Posted by [EMAIL PROTECTED] : peter webster provides the following...thanks! >Date: Fri, 3 Dec 1999 17:08:18 -0800 (PST) >From: MichaelP <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >Subject: [ykboo] Independent Media Makes Its Mark at Seattle > >In case anyone isn't thinking, here's an available alternative news >source to Pacifica. Of course it's only there for another couple of days - >but is that really true? Isn't there a structure to follow, a working >design that makes reliance on any/every existing news service unnecessary? > >MichaelP > >================ >http://www.alternet.org/PublicArchive/Hazen1203.html > > >Independent Media Makes Its Mark at Seattle's WTO Confrontation >Don Hazen, Original to AlterNet > >The WTO confrontation in Seattle was by any measure a huge media event >worldwide, focusing attention on human rights, environmental destruction >and child labor as major byproducts of unfettered world trade. But Seattle >was also a watershed for the non-corporate independent media. >Comprehensive, powerful and immediate coverage of the dizzying array of >activities and clashes on the Seattle streets showcased, really for the >first time, the independent media's capacity to provide multifaceted, >in-depth coverage of a world-shaping news event. > >It's always been a fantasy of the community-based and alternative media to >break through the stranglehold of corporate media gatekeepers who shape >much of the news people see and hear. Media critics have long argued that >business interests and political realities ensure that most events are >reported from the perspectives of political figures, corporate leaders and >their spin doctors and PR agents, who have a vested interest in how events >are presented and perceived. Now, due to technological advances that >enable more direct access to media consumers, the alternative press is >much closer to imagining parity with large media organizations. > >Taking advantage of the World Wide Web as the prime distribution system >and other new technologies that make news gathering cheaper and more >mobile, hundreds of street-savvy journalists provided a global audience >with a bird's-eye view of the rapidly breaking Seattle events. There were >almost instant video clips available of a protester hit in the face by >rubber bullets fired by Seattle police officers and of police firing tear >gas into crowds of nonviolent protesters, as well as on-the-spot audio and >digital photographs posted on the Web in rapid-fire fashion. > >Much of the in-your-face nature of the media coverage was produced by a >coalition of activists and journalists operating out of the Independent >Media Center (IMC) in Seattle (www.indymedia.org). These activists and >journalists, armed with cell phones, lap top computers, video cameras and >web cams, were always at the center of the action, weaving their passion >for the issues with their desire for unmediated journalism. The result was >raw and often compelling coverage for media consumers and journalistic >outlets across the globe. > >Jeff Pearlstein, one of the founders of IMC, said: "It's all about getting >the people's voices heard. We're about providing an alternative to the >mainstream press that's without censorship, editing or corporate bias, >allowing people to tell their own stories." > >As events heated up, the ad hoc Independent Media Center became a kind of >ground zero for supporting coverage, as dozens of independent media >journalists, working for video, audio and print desks, reported breaking >news all around Seattle from the Center. Stories were published instantly >on the Web, using a system developed by Free Speech TV >(www.freespeech.org) to support grassroots media efforts. > >Indeed Web activism emerged as one of the victors of Seattle's WTO >confrontation, becoming a rallying tool that allowed people to launch >civil disobedience protests from afar. ABC's Michael J. Martinez reported >that online dissent took on new force last week, with people logging on to >sites created to organize virtual protests and parody official WTO Web >pages. One site was even designed to bring down the real WTO site by >flooding it with hits. Given that activism surrounding the WTO talks would >have been much weaker without the Internet, it seems reasonable to say >that a new age of cyber civil disobedience has officially been born. > >Along with the Web, daily video feeds, pooled and edited by a consortium >of grassroots TV organizations, were transmitted to satellite from IMC, >adding to technology-driven activism. Greg Ruggiero, an IMC spokesperson, >said: "People of all races, of all ages, from all over the world are >working together to get the word out, telling their stories, breaking down >the dominant media structure. This is democratic media, this isn't >alternative media. We're not alternative to anything. We're independent >media bringing information directly to the people." > >Cooperation was in fact the hallmark of the operations at IMC. Jim >Hightower's producer, who was doing a daily show at a nearby Methodist >church called IMC and said he was with former French Prime Minister >Francois Mitterand's widow -- Did they want to interview her? Amy Goodman, >host of Pacifica's "Democracy Now," needed her Web site changed; an IMC >volunteer staff did that overnight. > >Of course, things weren't perfect and seemed chaotic at times. Ruggiero >reported that so many people were going to their Web site, it was crashing >despite mirror servers set up around the world to help provide more >bandwidth. For Ruggiero, this was an indication that people are hungry for >information straight from the source. > >"One of the hottest offerings on the site is an interview via cell phone >with a protester who was arrested and was talking to us from a bus as he >was being driven away," Ruggiero said. "While all this was happening, we >made sure that the reason why we were here -- the critique of corporate >dominance, the importance of issues like genetic engineering, worker >rights and the environment were not getting overshadowed by the >confrontations in the street. Our work, our content is all designed to >provide a critique of the global corporate world." > >Another journalistic force in the Seattle media effort was Norman Solomon, >a hardworking author and syndicated AlterNet media columnist. Solomon >co-hosted with Julie Light of Corporate Watch (www.corpwatch.org) a daily >radio show produced by The National Radio Project, and also wrote a daily >column for the World Trade Observer (www.worldtradeobserver.org), a daily >anti-WTO newspaper and Web site put out by Earth Justice Legal Center and >led by Tom Turner. > >"It's exciting to be here," Solomon said. "And it's been an enormous >challenge. We have a dozen people operating with very little sleep and the >logistics are difficult because events are spread out. There's also chaos >in the street and curfews. One of our reporters was roughed up, jabbed in >the back with a billy club and deliberately sprayed in the eyes with >pepper spray after she showed the police her official press credentials." > >Solomon and others gave high marks to the World Trade Observer, which >distributed 10,000-15,000 copies of its paper a day. "It's the only daily >activist take on everything that's happening," said Judith Barish, one of >its editors. "Our Web site is being overwhelmed too," she explained, "and >interestingly many of the hits are coming from Geneva, so we figure that's >how all the WTO bureaucrats are tracking the opposition here." > >It is somewhat ironic that the "new" global independent press had its >debut during the unmasking of one of the least publicly understood >international developments of the last decade. The WTO, the world trade >apparatus, that is the successor to the General Agreement on Trade and >Tariffs (GATT) threatens to undermine local, democratically developed >issues, such as protection for dolphins and sea turtles, elimination of >pesticides in food and labor rights. > >For years the WTO has been accustomed to operating with little media >scrutiny and coverage was relegated to the business pages of newspapers >and magazines. But, thanks to activists and progressive journalists, this >is no longer the case. As Tom Hayden told The Nation's Marc Cooper on the >streets of Seattle: "A week ago no one even knew what the WTO was. Now >these protests have made WTO a household name. And not a pretty word." > >The ability to transform the world's perception of global trade, of >course, didn't happen overnight. Months and months of preparation by >organizers, activists, trade unions and highly trained direct-action >experts all culminated in the crowning moment when tens of thousands of >concerned people sat down in the streets and prevented, for a day, the WTO >meeting from taking place. > >Key to the success of the protests were Direct Action Network, Public >Citizen, People for Fair Trade and the Institute for Agriculture and Trade >Policy (IATP). Most of these groups operated out of a public space in the >Seattle Town Hall set aside for nonprofits. IATP had a sophisticated media >streaming operation (www.wtowatch.org), aimed at international journalists >and developed by RealImpact, a subsidiary of RealNetworks, the pioneer in >streaming audio and video technology. The IATP site also includes >insightful daily radio commentaries by trade expert and columnist David >Morris, who is particularly pointed in his hammering of Pat Buchanan's >divisive anti-free trade rhetoric. > >The print side of the independent media equation was equally on top of >things. The local Seattle Weekly (www.seattleweekly.com), led by editor >Skip Berger and crack reporter Geov Parrish, provided superior coverage >leading up to the WTO meeting week. It also had a special issue on the >streets on December 1 and kept its Web site cooking daily with new >material. Harold Myerson, one of the country's top political reporters, >filed an excellent report on Tuesday night for the December 1 edition of >the LA Weekly (www.laweekly.com). > >On the daily Web front the international aspect of the WTO gathering was >covered daily by Sebastian Naidoo from www.oneworld.net, while Salon >magazine (www.salon.com) featured on-site coverage by veteran economics >reporter David Moberg and journalist L.A. Kaufman. Tom Paine >(www.TomPaine.com) also contributed, in particular with an excellent piece >by Bill McKibben. > >All this material, and much more, is featured on a special WTO site, >developed by Tate Hausman at AlterNet (www.alternet.org/wto.html), which >over the past six weeks has cataloged some of the best written material on >global trade. The collection includes dozens of articles and links to >valuable content such as the "WTO Primer" and the "Citizens Guide to World >Trade." > > >AlterNet is a project of Independent Media Institute >Reproduction of material from any AlterNet.org pages without written >permission is strictly prohibited. Copyright ) 1999 Independent Media >Institute. All rights reserved. AlterNet | 77 Federal Street, San >Francisco, CA 94107 | Telephone 415 284 1420 | Fax 415 284 1414 | > > > >SEATTLE (AP) - > > Disappointed delegates of the World Trade Organization reported Friday >that they had failed to get agreement on an agenda for a new round of >global trade negotiations but they said they would probably try again to >bridge huge differences next year in Geneva. > >``We had to suspend this meeting and that is a disappointment,'' Canadian >Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew told reporters late Friday night. > >U.S. Trade Representative Charlene Barshefsky, the chairman of the >meetings, had called a session of all 135 countries for later in the >evening to announce the next steps. > >But officials from some countries said they understood that the WTO would >try to restart the negotiations next year in Geneva, where the WTO is >headquartered. > >The announcement represented the latest in a string of failures for the >WTO sessions, which the Clinton administration had hoped would launch a >new round of global trade talks. > >The meetings were disrupted on Tuesday and Wednesday with huge protests >that turned violent, forcing Seattle police to use tear gas and declare a >civil emergency. > >Word circulated quickly among protesters, who were being kept away from >the convention center by police and National Guard troops, called out to >restore order on Wednesday. > >The protesters, who had vowed all along to ``Shut down the WTO,'' which >they saw as an embodiment of everything wrong with the global economy, >reacted with cheers as news of the failure of the talks was spread by cell >phones and bullhorns. > >Outside the Westin Hotel, where President Clinton stayed when he visited >Seattle to promote the WTO negotiations earlier in the week, a group of >about 50 protesters cheered, high-fived each other and began dancing in >the street. > >``We've won. We really disrupted it,'' said Tracy Katelman with the >Alliance for Sustainable Jobs and the Environment. ``Obviously, we haven't >won the whole battle. But we've made a pretty big impact. I think the >corporations will be shaking in their boots.'' > >Maude Barlow, with a Canadian watchdog group called Council of Canadians, >said, ``The system collapsed and for the right reasons. This has been a >victory for democracy, a victory for the civil society we live in.'' > >Protesters had claimed all week that the WTO was neglecting its demands to >seek better protections of workers' rights and the environment in future >trade negotiations. > Reprinted under the Fair Use http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html doctrine of international copyright law. <><<<<<>>>>><><<<<> Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ <><<<<<>>>>><><<<<>
