Schnews 4 Indymedia together for eva tru luv

Hi
Speaking as someone who waits with baited breath for the latest issue of Schnews to appear to give me anarchically comical insight from the back streets of be- right- on...

And speaking as someone who also clicks on indymedia.uk.org to get the latest hot from the streets reportage coming from legions of activist-journalists “being the Media” at the latests heroic attempt to crash the towers of Mammon........

I was slightly perplexed by the bizarre genetic merging of Indymedia and Schnews to create the bastard of offspring Frankenstein know as.......

SCHINDY

So what's going on?

Today is a huge blockade of awe Aldermarston which is mentioned in the “up coming coverage section” and last week was the police assault on the No Borders shelter in Calais, both of these events appear to have given way to Schnews.

I appreciate that Indymedia UK has been going through some tough times of late, and I recognise that Schnews does gives excellent coverage but why the merging of the two? The lead stories don't even link to other Indy stories on the same topic but to Schnews stories on different topics.

Now, I'm sure that the someone will say that the reason the Aldermaston story is not up is cos no one wrote it yet, but I'm sure that a rehash of say Trident Ploughshare's website and then a link to some time lines could be done as has happened for similar events!

The No Borders piece in fact is updating in the way that Indymedia is famous for and should have stayed put.

So please, dear friends from Schnews could you not take over the feature column with your witty repartee? Or at least explain your plans to us mere mortals on the public parts of Schindy.

Scheers

A friend with weed is better

Additions

Response

15.02.2010 23:26

"last week was the police assault on the No Borders shelter in Calais, both of these events appear to have given way to Schnews."

Calais Feature:

https://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/2010/02/445878.html

"Now, I'm sure that the someone will say that the reason the Aldermaston story is not up is cos no one wrote it yet, but I'm sure that a rehash of say Trident Ploughshare's website and then a link to some time lines could be done as has happened for similar events!"

It was linked to in upcoming events. But no-one posted any reports to Indymedia. What prevented you from doing a rehash of the TP website?

"So please, dear friends from Schnews could you not take over the feature column with your witty repartee? Or at least explain your plans to us mere mortals on the public parts of Schindy. "

You'll find all the details of the proposal on the lists:

Proposal:

http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/imc-uk-features/2009-November/1124-5z.html
Responses:

http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/imc-uk-features/2009-November/date.html#9780

And your article should have gone to the moderation list:

imc-uk-moderation@lists.indymedia.org

IMCista

Comments

Hide the following 14 comments

I kind of agree

16.02.2010 00:07

with the origional poster. The idea of schnews picking one relevant story a week and posting it as an indymedia feature (which could then be combined with any relevent indymedia posts as lead storys) doesnt soudn too bad, but posting the entire schnews release as a story seems a bit redundant. Also it kind of suggests that a series of storys from schnews shoudl be given more publicity and higher placement than say a series of storys from shift or whatever. Not because of relevence interest or any kind of merit but *just* because its from schnews. I dont wanna have to use the 'H' word!

I have been a bit confused by all the schnews appearing of late, it gives the impression that 'non media' people/indymedia people have little or nothing to contribute since all that appears are schnews letters for most of the posts, when of course this is not hte case.

Schether

Maxwell Speedboat

16.02.2010 09:47

I can see the logic of Schnews being on IM. Having read the original outline it does seem a fair trade. Schnews gets a wider audience, IM gets regular features so a weekly arrangement is fair.

Having looked at the middle features column Schnews are generally sticking to the arrangement and if the middle column looks Schnews heavy its only really because there is a lack of other artciles being published to space the Schnews articles out.

IM needs more middle column editorial content based on the newswire.

So what happening there then?

Amplifier

Re: I kind of agree

16.02.2010 10:13

"I have been a bit confused by all the schnews appearing of late, it gives the impression that 'non media' people/indymedia people have little or nothing to contribute since all that appears are schnews letters for most of the posts, when of course this is not hte case."

To clarify, any individual (or group) can propose a feature (as long as they write it!) by emailing it to

imc-uk-features@lists.indymedia.org

Another IMCista

the only real problem is...

16.02.2010 12:27

.. it's only schnews.

If other activist media collectives were doing the same thing on Indymedia it wouldn't look so Schdominated(!)

Would IMC-istas be okay with the likes of Resistance, Class War, Movement, Hereford Heckler, Gagged, Porkbolter, etc, etc doing the same thing?

reader

@ reader

16.02.2010 12:34

"Would IMC-istas be okay with the likes of Resistance, Class War, Movement, Hereford Heckler, Gagged, Porkbolter, etc, etc doing the same thing?"

As the post above yours says:

"To clarify, any individual (or group) can propose a feature (as long as they write it!) by emailing it to

imc-uk-features@lists.indymedia.org"

more thorough reader

signs of demise

16.02.2010 13:17

Indymedia UK is dying and inserting chunks of schnews into the front page as some substitute for real features certainly isn't going to do anything to stop the rot. It's time to shake things up if anyone wan't to save indymedia and that's not going to happen if all the gate keepers can manage is a half hearted merger.

Independent?

re: signs of demise

16.02.2010 14:24

"Indymedia UK is dying and inserting chunks of schnews into the front page as some substitute for real features certainly isn't going to do anything to stop the rot. It's time to shake things up if anyone wan't to save indymedia and that's not going to happen if all the gate keepers can manage is a half hearted merger."

Signs of demise eh!

Read the original thread. It says nothing about a merger, its an experimental deal between the two parties. Still if it floats your boat to say its dying then have it your way. IM is dying.

Look forward to reading your posts about the demise of IM in another ten years!

Maxwell Speedboat

schgoing a bit to far

16.02.2010 19:02

I have been a bit confused by the amount of schnews articles, some action happens, it goes on indymedia and then later it's put back on by schnews? doesnt make sense to me. It's a bit weird how peple are talking about it being a 'fair deal', as if indy and schnews are two ngo's or something. people sound a bit agressive n all which i dont thinks any good, nae point ending up infighting, and fair play to everyone involved with indymedia and schnews for all the stuff what they've done so far.

I also think its a fair point that if indymedia uk is going to have this special thing going on where schnews publish a weekly article its not fair on other papers (porkbotler, hereford heckler, class war, etc. that were mentioned)., doesnt make sense to me. admittedly i'm not a part of the indymedia team or collective and didnt know about that discussion ting that was posted but most people i've spoke to don't really like it. anyone got a good proposol for getting the opinion off of more indymedia readers/contributors to see what people think/want from their indymedia?

lazy

Yawn

16.02.2010 23:51

When I look at Indymedia these days, it looks mostly a load of rubbish. Perhaps its just a weary time of year.

Mr Snore

hmm

17.02.2010 10:44

for example, Mainshill digging in was an IMC feature, and then Lanarky in Action was a Schnews feature on IMC. It wasn't an issue that is less seen on IMC, which was the original Schnews proposal, but just no-one had written a Mainshill feature after the eviction. That's the danger because Schnews work to a weekly deadline, and there may not be enough of us writing IMC features to work to that.

Also for me it opens up wider issues. What is the purpose of IMC? If it's just to provide non-mainstream coverage of stuff, then the Schnews posts fit the bill. If it's dependent on something, an action or protest happening (my preference), then they don't. Some IMCs around the world a while ago tried separating the newswire from opinions, rants and info, which had their own wire.

nail in the coffin

17.02.2010 11:53

I agree that it is a sign of demise. The UK network is in a very unhealthy state and the decision (by whoever made it) is a symptom of that ill health. If people were writing proper features than there'd have been no temptation to cast aside agreed process to insert these schnews pieces as features. If people felt ownership of indymedia they'd be more inclined to submit reports and draw together features. Turning the features column into an editorial outlet for schnews or other independent media outlets is not going help turn things around but instead is more likely to further discourage people from bothering to write up their own experiences.

The very fact that this thread of discussion is still in the newswire is another indication of the sorry state of indymedia. It i clear that there are not enough admins and that perhaps stems from the fact that there are so few active indymedia collectives in this country anymore and those which do exist are running their own sites. If those collectives could actually demand and get proper representation and visibility on the UK site then perhaps things might start to turn around but I'm not holding my breath.

sad day

I don't mind the stories but...

17.02.2010 20:49

what gets up my nose is, as the original poster said, is

"The lead stories don't even link to other Indy stories on the same topic but to Schnews stories on different topics" (from the same edition of Schnews).

Don't think this has been addressed by the IMCer responses?

in d schnews

@ "in d schnews"

17.02.2010 22:36

"Don't think this has been addressed by the IMCer responses?"

The format and links are being discussed on the features list:

http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/imc-uk-features/2010-February/0214-94.html

IMCista

middle of the road?

19.02.2010 12:09

Does anyone even bother reading the middle column of indy? Most people I've met head straight for the newswire, avoiding the middle column.