all volunteer collective
international |
arts and media |
press release 
Thursday October 07, 2004 17:09
by HIMC - houston indymedia
houston at indymedia dot org
no $
Houston Indymedia is declaring itself (on our front page) an all-volunteer collective, for many reasons (see below).
We know various IMC’s already have paid positions and we are not undertaking to block this, or to make the Principles of Unity more strict. But we hope that consensually, many other collectives around the world will join us. Please discuss this matter in your collectives.
- New volunteers are encouraged to contribute more, and in the directions they most value, when they see they others working for free.
- When one person doesn't have enough time to do all the work, it encourages taking turns, and workgroups implementing collective processes.
- Payment creates hierarchies.
- Without clear boundaries, IMC's can morph into typical NGOs (at first, collectives might pay those selling ads, then office managers, and eventually editors and journalists).
- In keeping with the original purpose and roots of IMC, HIMC looks to the Zapatista model of resistance, in which teachers, members of the good government commitees, and even doctors are not paid, but must organize money for food outside of their activism.
Comments (9 of 9)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9I am not aware of any IMCs which pay. IMC people put in a lot of time (and money) for no personal financial return. I also don't know of any which are planning to take any other course of action.
'We know various IMC’s already have paid position'
worse than that, the cheques bounce!
'Payment creates hierarchies.'
not sure if lack of money equal no-hierarchy
'HIMC looks to the Zapatista model of resistance'
hmmm no WiFi in the jungle? that kinda sucks.
http://houston.indymedia.org
nice to yet another Oscailt site! we done :-)
we better put it on the growing list:
http://www.indymedia.ie/oscailt/
NYC have paid positions in the publication of their print publication 'the indypendent'. I'm not aware of any other IMC's who have full timers, but that's not to say there aren't any.
However, i do agree with the point. A lack of paid positions does not mean no hierarchies, but paid positions do create hierarchies, witness the influence of generally unelected paid full-timers in trade unions, NGO's or political parties (I'm looking at you SWP ;-)
It certainly looks like an Oscailt site but it says "Running sf-active v0.9" at the bottom of the page. Is that a fork of Oscailt or what?
.... we have a problem.
I am surprised to hear that any IMC has paid staff. This is far as I am concerned is totally against the spirit and purpose of the whole Indymedia concept.
Once paid staff are introduced, it's only a very short step to becoming a part of the corporate media.
Its sf-active, Oscailt just borrowed some of the "look and feel" from sf-active, its completely different under the hood.
Rackspace the FBI troubled internet service provider has it's main offices in Hueston Texas.
Why does indymedia europe use servers in the USA or it's dominions?
Have we got to the stage to "make a break"?
Rackspace is not in Houston, it is in San Antonio.
If you oppose the idea of having paid indymedia positions and approve of the idea of being an all-volunteer collective, please pass a similar statement in your collective. Maybe we will attain a critical mass and influence the collectives which are now paying people.
Indymedia Ireland is a media collective. We are independent volunteer citizen journalists producing and distributing the authentic voices of the people. Indymedia Ireland is an open news project where anyone can post their own news, comment, videos or photos about Ireland or related matters.