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Announcement :: UCIMC |
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IMC Orientation Saturday, July 17 3 PM |
Current rating: 0 |
by Meghan Krausch
Email: imc-outreach (nospam) ucimc.org (unverified!) |
16 Jul 2004
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Ever wondered what the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center is? Now is your chance to find out. The Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center is having an orientation on Saturday, July 17, from 3 PM to 5 PM at 218 W. Main St., Urbana. This orientation will be directed at those who have always wondered what the IMC is, those who have always meant to get involved but haven’t, and those who have been involved but are looking for new or differents ways to plug in to the IMC. |
Ever get the feeling that your perspective isn’t the one portrayed on the evening news? Ever wonder what people would think (or how they would vote) if they knew some of the things you know? Ever think about how much the mainstream media is supporting the interests of keeping the public informed versus the interests of keeping its stock high? Ever wish there was someplace you could go to publish a local news story you haven’t seen elsewhere, someplace you could get a hold of a video camera to document an important news event, someway you could record a short radio commentary to let people know what you’re thinking and feeling? Ever wanted to see a band but couldn’t find an all-ages space for them to play in town? Ever wondered what the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center is?
Now is your chance to find out. The Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center is having an orientation on Saturday, July 17, from 3 PM to 5 PM at 218 W. Main St., Urbana. This orientation will be directed at those who have always wondered what the IMC is, those who have always meant to get involved but haven’t, those who have been involved but are looking for new or differents ways to plug in to the IMC, and most of all, anyone who answered “yes” to any of the questions above.
The UCIMC is part of a global network of Independent Media Centers formed during the 1999 World Trade Organization protests in Seattle. Using the slogan, “Don’t hate the media, become the media!”, IMCs spread media access to show perspectives that typically aren’t given much time in other media. The UCIMC is a grassroots organization committed to using media production and distribution as tools for social and economic justice in the Champaign-Urbana community, and we, unlike many mainstream media outlets, do not conceal our politics behind a false objectivity. We want to create fair, equitable access to the available techonologies and information.
The IMC is a community center where anyone can stop by and enjoy free internet access; browse our library of periodicals, zines, videos, and books that won’t be found elsewhere in town; and produce media, whether it be audio recordings, video recordings, the written word, or published on the internet. Members of the IMC can borrow production equipment like minidisc players and digital video cameras and learn to use video and audio editing software in a cooperative learning environment where beginners are welcome.
The IMC is a nonhierarchical space, which means that no one runs the IMC because everyone is equally responsible for it. All decisions at the IMC are based on consensus, meaning that every person must agree to something before a decision can be finalized, and every member of the IMC has a say in everything that goes on.
The IMC is a committed safe space, which means that all members of the IMC will strive to see that no one at the IMC should ever feel targeted, uncomfortable, or endangered because of their sexual orientation, gender, race, ethnicity, or anything else except their own behavior. We try our best to fight against the racist, patriarchal, and heterosexist tendencies of the society we live in, and we are always open to suggestions on how to make our space more open and inviting to everyone. One of the IMC’s newest working groups, the Resource Group for Girlz and Womyn, promotes a space for girls and women to unleash their creativity and power through skill sharing, community organizing, education, activism, and “just plain old support.”
The IMC is finally, of course, a media production center. Our website (http://www.ucimc.org) disseminates information of all types to the community through open publishing, which gives anyone a chance to post local news, events, commentaries, or responses. Our newspaper, the Public i, publishes stories written, solicited, and edited by local people once a month. Our radio show, the IMC Radio News, airs one half hour of radio written, read, recorded, and edited by IMC members on WEFT 90.1 FM every Monday at 5:30 PM. Our library group solicits and maintains the best zine collection in town, as well as coordinating other efforts, like filling book requests for prison inmates. Our shows group puts on smoke-free, all-ages shows where people of all ages and stripes book the bands, run the sound, rent the venue, and advertise the show. Our video group has been asked to document local community events as well as national and international events, and their work as well as other IMC video work airs on UPTV cable channel 6 the second and fourth Wednesday of each month at 8 PM.
The IMC has a place for everyone in this community to be involved. Whether you want to make media or to make it available, whether you think the media is too corporate or just too white (and blown dry), there’s something you can do to change all that at the Independent Media Center. Even if you’re not sure if you have time to be involved, come to the orientation just to check out our space, get to know us, and pick up an issue of the Public i.
In an election year, during the war on terror, in an era of increasing centralization of media ownership, it may be more important than ever to start putting out the biggest variety of perspectives Champaign-Urbana can muster. The Independent Media Center wants to let the world know what you know, but first we need you to take the media into your own hands. Aren’t you tired of waiting for someone else to do it? |
This work is in the public domain. |
