[New-imc] Santa Cruz censorship

[Jeremy David Stolen]

hey all --

I am very concerned by how many posts are being hidden from the new Santa Cruz 
IMC newswire.  One that was hidden was a portland indymedia produced story (on 
Philip Anschutz's Foundation for a Better Life propaganda campaign) that was 
posted all over the network because of its national scope.  someone calling 
himself "newswire nazi" and "van" complained that the story wasn't local and 
now it is hidden from the wire.

it can be viewed at:
http://www.santacruz.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=335&group=webcast

i am very concerned by this sort of thing.  i've been involved with indy since 
summer 2000 (helped start Twin Cities and then Print, and helped liven up 
Portland, which I still work on) and have never seen this kind of 
indiscriminate hiding.  I thought that the new imc group's criteria about open 
pubishing were really clear, but these santa cruz folks are really violating 
the spirit of them.  

after negative experiences with the eugene IMC folks, and now this, i am having 
some concerns about the new U.S. IMCs and whether they really understand the 
absolutely open and free nature of indymedia.  Indymedia is not something we 
control, it is something we contribute to.  Indymedia does not support one 
viewpoint or political approach or tactic, it is open to them all.  Indymedia 
is inclusive of anyone who wants to post, not exclusive to what local folks 
might consider relevant.  

Most importantly, things should be hidden from the newswire only with great 
reluctance in my opinion.  I am not seeing that at Santa Cruz.  Just how far 
does an IMC have to go away from the original spirit before it doesn't make 
sense for them to be listed in cities.inc?  interestingly, the person who 
posted  comments to the above article seemed unhappy about attention being 
given to the Santa Cruz site.  do they really want to be part of the network?

I love indymedia so much, and I am worried about what i see.  I don't have any 
suggestions for action at this time, though.

Thanks for listening.

love+solidarity,
jeremy


-- 
"[F]irst-hand news is better than second-hand news, IMHO. Seventeenth-hand news 
might be good for getting a Harvard etc. professorship, but that's not 
Indymedia style."  --An Indymedia activist