[New-imc] imc Bagdad

[blue.pi]

boud wrote: 

>hi everyone,
>  So how about blue pi and petros facilitating together and getting
>the imc-baghdad list going, maybe as initial administrators? If you
>two could work together constructively ;), then i think things would
>look promising for supporting iraqis to work together and take over.

Mmh, don't think that's a good idea, after all, I left this list because I 
am of the opinion that petros and I have such differing political opinions 
that we can't work together. 

Besides that: While I believe it is perfectly o.k. to help with setting up a 
website, I do believe locals should administer their own mailinglists - just 
because it is something really easy to do and if an imc can't manage that, 
it is probably not sustainable or as maybe in the case of Iraq: mailinglists 
are not an appropriate way of communicating. Last time I was in Bagdad I saw 
only Internet places in five star hotels - not a good condition to do 
anything web based. 

What I will do, is to inform people going to Bagdad about the forming IMC 
there and hopefully they will meet up. Such travel plans are at the moment 
highly uncertain though, one of our volonteers has just postponed her plans 
by a couple weeks, becasue it still seems too dangerous. I just wanted to 
point out in general that you should inform IMC Beirut about new indymedias 
in neighboring countries, because people do travel quite a lot. 


>That way, if VITW and AFSC do raise the money for computers, >satellite phone etc, they'll at least be under pressure to give it to a >local, non-hierarchical group in a way that there are no strings >attached. Or at least, the local group will be able to talk directly by email to the network and consense with other Iraqis (contacted via IMC Beirut,
IMC East Med,...)  on developing a local, independent media group with
>no strings pulled by any authoritarian group (US as a State or other).

I don't think the later is such a big problem, but I want to raise another 
issue, because we discussed that recently on a media activist meeting in 
Spain. It's the problem of funding in general. It seems like there are 
currently large amounts of funds around. Of course, I totally welcome it if 
this means e.g. enabling activists here to travel to all kinds of 
conferences and events in Europe and Africa. 

But when it involves large amounts of money spend on equipement and 
equipement no ordinary person in that country would own like satellite 
phones and maybe to some extent video cameras, then we are at risk of 
creating hierarchies through that. 

I think we should ask if these things are really essential. Computer of 
course are to make a newspaper, but do all IMC's start out with video 
cameras? And why would you need satellite phones? (I know the phone lines in 
Bagdad are shity, but I also believe people will manage) I am not saying a 
new IMC Bagdad shouldn't have these things period. I am just saying: What 
happens if it never takes off or if it becomes a cliquee group? 

>BTW, congratulations to IMC Beirut on getting 
>http://beirut.indymedia.org
up and running! :) 

thanks. but we are still in the trial period, that's why we haven't 
announced it yet. 

solidarity
blue