Indy Media Watch

The problems of Indymedia UK and the hijacking of the Editorial Policy by a small clique are documented in many places on the Internet and have been discussed at length on various chat forums so it's not worth rehashing all that again however it is worth saying that the activist movement in Britain had a rare opportunity when Indymedia UK was launched, the chance to have true unbiased non corporate news reporting through an easily accesible medium was unprecedented. Therefore the descent of Indymedia UK into infighting, closed meetings and fights for control was heartbreaking to watch. The small group who now control the password access and as a consequence the editorial and hiding policy are a long way from representitive of the peeps that Indymedia was set up to serve.

Public discussion has all but stopped, meetings are now held in secret at locations known only to the self elected elite and the ordinary contributors are controlled and censored. At the G8 gathering I met with many who all seemed to be asking the same question,
'How did this happen, who put them in charge ?' I used to hear the same questions in Liverpool when Millitant gained control of the Council and the question was answered by an old Labour stalwart,
'You did, you put them in charge by not contributing, by not stopping them before it was too late'. He was right about that situation and the idea is as relevant here today. A facade of Democratic Inclusive Involvement fronting a tightly controlled, not elected junta who wield the real power.

I have no answers to this dilema, I'm not that clever. Perhaps others can suggest a way for the true spirit of Indymedia to be regained or maybe an alternative needs to be set up, who knows. If however we are to achieve true social justice and change in Britain and the wider world we can not allow the egos of a small group to prevent our one journalistic outlet to be hijacked".

Permalink # posted by Dan @ 5:23 AM | |