NOTES ON INDYMEDIA MEDIA CENTRE SPACES

june 03

Here's a few notes about ideas for indymedia and other alt media collaborative spaces. The notes cover some of the issues and functions needed,for a media centre but without explicit tasks and roles being listed.

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INTRODUCTION:

These notes have been put together by a few people from imc uk (london) following the recent experiences of the media spaces in Geneva for the anti-G8 Evian mobilisations.

Some things worked but many did not - so we have tried to combine existing ideas and guides to setting up a media centre (of which there are many - see resources section at end) with our collective experiences of media spaces over the last few years.

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TASKS ROLES AND FUNCTIONS FOR A MEDIA SPACE:

WELCOME DESK:

Essential to have a clear first point of contact at the door or near it.

Provides an element of security for the space.

Help people arriving for the first time plug into the space, explaining what's where etc.

Can be used as a point for signing volunteers up / issuing passes if desired.

NB Needs to be staffed 24x7 when the space is open.

SUPPORTING MATERIALS:

Makes sense to have following specific infosheets available:

- "welcome to media space" - what it is - how it works - what people can do etc

- "how to upload to indymedia"

- "what is indymedia" "

MEETINGS:

Clearly advertised co-ordination meetings that happen on time each day

Two types maybe - a welcome / orientation meeting and ongoing specific meetings (eg video / dispatch)

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INFOBOARDS:

Essential to have clear information displayed on walls.

Meeting times / event and public protest listings / telephone numbers for dispatch legal etc

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NET COMPUTERS:

A network of computers is needed to allow people to upload reports. It is wise to have a few machines dedicated for people working on main features reports.

Hub / table space for people to connect laptops is desirable.

Plus if people are to be encouraged to bring their own machines into the centre then the more secure it is perceived to be the more people will be willing to do this.

NB It's no good just having Linux machines if people cannot use them!

Should have some machines that are windowz!

Should have tech help onsite and ready to help people (there's nothing worse than spending two hours trying to do something that should take ten minutes!)

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PHOTO, VIDEO, AUDIO:

Should there be separate areas for all of these functions? If so how?

PHOTO:

Makes sense to have a staffed dedicated photo desk (2 persons), which people can go straight to. Here someone sits with a multiple card reader ready to take pics off peoples cameras - people get a choice - either they can try one of the standard machines to do it all themselves, or let the photodesk take the pics offf their camera - and here another choice - either they get their images on cd and can go process and upload them themselves, or they can leave the images with the photo desk and trust them to process and upload. This would allow a speedy turn around and get people with cameras back out as quickly as possible - of course would need a good logging and safe archiving system.

NB an info sheet with guidelines on what kinds of pictures not to publish and how to obscure faces etc as well as how to resize and lower the resolution of images would be a good idea!

NB would help if people on photodesk were on irc so they can notify dispatch and people working on features when any good pics come in and when they are published.

VIDEO:

At many imc media centres this has often been shaped by those people most into video (with their own equipment) to be whatever they want it to be. Whether it's streaming, archiving, or just doing non-imc projects, the video facilities need to be clear in their purpose. AND there needs to be a clear system for dealing with footage both in terms of security (ie footage which may be incriminating) and ownership (ie this is my tape, who has rights, who gets copies etc etc) since this has in the past been seen to create heated arguments, has resulted in people losing their own footage (NB all tapes must be logged and labelled with producers details), and has allowed the police to seize large quantities of raw footage! Make no mistake, video can be very difficult. Whether it is tensions about people streaming raw uncut footage which may be incriminating, or tensions over video people simply gathering footage for their own future projects without contributing to the reporting of the actual mobilisation there and then, a balance and a co-operative working relationship needs to be found.

Elements that have been seen before include:

24x7 or shorter live streaming

Rush encoding and web publishing of best video clips

Still taking and publishing of images off of video

Copying and safe storage of important video clips

Archiving of as much video material as possible

AUDIO / RADIO

The set up here depends on whether there will be any live radio streaming on site. If there is a live radio stream then this will dictate most of the info flow, and would of course require its own quiet studio space etc The whole host of things that would need to be sorted including how radio fits into information flows are not covered here because it all depends on how people want to develop this area, but there are possibilities for legal FM broadcasts to london via resonance fm (104.4) on existing scheduled progs. That said a couple of computers for audio editing and a space for recording interviews would be the minimum.

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DISPATCH AND REPORTING INFRASTRUCTURE:

"Dispatch" is an old indymedia word from the early days which describes the on the ground reporting system - from reports coming in to ending up on the website. Essentially dealing with incoming telephone reports about what is happening on the streets - a report comes in and people try to verify and confirm it through corroboration by different sources.

In advance of large mobilisations media volunteers try and spread themselves around different parts of the mobilisation to ensure that each conference, protest, action or block is covered by photo, video and audio etc. So having a timetable rota for all of the events during a mobilisation that volunteers can sign up to to say they will cover is useful - it would help if responsibility for this was taken as a specific role.

Sometimes the people working on the system would call say a video or photo volunteer and ask them to go to x location and cover what is going on there, because there is no one there with a camera - ie. they would 'dispatch' people to cover events - while this seems to happen less and less it is still a valuable ability (although it does require volunteers to provide their mobile numbers for the dispatch system).

INFO SOURCES:

Reports can come in to dispatch from multiple sources including:

Reporting hotline: Tel no. direct to dispatch for public use

Communication by other parts of media centre

Newswire uploads of reports, photos, audio, video

People arriving at media centre and giving accounts (NB it may be worth setting up some kind of reporting desk to allow people coming in off the streets to quickly give their accounts if they don't want to sit down and type up a report).

Extra sources include campaign groups themselves, press releases etc, legal and medical support groups, messages left on phone answering services etc

COMMUNICATION AND ROLES:

Using IRC (internet real time chat) many people can help without being at the media centre or even in london, as long as roles are clear.

NB Some people who recently worked hard on the evian anti-g8 reporting are preparing an evaluation of how the electronic infrastructure set up proved to be the best system employed so far for such a large mobilisation - so for now this section is left blank.

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SPACE SECURITY

Media spaces have a lot of expensive kit, from computers to cameras, many of which are well portable! While there is no hard and fast solution it make sense to have areas dedicated to different functions and for some degree of control on the doors.

Several indymedia spaces have been the subject of raids over the last years, from small groups of police to full on riot police attacks. Last month in Geneva the main media space was raided by riot police firing gas in the streets while dozens of masked up plain clothes police charged into the building and made arbitrary arrests (inc people with G8 accreditation) though people were released several hours later, and although they did not seize material a few people got beaten up and some kit was trashed (nb the police smashing their way into the video room was streamed live over the net). While the view is that these types of illegal raids would not be seen in london, it makes sense to think about the issue and take some precautions.

SLEEPING ACCOMODATION

At many indymedia spaces security as well as working environment has been compromised by allowing people to sleep in the working areas. This is almost impossible to prevent when someone finishes working on a computer at 4.40am and wants to sleep for a couple of hours, but that is different to having 30 rucksacks on the floor and 40 people sleeping in corridors etc The solution is to set aside a room for kit and sleeping and / or by giving the space clear opening hours. Both are difficult issues to tackle but do need consideration, though in the uk this should be less of a problem than for other mobilisations seen in europe and beyond.

ARCHIVES

It makes sense to back-up data archives and keep regular copies off site in a safe location - this goes for all media from photo to video etc It also makes sense not too keep full archives on site but to remove material periodically offsite.

NB this can create problems especially for video if people feel they have had their tapes taken away without consent.

REPORTING ABUSE OF POLICE POWERS

Both indymedia, alt media activists and corporate press have all experienced abuses at the hands of the police here in the uk and abroad and there is a perception that such incidents have increased over the last few years. Here in the uk police are increasingly ignoring official press cards while recently in Geneva the swiss federation of journalists was appalled at the number of journalists specifically targeted by police both in explicit violent attacks on their person and many incidents where footage was deliberately wiped off still and video cameras.

Many journalist unions are now resisting and contesting such actions by the police more and more. Initial discussions with journalist unions show that they are interested in documenting such abuses, and it may be worth setting up some system by which people can report incidents during mobilisations.

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CAMPAIGN MEDIA / INDYMEDIA / ALT MEDIA

How does for example a campaign press group interface with indymedia or an open media space?

What do other groups involved in mobilisations expect from a press centre or an open media space?

There have been several examples where indymedia has worked closely with parts of a specific campaign or group. Earlier in the year during the faslane big blockade there were indymedia volunteers working from the same building as the blockade press group who were dealing with corporate press. In other places indymedia volunteers have worked in the same building as legal support teams. Such proximity is obviously useful and allows easy access to campaign information.

At large mobilisations indymedia has sometimes been a target of the police, as have other elements involved in the mobilisations - what combinations make most sense?

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OTHER ISSUES:

Strategic aims - to be developed in discussion with other groups

Reporting structures and info flows

Collaboration with campaign groups doing their own media / updating their own websites

Building participation - who can do what - call out?

Call / invite for european + beyond imcs participation?

Networking for WEF in ireland in october? (now cancelled)

Corporate press - access or deny?

Tech infrastrcuture

Common FTP drop box storage etc?

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PASSES?:

Pros and cons here. Passes are useful for restricting access to a space, but since there is often very little control over who can actually obtain a pass, they may not make sense.

NB in some media centres where passes have been issued, they have been given to both corporate media and undercover police, who have then used them to try and gain access to activists and meetings that otherwise they would have been denied access to. That said a pass system is useful in demonstrating that the space is being 'properly' controlled and that it is indeed a 'working media space'.

Issuing passes or signing people in does provide a valuable opportunity to talk to each person wanting to use the space - so that it can be made clear what the project is - ie. that the space is a working space not a net cafe to check personal emails from etc

(NB in prague there was a form that people signed to say they were here to work on imc, would help out in the space, upload some reports or content to the imc site, and would not take part in direct actions while wearing their media passes). Of course having contact details for people taking pics and video may help gather evidence for legal cases if needed after the mobilisation. In any case the purpose of a pass system needs to be fully discussed and understood by all before going ahead with such a system.

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RESOURCES:

How to set up an independent media centre:

Reporting big events (post evian g8 2003): UkNetworkMajorReports

Eng trans of German Preparing to report a large summit mobilisation: TheMiracleOfCampaigns2

Barcelona imc - How To Mount a Media Centre

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plamet-mail june 03

-- IonNec - 23 Jul 2003 Added "back to"
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