Social Action Media:Indymedia

What?

• ‘Triggered by discontent with the mainstream media’

IMC UK

Discontent with…

• Professionalism, recruitment and

control

• Institutional interface

• Culture and discourse

• Corporate ownership

• Commodification

Professionalism, recruitment & control

• ‘I don’t say you’re self-censoring - I’m sure you believe everything you’re saying; but what I’m saying is, if you believed something different, you wouldn’t be sitting where you’re sitting’ (Chomsky to Andrew Marr, BBC, 1996).

• various studies indicate that a small increase in the selectivity of an organization often results in a disproportionate large decrease in the investments required for control (Etzioni)

• The control function of institutions entails that ‘performances desired by organizational norms will be rewarded while undesirable performances will be punished’ (Etzioni)

• Class: proportion of top 100 journalists in news and current affairs who have a private school background:– 49% in 1986– 54% in 2006– 45% attended Oxbridge universities

• As late as 1999 only the Guardian had any ethnic minorities in its editorial staff

• Guardian, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Mirror, Sun, Observer, News of the World, Mail on Sunday, and Sunday Mirror shared 13 journalists or reporters employed from ethic minority groups

• By 2005 only 9% of national newspaper editors were female

• ‘Powerful occupational mythology’

• ‘Occupational ideology’ of journalism

= common sense ‘nose’ for news

= over-reliance on official sources

= institutional interface

= narrow focus/narrow ‘news net’

= reactive journalism

Culture and Discourse• A society will share a ‘language’ or

discursive structure of comprehension

• Institutional language and official terms dominate

• ‘other’ groups have difficulty

in being heard (as sources) and

understood– Think of the ‘no borders’

movement

Corporate ownership

• Time Warner Book Group– Warner Books

• The Mysterious Press• Warner Vision• Warner Business Books• Aspect

– Warner Faith• Warner Treasures• TW Kids

– Little, Brown and Company• Little, Brown Adult Trade

• Little, Brown Books for Young Readers• Back Bay• Bulfinch Press

– Time Warner Book Group UK– Time Warner Audio Books

• Time Inc.– Southern Progress Corporation– Sunset Books– Oxmoor House– Leisure Arts

• Time Warner - Cable – HBO – CNN

– CNN International – CNN en Espanol – CNN Headline News – CNN Airport Network – CNN fn – CNN Radio – CNN Interactive – Court TV (with Liberty Media) – Time Warner Cable – Road Runner – New York 1 News (24 hour news channel devoted only

to NYC) – Kablevision (53.75% - cable television in Hungary)

• In Demand – Metro Sports (Kansas City)

• Time Warner Inc. - Film & TV Production/Distribution – Warner Bros. – Warner Bros. Studios – Warner Bros. Television (production) – The WB Television Network – Warner Bros. Television Animation – Hanna - Barbera Cartoons – Telepictures Production – Witt - Thomas Productions – Castle Rock Entertainment

– Warner Home Video – Warner Bros. Domestic Pay - TV – Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution – Warner Bros. International Television Distribution – The Warner Channel (Latin America, Asia - Pacific,

Australia, Germ.) – Warner Bros. International Theaters (owns/operates

multiplex theaters in over 12 countries)

• Time Warner Inc. - Magazines – Time – Time Asia – Time Atlantic – Time Canada

– Time Latin America – Time South Pacific – Time Money – Time For Kids

• Fortune • All You • Business 2.0 • Life • Sports Illustrated

– Sports Illustrated International – SI for Kids

• Inside Stuff • Money

– Your Company

– Your Future

• People – Who Weekly (Australian edition) – People en Español – Teen People

• Entertainment Weekly – EW Metro

• The Ticket • In Style • Southern Living • Progressive Farmer • Southern Accents • Cooking Light

• The Parent Group – Parenting – Baby Talk – Baby on the Way

• This Old House • Sunset • Sunset Garden Guide • The Health Publishing Group

– Health – Hippocrates – Coastal Living – Weight Watchers

• Real Simple • Asiaweek (Asian news weekly) • President (Japanese business monthly)

• Dancyu (Japanese cooking) • Wallpaper (U.K.) • Field & Stream • Freeze • Golf Magazine • Outdoor Life • Popular Science • Salt Water Sportsman • Ski • Skiing Magazine • Skiing Trade News • SNAP • Snowboard Life • Ride BMX

• Today's Homeowner • TransWorld Skateboarding • TransWorld Snowboarding • Verge • Yachting Magazine • Warp • American Express Publishing Corporation (partial

ownership/management) – Travel & Leisure – Food & Wine – Your Company – Departures – SkyGuide

• Magazines listed under Warner Brothers label – DC Comics – Vertigo – Paradox – Milestone – Mad Magazine

• Online Services – CompuServe Interactive Services – AOL Instant Messenger – AOL.com portal – Digital City – AOL Europe – ICQ – The Knot, Inc. - wedding content (8 % with QVC 36%

and Hummer – WinbladFunds18%)

– MapQuest.com - pending regulatory approval – Spinner.com – Winamp – DrKoop.com (10%) – Legend (49% - Internet service in China)

• Time Warner - Online/Other Publishing – Road Runner – Warner Publisher Services – Time Distribution Services – American Family Publishers (50%) – Pathfinder – Africana.com

• Time Warner - Merchandise/Retail – Warner Bros. Consumer Products

• Theme Parks – Warner Brothers Recreation Enterprises (owns/operates

international theme parks)

• Time Warner Inc. - Turner Entertainment – TBS Superstation – Turner Network Television (TNT) – Turner South – Cartoon Network – Turner Classic Movies – Cartoon Network in Europe – Cartoon Network in Latin America – TNT & Cartoon Network in Asia/Pacific

• Film Production – New Line Cinema

– Fine Line Features – Turner Original Productions

• Sports – Atlanta Braves

• Other Operations – Turner Learning – CNN Newsroom (daily news program for

classrooms) – Turner Adventure Learning (electronic field

trips for schools) – Turner Home Satellite – Turner Network Sales

• Other – Netscape Communications – Netscape Netcenter portal – AOL MovieFone – iAmaze – Amazon.com (partial) – Quack.com – Streetmail (partial) – Switchboard (6%)

Who owns Time Warner?

• U.S. Trust Co, Capital Research, Axa, Barclays Bank, Citygroup bank, Wellington Management Company, State Street Corporation, Dodge Street and Cox etc = 73%

• Individuals – Ted Turner, Steven Case, Mark Reuben 1%

• Others (inc. 1000s of individuals) 26%

What do they want?

• Profit/return on the investments!

= Commodity form:– Media products bought and sold (even BBC)– Subject to commodity relations, property

claims, copyright etc.– Problems of distributing non-commodities

• … ‘Supported by the widespread availability of media technologies’ IMC UK– handy-cams, VHS recorders, digital video and

still cameras, PC editing, internet distribution, web interface

• Use of tech contrasted with MSM…

• ‘new technologies, multi-media news production and associated practices of multi-skilling at this [Bristol] BBC newscentre have, despite corporate and management claims to the contrary, contributed to the production of more standardised news treatments and formats, and led to more superficial journalist involvement with selected news stories and their sources’(Cottle)

• Founded before 1999 Seattle anti-WTO protests

• May Day 2000, UK Indymedia in operation

• From 2002/3, Indymedia starts decentralising/glocalising

• Dozens of collectives around the world

• New collectives start all the time; just have to agree to Mission Statement and Principles of Unity.

Principles• Each collective writes Mission Statement and editorial

guidelines• Generally,

– Open publishing– Open participation (in everything from tech to legal) via emailing

lists, IRC, meetings & activity– Volunteer-run– Non-commercial– Transparent– Technologically independent (open source)– Non-hierarchical– No ‘prior restraint’

Function(s)/ing

• Facilitates ‘radical democracy’• Support local community• Support for social movements, protests, activists• Runs outreach, training, film nights, documentary

production, radio projects• Links to social centres• Global solidarity• Specific actions – climate camps

• Bus passenger revolt public meeting • Launch of a book about dissent in Bristol • Occupation of a local swimming pool building • Grass roots climate change initiatives• Court case against anti-GMO protestors • Police action against Bristol IMC • Bristol Latin American Forum • List of CIA ‘torture planes’• Proposal to add more street art to a public parks• Public meeting about public space in the city• A ‘green’ conference• Animal Liberation Front action • Politician receiving a visit from police• An occupied council building• BNP collaboration with Christian group • Protest against a government minister’s visit• Universities ban Coca Cola• Educational exclusion in Bristol (R).

Typical front page content on Bristol Indymedia web site

BBC Bristol on the same day

• ‘Overspend’ by a regional hospital

• Pros and cons of health privatisation

• Arson attack

• The ‘smashing’ of an ‘international drugs ring’

• Road closure after gas leak

• Shotgun incident

• Speeding motorcyclist

Problems…

• Open publishing can attract ‘cranks’• Non-hierarchy and consensus model can be

difficult to maintain• Legal problems (UK & Bristol server seizures,

libel)• Problem of the journalist-activist• Money and resources• Volunteers and stability• The state, esp. during protests

• Bristol Indymedia www.bristol.indymedia.org

• UK Indymedia www.indymedia.org.uk

• Global Indymedia www.indymedia.org