<nettime> Call for Media Activists to Join the G8 Preparations - Only 4 Months to Go! Next Meeting Feb 16-18, Berlin

[Anna <anna@mail.nadir.org>]

Hi,

The next G8 will be taking place in Germany in June this year.
Lots of preparations are already happening. If you want to know
more about the general state of protest planning, have a look at
http://www.dissentnetwork.org (english), http://dissentnetzwerk.org/
(german), https://wiki.dissentnetwork.org/wiki/Hauptseite,
http://www.g8-2007.de/,
http://www.gipfelsoli.org/Home/Heiligendamm_2007 and many, many more
linked to from the sites above.

The summit itself will take place at a very small town called
Heiligendamm, situated directly on the Baltic Sea coast, a
bit to the west of Rostock, a city of approx. 250.000 in East
Germany, 200-250km away from both Berlin and Hamburg (for maps see
http://gipfelsoli.org/Home/Heiligendamm_2007/Karten). There will be
the biggest red-zone fence in the history of summits (12km long,
2.5m high, planned cost for the fence alone: 12 mio. Euro), camps
surrounding it somewhere in the fields, and a week of demonstrations,
action days, blockades, caravans, alternative summit, concerts... both
in Rostock, near the fence and in special locations in the area.

Alternative, grassroots and participatory reporting during major
actions has become part and parcel of the actual actions. With the
increasing dissent and resentment witnessed around the world, however,
the authorities are also becoming more sophisticated both in their
repressive policing measures and the media spin surrounding their
meetings and summits, being the obvious target of big mobilisations.
The need for more networking and cooperation between different
alternative and autonomous media groups, therefore, is a dire need to
strengthen our position.

Different media activists and groups obviously have their own plans
and want to do different things. There are, however, some common ideas
and plans that are being constantly modified, developed and improved.
One of these is an effective dispatch system to disseminate accurate,
reliable and up-to-date information. Another is a so-called media
pool, which can be thought of as a collective source of different
media. And, of course, effective, participatory public media centres
that can be more than a service provided by a bunch of 'professionals'
to the 'public'.

There will be media activism of all sorts and we're calling you now to
get involved.

We: a group of people who met during the last 'action conference' in
Rostock last November (http://www.heiligendamm2007.de/index_en.html,
http://de.indymedia.org/2006/11/162042.shtml [de]) to sketch up a
general frame of what we would like to see happening with regard
to media activism in June. People from 5 countries participated,
focusing on video and radio, print, web, translations and dispatch.
We want to build a media centre that provides infrastructure for all
types of independent media making in the city of Rostock as well as
'dependencies' in the camp(s) and in the fields where necessary.
Accessibility and the desire to reach both international public and
activists in the fields will be big challenges.

We are calling you now to participate in:

    * sharing experience of past media centres (what was useful? what
wasn't? how much of what equipment was needed etc);
    * sharing tech creativity (how to reach people spread out in a not
so small region);
    * tech support;
    * finding equipment;
    * writing;
    * recording;
    * filming;
    * dispatch;
    * fund-raising;
    * coordinating our work with the protests;
    * translating;
    * developing concepts for pooling material;
    * thinking about security for both people and material;

A lot of these things need to start well before the summit and the
week of protests surrounding it. But we can promise one thing: this is
going to be BIG, and it'll be fun!

Apart from meeting in person a lot can be done by email. If you have
ideas, want to get in touch with people who share your specific
interest, want to get involved in organising the general set-up:

Get in touch:

IRC: #g8 and #g8-tech on irc.indymedia.org
List: https://lists.nadir.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/g8-mediaactivism
Wiki: https://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/GroupOfEight2007MediaActivism
Next meeting: Berlin, Feb 16-18

Another possibility to meet is the international meeting next weekend in
Warsaw Feb 9-11 (http://dissentnetzwerk.org/node/129) or the next action
conference in April.




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