[Seattle-editorial] Re: how to make the seattle website work

[nathaniel t]

Context: I am a former Seattle indymedia volunteer now living in Portland.

>>In Portland, for instance, a complaint such as Kirsten's would probably 
>>result in somebody actually showing her how to use the Mir feature 
>>interface to post center-column features herself.
>
>It is good they do not have to resort to making writers post with Mir on 
>the main column there, as that is more editorial and that is a different 
>job. I won't make editors pitch feature ideas and write the features if the 
>editors will not make me be an editor just to write.

Then Seattle is back to "not enough feature posters."  Or maybe not any 
feature posters.  Somebody has to do it.

>It is TRULY COURTEOUS that Pdx IMC makes it nice and easy for the writer. 
>The fact that they have people on staff reading their own open newswire and 
>pulling items of interest off the newswire, such as my articles, makes Pdx 
>an easy place for a writer to deal with. And they keep the front page 
>moving at such a fast pace, that it is not stale. Like Seattle's which is 
>dead in the mud.

Nobody is "on staff" in either place.  Nobody's getting paid for anything.  
In Portland some people watch the wire and uses the Mir interface every day. 
  Other people only post features once in a while, when they see something 
they're especially interested in.  In Seattle everybody's waiting around for 
somebody else to do it.

>>I know of at least one former Seattle IMC editor-person who told me she 
>>tried to write center-column features during the "85% Jonathan" period and 
>>gave it up because most of her proposals resulted in concerns rather than 
>>feature-posting.
>
>Not sure what you are talking about here...I am "she" and I gave up for 
>several reasons.

No, I was talking about somebody else.  I guess it was not a unique 
experience.

>But no, I am not going to do Mir internal posting on the Sea site...editor 
>and writer are different jobs, just like manager and performer are 
>different jobs.

Obviously this particular suggestion was not helful.  My apologies.

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