[New-imc] Online form: Proposed new IMC! (darwin.indymedia)

[jestfibi at yahoo.com]

Submitted by: Fi Bea <jestfibi at yahoo.com> on Sunday, May 16th, 2004 @ 3:17:33 pm (-0400)

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proposed_imc_name:
darwin.indymedia

proposed_imc_url:
http://darwin.indymedia.org/

current_url:
http://darwin.perthimc.asn.au/

city:
Darwin

state:
Northern Territory

country:
Australia

contact_name:
Fi Bea

contact_email:
jestfibi at yahoo.com

contact_phone:
0438 745 259

tech_name:
mick lambe

tech_email:
pariahnt at yahoo.com

tech_phone:
0408 893 142 

focus:
issue_focus

critical_dates:
May Day

supporting_groups:
Territory Users Forum, the Socialist Alliance, People Against Racism in Aboriginal Homelands, the Longgrass Association, Kujuk, AFFET (Australians For a Free East Timor) the Greens... Essentially every progressive group in the Northern Territory. With partial support from legal and other more institutionalised organisations.

introductory_statement:
The need for an alternative media is very apparent to the collective who are all autonomous activists. Inclusion in a global network (that we are all familiar with) and one that recognises autonomism, has obvious political and ethical attractions.

We find that since we\'ve been organising this indy, we are working together better on a political level, as our previous \'guidelines\' on cooperation, etc... have always been as ad hoc as our groups. We are a fiercely independent crew. So that is a major reason to continue through IM process and one we had to discover for ourselves.

We have also experienced the benefits of having a forum that is wider than our collective experiences and see real potential in promoting and further broadening community involvement. The Open Publishing concept is not one familiar to many people here. We hope to change that situation. 

The \'media\' here is incredibly limited and hostile to progressive ideals. Currently we have racism, militarism and nationalism, up on pedestals made of money. An independent media source (and one we hope to get out in hardcopy form eventually) is crucial here.

resources:
We all have a history of activism, some of us dating back 30 years. So we have no lack of organisational skills. Currently most of the collective are involved in running an anarchist for Darwin Lord Mayor. A major organisational feat.

We are reliant on Perth indymedia, Western Australia for server space and hope to become accepted into the Global IMC before organising a new server/format, or whatever else the collective decides upon.

outreach:
We are still engaged in that process. That would seem an ongoing committment and one we try to incorporate into our various activist groups. We have publicised and organised public meetings, but are awaiting acceptance into the global IMC before any serious promotion takes place. 

identity_makeup:
We have no Aboriginal people on board yet - which is due to the educational and social racism we oppose so strongly here. Although one of us is adopted by local Aboriginal people. We have a strong \'working class\' contingent, an ex-devotee of Krishna, diverse sexual preferences and a history of working with progressive groups. We are an indy that pushes drug law reform, anti-racism and other \'unpopular\' issues.
 

steps_represent_diversity:
We already \'work in\' with such people (primarily Aboriginal) and try to address their issues as inclusively as we can. We have already discussed getting a laptop and big screen to enable us to access communities and camps. Part of getting Aboriginal people (any people) involved is showing what can be done. 

We have hopes of getting some space to teach Aboriginal people about the WWW - something we have done in our homes over the years. We also find that many \'working class\' people are disempowered through lack of knowledge of how the net works and the practical side of getting online.

We need to work on education, in a State where access to such free speech opportunities is not considered the domain of the socially disadvantaged. All of us have a strong desire for Aboriginal involvement and we are fairly representative of socially disadvantaged people (in the NT) ourselves.

steps_involve_new_workfields:
Much of this will be new to some members of the collective. Our Tech person is teaching them new skills. We don\'t have problems with gender specificity, due to the activist backgrounds we have embraced. Tasks would be rotated anyway -- out of need -- even if we did feel differently.