The UK needs more local IMCs

Thomas J | 17.07.2002 15:07

There is only one IMC that reflects the issues of a local community at the monent, (Bristol), albeit a very good one. This country's locals area need a voice, and a local IMC would provide just that.

Compared to the USA, there are very few local IMCs in this country, if fact there is only one (Bristol). Even our capital city and the largest urban area in the British Isles, London, does not yet have an IMC. I can think of many places in this country this need a voice, and an IMC would provide such a voice. One such area is my home town of Plymouth, which has one of the poorest area in the country (the St Peter ward), and has a escalating drugs problem, one of the worst in the country relative to its population. Many of Bristol Indymedia's articles could apply to Plymouth, just substitute Bristol for Plymouth, and Easton for Devonport, Stonehouse, Stoke, Efford or Swilly/North Prospect.

Plymouth is not the only area in this country that I feel would benefit from having its own IMC. Northern towns such as Burnley, Oldham, and Bradford, which are extremely ecomomically disadvantaged, and are also facing the problems of racial tension (not helped by groups such as the BNP, especially in Burnley's case). Also large urban areas such as Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, and not forgetting London should also have their own IMC.

There are many local IMCs in the USA, in this one instance I believe that the UK should follow their example.

Thomas J

Comments

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Yes but

17.07.2002 15:41

There is a need for more IMC's and this process is happening. Of course the process of actually implementing 'regionalisation' is a long one and relies in part on the enthusiasm of others.

There are groups throughout the country who are being encouraged to communicate with each other in order for them to set up and Indymedia, either as it's own IMC site or as a page which would be attached to the current UK site.

When the other IMC's are set up then the process of turning the UK site into a different site or maintaining it as a UK site needs to be discussed with everyone. Does the UK site remain? Or does it disappear?

What about boroughs in London - who will take it on. What about the area of Burnley - who will take it on? - I think there is a need to reduce the geography of the news and have co-ordinated links to each other. Maybe the international Indymedia would be what the UK one may look like, taking local news from local UK IMC's. What do ya think?

act local think global

RE: Yes but

17.07.2002 16:18

I don't often look at the international Indymedia site, though I should, but the layout of it, where you get the best of the news from IMCs across the world is one that I like, and if the IMC movement was to fully take hold in the UK, I would like the UK Indymedia site to take on that role for the UK IMCs. As for who would run the local IMCs, I'd think that groups of like-minded people, maybe unified by a few local issues would be able to start it off. If my memory serves me right, wasn't IMC Seattle started by the protests against the WTO when they met there in '99, and then started the whole ball rolling? Another point, at my university, Keele, the Globalise Resistance (name will change next year cause our views differ from the national GR, and the name also misled people) group there started what could be considered a form of IMC for Keele University (web link at bottom of page), due to the increasing sell out of Keele by the commercial wing of the University, Keele Facilites Management (KFM).

Final comment, I agree totally with your idea of regionalisation, since huge national goverments can never be fully in touch with their people, one of my main beliefs is that that should partition England into North and South, since the cultural and economic divide between the two is immense. Then devolution could be taken further, with parliments for individual counties, and even cities.

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Thomas J

Collective

17.07.2002 19:33

Check out the Collective ideas - which can be found in a link above on the newswire. Think you'll be interested...

Collective
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