Begin forwarded message:
> > October 4, 2005 > Gary Webb - Presente > > Dear Colleague, > > Narco News begins, today, our "Consulta" or consultation with our > readers, > journalists, students, professors, supporters, collaborators and > critics > alike, to listen to you about where and how to drive this > international > newspaper - more than five years old - for the days and years to come. > > Here's the short version: Send me an email at > [EMAIL PROTECTED] with > your real name, your phone number, your city or town, your time > zone, and > what hours you can receive phone calls. And I’ll call you up to hear > whatever you have to say about Narco News and where we want to take > it from > here. > > Here's the long version: > > ”We’ll Call You > ” Announcing the Narco News Consulta > > A Phone Call “From Somewhere in América” Seeking Your Comments, > Criticisms > and Ideas > > By Al Giordano > Founder, Narco News > > It’s been almost five-and-a-half years since I began reporting to > you, kind > reader, on the drug war and democracy from Latin America via this > corner of > the Internet. The rest of the story is archived all over these pages > how > one authentic journalist became two. Two became three. Three became > thirty. > Thirty became > well > about a hundred graduates of the School of Authentic > Journalism and, now, 248 co-publishers > and a multitude of readers and > collaborators that have caused a revolution in how journalism is done. > > There’s no turning back now. It’s been – and continues to be – > quite the > ride > five years since Narco News was sued by Banamex-Citibank, and almost > four years since we defeated that attack from the richest financial > institution on earth... Three years, it’s been, since we founded a > School of > Authentic Journalism, and two years since our first session on > Mexico’s > Yucatán Peninsula. It’s been 18 months since – after a three-month > silence - > Narco News came roaring back to life with a participatory > Narcosphere (an > experiment that continues going strong), a Fund for Authentic > Journalism, > and a year since we convened the J-School in Bolivia. > > As journalists, we don’t only remember the calendar based on our > own story. > We can never forget the stories about others that we’ve reported: the > lifting of the cloak over the real narco-politicians, bankers, and the > dishonest “journalists” that protect them > the explosion of the drug > legalization cause throughout Latin America, and the beginning of > prohibition’s last gasp: the Plan Colombia U.S. military > intervention in > 2000 > the Zapatista indigenous rights caravan to Mexico City, the growth of > a coca growers movement in Bolivia and that charting of Narco > Dollars for, > er, beginners in 2001 > the attempted coups in Venezuela, the historic > electoral shifts in Brazil, in Bolivia, in Ecuador in 2002, and the > discovery that “single issues” like drug policy and human rights > can’t be > pulled apart from all this authentic democracy breaking out from > below (and > that the Authentic Journalism renaissance is itself one of those > social > movements) > a South American enlightenment for harm reduction in drug > policy > the rise of El Alto and the fall of Goni in 2003 > the opening of the > floodgates of whistleblowers in U.S. drug and law enforcement > agencies along > the US-Mexico border in 2004 > and more than two thousand other stories that > have often changed people’s lives and history’s directions. > > Of course, it hasn’t always been easy while all this and more has > been going > on to be as in touch with our readers and collaborators as we would > like. > We’re not that easy to locate. After all, when your name is “Narco > News” you > don’t publish your home address and you don’t list your phone > number: not > when you’re regularly afflicting the comfortable (as well as the > downright > evil and violent). Tthere has always been, by necessity, a somewhat > clandestine quality of this war machine outside the decaying state of > Commercial Media. And since we run this newspaper on vapors – that > is to > say, on very little funding – it has so far been impossible for us > to call > you on our dime: Until now. > > The advent of Internet telephone services now allows me to call you > inexpensively from anywhere in América to anywhere in the world. > > And it recently occurred to me – while listening to 106 hours of > testimony > in the Mexican Southeast from people who want to be more involved > in writing > their own history – that the time has come to embark upon a similar > process > here with Narco News readers and collaborators (and with potential new > readers and collaborators). I’ve discussed this with my commanding > officer – > Acting Publisher Luis Gómez – and in characteristic style, Gómez > responded, > “do it!” And so here goes > > > The short version: Send me an email at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with > your real > name, your phone number, your city or town, your time zone, and > what hours > you can receive phone calls. And I’ll call you up to hear whatever > you have > to say about Narco News and where we want to take it from here. > > Here’s a longer version: For five years I’ve received your emails > and have > tried to respond to every one that directly offered advice and > counsel for > Narco News. At times – because of being on the road reporting and > the crush > of work – I may have sometimes been short with you, or not as > responsive as > you might have wished. I sense that I may not have always heard > exactly what > you were trying to say. Email is a limited medium. Sometimes we > approach the > mailbox in haste, and communication – authentic communication – > falls under > the crush of the work at hand. And, of course, not everyone is as > comfortable with the written word as we writers tend to be. A lot > of folks > are simply more articulate and conversational mouth to ear and vice > versa. > > Still, it is true (it always has been) that we really do want your > feedback, > your criticism, your suggestions, your ideas, your offers and > requests of > collaboration and Mutual Aid. And we want to know what we can do > for you > (not just what you can do for us) because Authentic Journalism is, > first and > foremost, about service, and we do seek to be at yours. > > Therefore, starting right now, I invite all our readers, writers > and media > makers, our professors, our students, our co-publishers, our > subscribers, > our critics, our colleagues in other media, too, and our supporters > (including the many whom we have never even met) to talk directly > with me > via the telephone. No, I’m not giving out my phone number. We’re > not out of > those woods yet! Rather, I am offering to call you > on my nickel > or is it a > peso this week? A bolivariano? A quetzal? It gets so confusing > sometimes, > this matter of currency, especially when there is so little of it. > > Whether you have a detailed concrete proposal for what we ought to be > reporting on at Narco News, or just a vague idea of how we can > serve you > better - or if something about our work, or the way we’ve done it > before, is > bothering you and you want to get it off your chest - or you are a > long lost > friend or co-conspirator, even if you just want to say “hello, I’m > here, I > just wanted you people to know that I exist,” I’d like hear what > you have to > say, and see how it can improve our newspaper and our J-School and > the rest > of the work we do. > > So, for the next five weeks – through November 7th - I’m going to > take all > comers. If you send me your phone number by November 1st – send it to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] - and a general sense of what hours of the > day or > night you are available (and tell me your city or town so I can be > aware of > the time zone), you can expect my every effort to call you (and if > I can’t > reach you, I’ll email you back to seek an alternate route). > > If you want to write in your email a brief summary of what you > would like to > talk about, please feel free. If you don’t have a specific agenda, > I have > some general questions I’d like to ask our readers and > collaborators about > where this project – which has grown so fast and so large it is > sometimes > hard to steer – ought to be headed. > > For example: > > - What stories haven’t you read on Narco News that you’d like us to be > reporting? > > - Is there some role you personally would like to play in our > expanding team > or network? > > - How can we do our job better? > > - Do you have any new ideas for us as to how to publish this > International > tri-lingual newspaper? > > - Is something bothering you about us? What is it? (I can’t > guarantee we > won’t continue to bug you, but I can at least explain why we do > some things > like we do > or, if you’re right, then thanks for bringing the problem to our > attention: we’ll make every effort to correct things.) > > - Money’s tight and there’s so much to do: Do you have any > fundraising ideas > for us? > > - How does a newspaper – or any kind of media – better involve the > people so > that this is a conversation among peers and not simply a bunch of > “professionals” talking down to the people? > > I also have some questions about our School of Authentic > Journalism, like: > > - How do we strengthen our network of authentic journalists to > protect each > other from outside attack or from – in memory of the late Gary Webb > (1955-2004, and Presente)– economic ruin or other tragedies? > > - Do you think the graduates of the J-School have given back to > society what > they received free of charge from us? If not, what can we do in the > future > to better cultivate that ethic? > > - Do you know a good potential scholar for the next J-School? A good > potential professor? Are you one of those people? Give me your pitch! > > I’ll try to answer almost any question (except, of course, about > the exact > location of our journalists, or other info that could be used to > harm them, > or anything that would violate somebody else’s confidence). And, of > course, > I’m a journalist, so I will probably, based on our conversation, > come up > with other questions on the spot, specifically for you, too. > > And so, the first Narco News Consulta begins. I don’t think any > newspaper > has ever offered to call you like this. But I think it’s an idea > whose time > has come. A newspaper ought to be close to its readers and > collaborators. > So, send your name, town or city, and phone number to me, along > with the > hours of day or night that you can receive phone calls, and you’ll be > hearing from me soon. You don’t need to have a title, or belong to an > organization, or anything like that: being a reader is more than > enough. We > writers, after all, only exist because you are there. Without you, > there > wouldn’t be an us. > > Join the Consulta by sending an email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] before > November 1. In general, I’ll make the calls on a first come first > serve > basis, unless you say something that really sparks my interest in your > email, in which case I might just pick up the phone immediately. > > But, I repeat: you don’t have to say anything at all in your email > except > your real name, your city or town, your phone number, and what > hours you can > receive my call. And that’s good enough for me. > > The rest, and the future, well, we will construct that together. > > From somewhere in a country called América, > > Al Giordano > Founder and Correspondent > The Narco News Bulletin > http://www.narconews.com > Email for the Consulta: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Fair play? Video games influencing politics. Click and talk back! http://us.click.yahoo.com/VpgUKB/pzNLAA/cUmLAA/vseplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> Complete archives at http://www.sitbot.net/ Please let us stay on topic and be civil. OM Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/cia-drugs/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
