How can things develop for Indymedia Ireland?

national | miscellaneous | opinion/analysis

Wednesday September 24, 2003 18:08

by dunk - imc oxford/ dub?

02092997 at brookes dot ac dot uk

b.a.c.

Indymedia is not even 4 years old and already it has turned into one of the biggest networks in the world- with over 120 nodes world-wide. Lots of things are happening both at the local and at the global levels in these nodes.
How would you like to see it develop?

imc worldwide

How many people in Ireland are aware of it, how many people use it, what sort of news is covered?
Recently the UK Indymedia website decentralised into 11 smaller local nodes and I worked with the team that developed the IMC-Oxford. While there one of the main objectives was to publicise and to outreach into all communities, so that it didn’t just become a space only used for protestors and the same old heads to waffle on about stuff but that it became the fantastic resource that Indymedia could and indeed should be.

I’m not saying Indymedia is bad, it’s not, its already great. I just think it can definitely improve.

Just one example, last Saturday was SPORT AGAINST RACISM IRELAND SOCCERFEST. I did not see one report of this event. I have put one up and also contacted the organisers of the event to inform them of the short article but, more importantly, ask tehm to inform all those who participated about the article and to start to get them writing reports of the day. This gets new people using indymedia and hopefully also will diversify indymedia.
http://www.indymedia.ie/newswire.php?story_id=61274

hopefully indymedia will also start to outreach, by putting on screenings in different spaces around the city. Also start doing workshops, to give people an understanding about “open publishing”, image manipulation, basic computer file uploading, etc…
also by putting on social events, like the “oxford social wander” we organised during this summer
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/oxford/2003/07/273800.html

there is a vast and growing network of schools and libraries and universities that receive computers, why don’t we embrace this and let people know about this resource, give them skills training if they need them, so hopefully soon all communities will use this space as it indeed could be used

what do you think?