Perth Indymedia is independent media via Open Publishing - SCOOP

After much request! The article below was published in Scoop - the Australian Journalist Alliance Magazine: September, 2004

Enjoy!

"Whilst corporate media reflects the aims and objectives of profit-making machines, indymedia represents the voices of real people working toward social betterment. The corporate media cannot attempt to seek change, simply because it exists to protect its market and indeed broaden its circulation/ratings in order to increase its market share - so inherently reflects dominant cultural myths. Corporate media is about profit motives. Indymedia is about giving unheard voices a chance to be heard via a unique system of self-publishing. It's about creating an integrity space - where control over content is at an absolute minimum. That is, our editorial group will rarely intervene with the process of the newswire. We seek to allow these stories to be told without interference..."

Indymedia wants your stories: No textual act of freedom or criticism too small...

every insubordination must be advertised!

Welcome to the media evolution...
Indymedia is independent media via Open Publishing

Open Publishing is a participatory revolution in the dissemination of news information, current issues and new media art-hacks. Open Publishing is your voice heard in a global instant. Indymedia is a voluntarily collaborative effort to facilitate the diversity of voices of oppressed people everywhere.

A cell of the global network of Independent Media Centres (IMCs), Perth indymedia is an attempt to reclaim the media commons in Western Australia. In direct opposition to the hyper-product-driven corporate media machines of the 21st century, we are dedicated to real truth-tellings of real people - our voices, our stories, from our mouths. IMCs recognise from the outset that whilst bias and ideology are inherent in all art forms, we should strive at all times to remain as independent as possible. With a no-borders, no-rulers approach to publishing and consensus decision-making, Indymedia is often portrayed as extreme left or anarchist media - but as our goal is to represent a mosaic of anonymous and factual viewpoints we are impossible to define with absolute clarity. Indymedia is the result of many different voices seeking a better world.

So, of what are we independent?

IMCs exist to transcend the PR spun profit-centred corporations, political party machines and all oppressive forms of homogenous mental authority. We are independent of wealth accumulation and do not exist to bloat ourselves in materialistic weight. We seek to be independent of dominant cultural bias. With this independence in mind, and without the restrictions of heavy-handed editorial control we intend to invent new ways of re-distributing the disenfranchised voices of marginalised communities.

And so what is our media?

Whilst predominantly we are a website community, with all the hi-tech digital functionality, multimedia upload and internet capabilities, various crew delve into media workshops, zine production, guerilla film screenings, mutual aid documents; audio/video production - and have recently begun one-hour weekly public radio broadcasts on RTRFM. Perth Indymedia is the process of a diverse team of people with different skills and abilities.

Perhaps the fundamental difference of indymedia to corporate media is the distinct opposition to advertising for-profit products and services - whereas mainstream media exists because of advertising. We wish for no profit and accept NO paid advertising. Indymedia then, is an attempt to radicalise the media-scape.

The Indymedia [indymedia.org] phenomenon emerged in 1999 during the Seattle WTO street protests - initially devised as a vital alternative news site for immediate activist information-flow from the front lines. The first IMC documented and represented the dissenting voices of the oppression in the street -linking these activities to an instant global audience via the Internet.

Since then over 150 IMCs have sprung up across the planet. Indymedia is voluntary participatory media - where YOU are the journalist. Our slogan, borrowed from Jello Biafra is: "Don't Hate the Media - Become the Media". Indymedia's Open Publishing facility is simple: write/publish your story (or comment, pictures, audio files, movies, culture jams, events) - and your input is instantly part of the IMC Newswire - linked to the Global IMC network. The scope of such an endeavor is massive...

Online since early 2003, Perth Indymedia disseminates the unheard local and global grass-roots struggles of our time. With over a million and a half hits and assisting many community organisations, we've nearly 5500 Stories/Comments and over 100 Feature articles. The Perth Indy crew consists of a handful of dedicated eco-geeks; tech-heads; anarco-breeders; anon-artists; fair-dinkum journos; student media makers; activists and pseudo-consumers who want to help YOU contribute in a different way to the corporate-dominated global/local media-scape. And, YOU are invited to become part of this open, transparent process of media-making.

Whilst corporate media reflects the aims and objectives of profit-making machines, indymedia represents the voices of real people working toward social betterment. The corporate media cannot attempt to seek change, simply because it exists to protect its market and indeed broaden its circulation/ratings in order to increase its market share - so inherently reflects dominant cultural myths. Corporate media is about profit motives. Indymedia is about giving unheard voices a chance to be heard via a unique system of self-publishing. It's about creating an integrity space - where control over content is at an absolute minimum. That is, our editorial group will rarely intervene with the process of the newswire. We seek to allow these stories to be told without interference.

Indymedia wants your stories: No textual act of freedom or criticism too small... every insubordination must be advertised! Welcome to the media evolution...

check it out: http://perth.indymedia.org