Thursday, December 28, 2006

 

Going...Going...

Bay Area Indymedia (Indybay) reports:
UNLESS INDYBAY RAISES $4000 in 30 days we cannot afford our web hosting and the site will go off the air.

This is serious! We are an all-volunteer collective and our costs are miniscule in comparison with the service that the website provides to the Bay Area, Santa Cruz, and Northern California activist communities.
Here are just a few examples of this fine service.

North Korea has Right to Blow You Away

Bay Area Indymedia Censorship

Flag BBQ and Reich Inflation

Genocide-o-Mania

Courtesy of Indy Media Watch, there's plenty, plenty more.

The plea for help boldly claims:
Indybay Is Grassroots Media at Its Finest
Sure. If you say so. I'm sure the finest grassroots media source will have no trouble making money to cover costs in producing such quality media. Good luck with all that!

A defunct Indymedia site won't be missed, although I will miss some of the weirdo photos .

Update:Santa Cruz Indymedia asks "Have you got Indymedia's back"?
Since the Santa Cruz Independent Media was established in 2001, we have never had any major fundraising drives. However, we have recently lost our free webhosting and need to raise $4,000 (along with Indybay, our partner website) by January 30th or we run the real risk of having to shut down the site.

Please seriously consider making a donation today. You will be hard-pressed to find a more efficient charity to donate to. Nearly 100% of donations go directly toward operating expenses; we won't waste your money on slick brochures or marketing schemes. If your donation is postmarked by December 31st, you can use it as a deduction on this year's taxes.
Indymedia is a tax deduction?

Comments:
"As our expenses are relatively low in comparison with the service that the website provides..."

?
 
seems like they raised the money they need. your snarking about their demise was premature. btw, what sort of public support does this site have? if you put out a call like that, would anyone notice? would anyone care?
 
if you put out a call like that, would anyone notice? would anyone care?

Probably not, but then neither would I. You see, this site does not have any delusions of grandeur, like some others do.
 
"any delusions of grandeur"

not so sure about that. the author(s) here seem to think this site serves a critical function in keeping indymedia websites in line, or at least informing the public in some valuable way. it certainly borders on delusion to think that a single blog maintained by a handful of people at most serves as any kind of serious counterbalance to the massive work done by the global indymedia network staffed by hundreds and hundreds of people acting in concert with thousands of activists worldwide.

delusions or not, this site does make a profit, however slight it may be, through the google and banner ads. never forget that the indymedia websites this site is dedicated to ripping make absolutely zero profit. no google ads, no banner ads. nothing other than donations from real live supporters to cover operating costs. indymedia websites are 100% volunteer staffed, every last one of them. in indymediawatch's short existence, the author(s) here have already made more money than the people they criticize every day, even if that's only $10 a month.
 
Notwithstanding that the ads on this site, based on the content, have amounted to less than a good meal thus far, I am unsure why profit is seen as such a bad thing.


You have given me some insight into your political origin however.

I would not be at all offended if Indymedia made money, by delivering a quality product. That it doesn't make any money is hardly an excuse for its problems. Particularly when you consider other sites which also operate on zero budget, yet exceed it.

the author(s) here seem to think this site serves a critical function in keeping indymedia websites in line, or at least informing the public in some valuable way.

If you say so. I believe we have informed the public in a meaningful way. You may care to disagree, that is your right. Whilst going to war on this site, you have not thus far even conceded that Indymedia has problems. Instead, trying to find some excuse based on a profit model. Huh?

I don't think you are likely to be part of the solution.
 
"Indymedia has problems"

Indymediawatch has problems (i.e snarky features like the one about this fundraising drive the INcorrectly predicted the demise of indybay when apparently that site has real live support from many, many people). name a newsite, or website, that doesn't. israpundit perhaps? myspace? what is it that floats your boat when you are not snarking? be specific.

being all volunteer wasn't offered as an excuse but a contrast with this site. this site is a small-time hobby of two or three people tops that pays for lunches for its mean-spirited author(s) whereby indymedia is a labor of love for hundreds and hundreds of volunteers who are actually trying to accomplish some good for the world. if you don't get what that difference means, well, then it's not worth explaining to you.
 
"going to war on this site"

if not delusional, melodramatic then for sure

"other sites which also operate on zero budget, yet exceed it"

which ones have the mix of global and local reach via hundreds of volunteers working in concert with thousands of activists and exceed indymedia? which volunteer-only sites are supported striclty by users, not ads, that have this kind of reach and effect and exceed indymedia? be specific
 
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