Pit Schultz on Mon, 26 Apr 1999 23:00:00 +0200 (CEST)


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Re: <nettime> nettime-l = kosovo-l or serbia-l or nato-l ?


april, 20 (or so):

dear felipe, 

thanks for your mail and speaking out on nettime what likely many 
of it's subscribers think at the moment. 

in such moments it becomes clear that a list like nettime is not an
"independent" media as all, that it corresponds to the priorities set
by bigger media, which depend from but also construct the attention
of recipients given to "present" topics. the urgency of the event status
homogenizes all media, so it gives also small media the chance to keep up
with the big guys for a moment, and even by chance stay upfront, open 
for more experiments in such a situation, with 

but, i agree with you in terms that i do not have any interest to be
part of the invention of a new type of journalism or opinion
production in times of crisis. (the net as cheap CNN?) the problem
is indeed the weired mix of pseudo-objective news fetishism with 
the sincere worries of people with the propaganda machine of both sides.
so people should have the right to be lurkers, and do not have an opinion
in times where it seems that everyone has to admit on which side they
stay. there were a few messages indeed which switched on the meta level
and i am sure that also other people experienced mailinglists as a useful
media last weeks. 

ok, what can be done? 

- compilation of kosovo news/opinions in a kind of daily newsletter. (evening GMT)

- less forwarding from other lists regarding this topic, instead using the
  web based filter pages.

- more thinking about related topics, like the one Felix just posted about. 
  careful analysis. smooth transitions. action plans. 

- i dream about a rethorical reconstruction of intellectual integrity and
  infrastructures, open mindedness towards different worldviews and a
  resistance to join millenial moral mass panics

- ways to democratize nettime, in terms of structure but also technology.
  like a call and voting for a rotating moderator, an open moderation
  list for meta-debate, a web-transparent nettime-l inbox, a new word for
  'moderator'.

- i have to mention and thank ted byfield work over the last weeks, he spend
  many ours of his time to keep things going and to make the tremendous flow
  more acceptible for the subscribers, including trying to keep a virtually
  neutral position, which is almost an impossible mission in such times.

greetings

/pit

ps. cc'd to nettime, because it may be of interest for others too.

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