Bristol Indymedia

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Bristol Indymedia, is also known as Bristol Independent Media Collective or BIMC.

Bristol has a flourishing independent media scene. One of the more interesting aspects of this is the Bristol Indymedia web site [1]. Bristol Indymedia (like the wider Indymedia network), provides a mix of news and articles that often tend towards a left-wing, progressive or anarchistic perspective. Bristol Indymedia volunteers have also produced films[1] and run community media days[2] and run regular film nights at the Cube Microplex.

Contents

[edit] About BIMC

Bristol Indymedia aims to create an open publishing news service for the people of Bristol which can be accessed and contributed to by all. Bristol Indymedia volunteers have talked about the problems of balancing their roles as moderators with the open publishing ethos of the site, "Being an open publishing system it is ripe for abuse - and it happens a lot but we try and keep on top of it."[3] Opinions vary on their success; for example, previous versions of this Wikipedia entry contained a vitriolic rant which, while ill-suited to Wikipedia's NPOV neutral tone, is indicative of the strong feelings that Indymedia can sometimes evoke. A few users of the site believed the project was not living up to its ideas and used the site to say so, "Bristol Indymedia deletes some posts and hides others."[4] However other indicators point to a successful media project: Local Magazine Venue called the project, "Potentially the most radical local media development in 100 years."[5]. The site's Google ranking when searching for the term 'Bristol' alone lists Bristol Indymedia frequently in the top 10, often overtaking other more mainstream local media outlets such as BBC Bristol. [6] Other commentators regard Bristol Indymedia as having promise but not being quite ready yet, remarking that the site, "...is also used by a lot of people with eccentric and fringe beliefs, but sometimes picks up some really interesting developments." [7]

[edit] A History of BIMC and Related Events

In August 2001, as an offshoot of the tech2 festival at the Cube Cinema Microplex and other venues around Bristol, a group of DIY media types, community activists and other interested people met upstairs at the Hatchet pub, Bristol, and began to set out a role for a possible Indymedia website for Bristol. By September 2001, the site was up and running.[8]

As part of an outreach plan, Bristol Indymedia organised a 'Community Media Day' on June 14th 2003.[9] The collective felt the event was a success and so planned another for the next year. In June 12th 2004 Bristol Indymedia a second 'Community Media Day' was also held at the Cube Cinema, which brought together local media outlets such as The Spark, Bristle as well as national groups such as Undercurrents and Talkiokie. Both events were intended to be both a platform for debate on independent media as well as a skill sharing opportunity.[10]

[edit] Server Seizure

On 27th June 2005 the Bristol Indymedia server was taken off line by the police due to a vandal using it to boast of his activities and inciting others to do likewise, but is now back online. (See the Indymedia entry for more on controversies surrounding Indymedia's open newswire policy, or The Register's coverage for more on the police raid.) The seizure of the server was carried out under a search warrant (police and criminal evidence act 1984, ss.8 and 15).[11] The police also arrested a Bristol Indymedia volunteer for the common law offence of "incitement to criminal damage." The raid removed a computer that also hosted a number of other sites including Euskalinfo (a Basque news service) and Wildfire, the blog of a prominent Bristol peace activist Jo Wilding. Following the seizure the Bristol Indymedia collective released a statement saying, "We are outraged at the actions of the police. They have completely disabled the entire Bristol Indymedia news service...This situation has serious implications for anyone providing a news service on the Internet."[12] On October 26th 2005 the police had returned the seized equipment.[13] By January 2006 the police had not charged the arrested volunteer with the offence they were arrested for and had decided that no further action is to be taken.[6] During the server seizure many local groups and individuals responded warmly to Bristol Indymedia's plight with solidarity and donations.[14] On 24th September 2007 representatives of Bristol Indymedia met with British Transport Police to discuss the seizure and arrest further. At the meeting the police confirmed that they have not found anything on the computers seized that would have led to the vandal. [15]

[edit] Bristol Indymedia Ongoing

Bristol based activists, using the name 'digital antifa', used the site to announce on the 14th April 2006 that the UK based Neo-Nazi group November 9th Society had been taken out.[16] Following this, on the 15th May 2006 the then leader of the Neo Nazi group, Kevin Quinn posted on the site that he had been looking for the BIMC collective to , "Last night I visited Bristol to thank the people from Indimedia for closing my website down...I went in the two pubs you normally hold it [the BIMC meetings] but I did not see anyone that appeared to be holding any meeting of any importance at all. I will most definitely be coming again."[17] The BIMC collective took this as a threat an issued a statement in response, "It is a common misconception that Indymedia writes the stories posted onto its newswire...Indymedia is not responsible for shutting down the N9S website...However given the nature of Quinn's 'politics' this 'visit' appears to be a thinly veiled attempt to intimidate a news site that carried stories he did not like...We will be meeting as normal.."[18] Reports from the indymedia volunteers to attended the meeting say there was no sign of Quinn or N9S, though sporadic messages attributed to the group in question were still posted on the site for some time after.

In December 2006 the Bristol Indymedia Collective published an article on the site entitled 'Future Directions'. [19] This article suggested a number of future directions that the site could progress in. These included BIMC Wiki Public Pages, a printed version of the site, an expanded calendar, adding blogs to the site and changing the site's name and focus to the wider 'West Country IMC'. At a public meeting to discuss these ideas a number of days later, the collective decided to enact the adding of a blogging system to the site that would allow people to create an ad-free blog and syndicate the posts directly to the Bristol Indymedia site.

In February 2008 Bristol Indymedia launched a new version of the site. Under the headline 'Bristol Indymedia's Radical Revamp' the sites administrators declared, "Today we unveil a fully upgraded website. The new site, which encourages readers to post their own local news stories, offers expanded facilities for posting news from all regions of the South West, an improved calendar, better facilities to upload images, video and audio content, a cleaner site design, easier access to the information and more scope for the site to expand."[20] [21]

[edit] Other Indymedia Centres

Bristol Indymedia is just one of many Independent Media Centers . They started with a vision for a global, open network of DIY journalists and alternative media activists. It was and remains closely associated with the anti-globalization movement, which criticizes neoliberalism, NAFTA and the World Trade Organization. The overall network is decentralized to the extent that the local IMC's operate independently once they are authenticated into the IMC network.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes and references

  1. ^ Example BIMC Video: DSEi solidarity demo in Bristol
  2. ^ http://www.plugincinema.com/plugin/articles/article_indy2003.htm Mixed Media: A Report Back on the Community Media Day in Bristol (14th June 2003)
  3. ^ http://www.maxpc.co.uk/features/default.asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=18485&subsectionid=736&subsubsectionid=608 alt.news
  4. ^ http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=21347 Bristol Indymedia accused of censorship
  5. ^ http://docs.indymedia.org/pub/Local/ImcBristol/bimchistory.rtf Venue magazine, June 2002
  6. ^ a b http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=24583 Bristol Indymedia News Update On the arrest of an IMC Volunteer, our archive and Google rankings...
  7. ^ http://www.ideasfestival.co.uk/radical.html Bristol's radical politics
  8. ^ docs.indymedia.org/pub/Local/ImcBristol/bimchistory.rtf BIMC History
  9. ^ http://www.plugincinema.com/plugin/articles/article_indy2003.htm Mixed Media: A Report Back on the Community Media Day in Bristol (14th June 2003)
  10. ^ http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcBristolMakingTheMedia2004 Bristol Indymedia Media Day 2004 - Making the Media
  11. ^ http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/06/315177.html?c=on Solidarity Page: Imc Bristol Server Seizure
  12. ^ http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2005/06/315147.html IMC Bristol Press Release : IMC Bristol Server Seized
  13. ^ http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=24352 Bristol Indymedia Equipment Returned
  14. ^ http://www.bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=24123 Bristol Indymedia - Update and Thanks!
  15. ^ http://www.bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=27049 Bristol Indymedia Server Seizure Update
  16. ^ Neo-Nazi Website Shut Down by Bristol Anti-Nazis
  17. ^ http://www.bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=24985Array&sc=1 Neo-Nazis in Kingsdown
  18. ^ http://www.bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=25010 Statement from Bristol Indymedia on N9S
  19. ^ http://bristol.indymedia.org/newswire.php?story_id=25653 Bristol Indymedia ‘Future Directions’ Document 2007 - ( work in progress )
  20. ^ http://www.bristol.indymedia.org/article/687850 Bristol Indymedia's Radical Revamp
  21. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/bristol/content/articles/2008/02/0...shtml BBC Bristol article on the launch

[edit] External links