(This is not news, so a half apology, but half the stuff on the newswire isn't anyway so only half apology. )

This country desperately needs an independant media. Indymedia due to it's history and position ( and the large amount of good work that it has done) IS seen by everyone i know as THE independant media source.

Yet, it is biased and in my humble opinion does not do what it could and should. It states it is an

" .. open-publishing platform for news, issues, actions and analysis reporting on grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial social justice, environmental and political issues. [and ] IMC UK is maintained by a network of media activists and groups."

Which it does, but in a biased way. And please I do not mean this in a bad or conspiratorial way.

There is a sub group of people who act as features editors. And it is they who decide what are highlighted as features, the key part of Indymedia. Everyone who logs on to IndymediaUK sees the features, while many newswire posts are not read, as they go off the page or a simply missed in the quantity of postings. It is clear this group only features some issues, and presumably the issues that matter to them or that they feel are the most important. Again i am not alleging conspiracy or evil doing.

So we have a catch 22. Indymedia is opensource and unmoderated but the KEY part, the features, are chosen by a committee.

Now it is absolutely clear that this group is open and i state again i do not see any conspiracy or badness. It works like this the features

"..are put together by volunteers communicating on the imc-uk-features list.
Any individual can join the features list and propose a new feature for the middle column. A proposal can take the form of an idea or a completed feature. Completed features are usually between 50 and 80 words and include at least one link to the newswire, preferably also links to background information. If no one objects to the feature proposal within 24-hours, and if it is completed, it will be uploaded to the middle column. The 24-hour rule ensures that everybody can contribute to the middle column and allows time for collaborative improvements and considerations."

While this is perfectly reasonable there are plenty of us who already have our plates full and do not want to take this function on.

What we want is this group to reflect more accurately the ".. grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial social justice, environmental and political issues .." struggles going on in this country. Features group please take this on board

Examples; There are currently 9 features on the home page

Free Gaza ship impounded x1
No Borders x2
Detention centre protests x2
UK Tamils protests x2
SOAS raid x1
HLS x1
Shell in Ireland x1

and the archive is little different.

Honestly does this reflect the resistance in the UK today? Why Shell in Ireland not opposition or not to the Orange Order Parades? Why a Gaza ship features not Iran protests in London? Why HLS and nothing on the struggles of the low waged in farming?

Where are the Construction workers disputes? which saw thousends of workers take unofficial and illegal secondary action blocking roads etc etc and were victorious in their dispute? Where is the feature on the Vesta workers struggle at the Wind Turbine factory in the Isle of Wight? Where is the feature on the ongoing cleaners struggles in the City? Where is the feature on the National Shop Stewards conference which recently brought hundreds of union activists together in London? Where is the feature on the recent disputes in the Universities against redundancies? And why no Climate Camp build up yet?

The list goes on but you understand my point. Struggles involving many many more thousands than those you feature, are going un-featured.

Please Indymedia .. we all need an Independant media that reflects the struggles we all face .. please reflect that in your features column. Thank you :)


by the way take a look at the Irish Indymedia which imho reflects much better a cross section of struggle