ant-War Network (DAWN), environmental groups such as the various
> MI communities resisting the takeover of our water resources by corporations
> like Perrier, urban community development groups like Detroit Summer and! 
> the Heidelberg Project, anarchist organizations like the Trumbullplex of
> Detroit and the Direct Action Network of Lansing, collective living projects,
> human rights groups, anti-police brutality coalitions, anti-racist groups,
> feminist groups, the list goes on and on
.The MI-IMC would also help develop
> MI’s network of non-corporate media and help free us from dependency on
> corporations like Knight Ridder for our news. 
> Myself and several others are very serious about getting this project
> started. We have links to a wide verity of activists throughout our state
> who, I’m sure, will help our IMC grow and thrive. We are committed to using
> the MI-IMC to build connections that cross the barriers of race, gender, and
> class, and develop a united front of MI’s progressive activists. I hope this
> short essay contains the information that you need regarding our plans for a
> MI-IMC. I hope to hear from you soon.
> -Mike Medow 
>
> Membership Criteria:
> A. PRINCIPLES OF UNITY 
> At a meeting on March 22, all those in attendance agreed with the Indymedia
> principles of unity.
>
> B. COMMITTED MEMBERSHIP 
> After an initial organizing meeting of five people from Detroit, Ann Arbor
> and East Lansing, a call was sent out to around 40 groups throughout the
> state, each 
> with their own network of people, to notify them of the formation of a
> Michigan IMC and to invite their participation. The email was forwarded
> widely. In a 
> week, the discussion list set up for this purpose grew to 36 members with
> more new contacts still coming in. The second meeting had 13 people (not
> counting a couple 
> who got lost on the way) and included folks from Traverse City. There are
> others from Marquette and Kalamazoo who have expressed support and interest,
> but who could not attend. Both meetings were held in Ann Arbor. Our next
> meeting will be on April 6 in Mt. Pleasant, a more central location, and
> should be even 
> larger. Many of the people involved are members of existing media
> collectives, producing newspapers, public access television shows and
> community radio programs.
>
> C. OPEN MEETINGS 
> Our meetings are open and we have strived to publicize them as widely as
> possible and to locate them where people can attend. Many organizations are
> involved.
>
> D. MISSION STATEMENT 
> (This is the mission statement of the Michigan Indymedia organizing
> collective, and is subject to change as the group grows and diversifies.)
> The goal of the Michigan IMC is to create positive social change through the
> open exchange of information.
> More specifically, those who are currently producing media will use it the
> IMC to share content with each other and new audiences. They will use the
> website to 
> collaborate on issues of concern to the entire state that a local newspaper,
> radio program or public access program cannot adequately address alone. 
> For those who are engaged in political activism, Michigan Indymedia will be a
> useful organizing tool, offering a centralized place to exchange information 
> and a coherent place for people who want to learn more about the challenges
> facing Michigan residents and what they are doing about it.
> Both of these groups of people — political activists and independent
> media producers — are located in numerous pockets around the state. An
> interactive, 
> statewide media source like Michigan Indymedia will bring them together, out
> of their isolation, and will open up the broad spaces between them for
> participation 
> by people who are not already involved.
>
> E. EDITORIAL POLICY 
> As a temporary solution, there will be an open list for managing the website.
> Working collectively, this list will be empowered to publish features and
> remove newswire posts. At the meeting on April 6, the Michigan IMC will
> establish criteria for this working group to follow and a method for holding
> working group 
> members accountable. Once this policy is established, it will be linked to
> from our front page.
>
> F OPEN PUBLISHING 
> We agree to the use of open publishing as described in the New IMC editorial
> policy.
>
> G. DECISIONMAKING POLICY 
> At the two meetings so far, the Michigan IMC has used consensus as the basis
> for decisions. We will develop a detailed policy at the meeting on April 6.
> Any 
> decisionmaking policy will have to allow for the fact that we are separated
> geographically. At the March 22 meeting, we proposed a spokescouncil model,
> with spokes from and chosen through a method determined by each local
> collective.
>
> H. GLOBAL REPRESENTATIVE 
> The current representative of the Michigan IMC is Mike Medow
> (Ttrickykid at aol.com).
>
> I. NETWORK COMMUNICATIONS 
> Mike Medow will be on the communications list. Other members of the MI IMC
> will be encouraged to join network-wide lists and working groups and to
> support 
> other local IMCs wherever possible.
>
> J. AFFILIATIONS 
> The MI IMC has no official affiliation with any political party.
>
> K. COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE 
> The MI IMC will not engage in commercial enterprises that inure to the
> benefit of any of its members. The Michigan IMC is a public resource.
>
> L. IMC LOGO 
> We have approved a preliminary MI IMC logo.
>
> M. LOCAL CITIES LIST 
> The MI IMC website will prominently display the current “cities
> list.”
> *Please note that we expect to set up our own server and tech collective, and
> have contacted Thomas Hallaran of the St. Louis IMC and Indymedia Tech
> Collective 
> to assist in that process.
> Please write back to Mike at this address if more info is needed.

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