Michelle is a second year dual-degree student at QUT studying a Bachelor of Creative Industries (majoring in Media and Communication with a sub-major in Digital Media) and a Bachelor of Laws. Aside from part-time hospitality, promotional and tutoring work Michelle is a publicist for a small theatre company. Developing publicity for several theatre productions has allowed her to work with organisations such as the Judith Wright Centre, Metro Arts and Brisbane Powerhouse, as well as various media organisations. As Michelle is only at the early stages of her studies she is uncertain of what career opportunity to pursuit but she has a diversity of interests including media law, IP law, public international law, indigenous culture and welfare, publicity and public relations, and corporate communication.
Michelle Manners 15:30, 31 Jul 2005 (EST)
Email Michelle Manners
User: Snurb (Dr Axel Bruns)
Matthew Arnison was the key developer of the Active software used by Active Sydney; the prototype of Indymedia. As the creator of the Indymedia model Arnison provides his informed and experienced perspective of the open publishing revolution through this article. Arnison forgoes academic rhetoric to provide a candid and comprehensive working definition of open publishing. The overall thesis of the article proposes that open publishing is the same as free software, otherwise known as open source software. Arnison states that open publishing is the response to the privatization of information by multinational monopolies, such as CNN, just as free software is the response to Microsoft. Arnison introduces the concept that information itself wants to be free as both software and news publications can easily be copied and shared. Arnison claims that media multinationals only publish news of lucrative value, but the advent of the Internet has allowed for open publishing and its ability to augment the flow of information, especially transparent information. Although this article is informal in expression and publication it is frequently referred to and employed in a plethora of academic literature concerning open publishing, media activists and online journalism.
This chapter of Atton’s book presents an overview of the key characteristics associated with the new media form of radical journalism that has emerged on the Internet. It examines the popular methods used in online journalism through a case study of Indymedia. Atton uses the term radical journalism to describe the alternative media that radically challenge the practices of mainstream media, especially the hierarchical and commercial approach of mainstream media. Atton discusses an interesting capacity of Indymedia that is not commonly addressed in associated academic commentary; the ability of activist journalists to select and edit other news as well as report on their own social movements. Atton comes to a conclusion, shared with many academics within this area of research, that surprisingly there are notable interrelations between activist online journalism and mainstream journalism. Atton mentions the Indymedia network’s ability to use open publishing for reporting on social movements in a way that is accurate compared to the homogenized representations within mainstream media; although, he does not deeply examine the function of open publishing within the network. However, Atton does provide a comprehensive and critical examination of the theories that have been put forward in relation to radical online journalism.
This article presents a summary in layman’s terms of the emergence of Indymedia and the role that open publishing has within the network. Beckerman exposes both the positives and negatives experienced by Indymedia reporters, through interviews, in their use of the open publishing technology. The article details open publishing’s developing role within the network from its initial practical purposes to becoming a revolutionary journalistic tool to becoming somewhat of a liability of the network. This is where Beckerman explores the actual openness of open publishing within Indymedia as the network has moved from having no editorial process to implementing the practice of moving, not removing, unacceptable posts to hidden pages. Beckerman also refers to the ideologies behind mainstream and alternative journalism and concludes that while the mainstream media claim neutrality to mask unspoken biases Indymedia journalists are not afraid to declare their biases.
This paper discusses peer-to-peer publishing within the context of other peer-to-peer interactions such as filesharing and open source software. The reference to peer-to-peer interaction provides a basis for comparison between the different forms of peer-to-peer communications. This allows for the identification of the similarities and differences that exist. One of the primary similarities within peer-to-peer interactions revealed by Bruns is the aim of peer-to-peer users to establish an alternative to proprietary and commercial products; whether it is software, music or news. Bruns emphasizes an importance in looking beyond the technology of peer-to-peer networks to examine their social context and use. Within the social context Bruns raises two issues. Firstly, the ability of peer-to-peer publishing sites to influence the knowledge and opinion-formation of its users, and secondly, the present inability of peer-to-peer news to affect mainstream attitudes due to the gap between the use of mainstream news and open news. Bruns presents the argument that the new open publishing model is replacing the traditional gatekeeping approach of journalism to form what he terms as a gatewatching approach to journalistic publishing. The paper addresses both the benefits and problems that occur within the new open publishing model. Bruns acknowledges that the open publishing model is highly attractive to activist groups as it allows for the publication and discussion of news that is often absent within them mainstream media. Although Indymedia is not focused upon within this paper Bruns comments that the ideology and gatewatching model of open news sites that he describes do apply to the Indymedia network.
This paper explores the emergence of Indymedia as an alternative media network based upon the ethnographic research conducted by the author. It examines the operation and organization of the network through its innovative use of new media and communication technologies, including open publishing. Juris’ thesis is innovative in itself when compared to other academic writings within this field of research. Juris argues that Indymedia activists engage in utopics, whereby their utopian outlook is translated into practice through the attachment of their ideas to virtual spaces. He presents the idea that new technologies used by Indymedia activists allow for the inscription of their ideals within physical and virtual realms consequently enacting a new form of communication practice he terms “informational utopics�?. Juris asserts that open publishing is not only a model for open news production but a revolutionary technological architecture that represents a valuable political and cultural goal. Juris proposes that the key to Indymedia’s success is due to its use of open publishing software that allows for active participation rather than passive consumption. Juris concludes that Indymedia is a medium for the practice of informational utopics, whereby media activists use new media technologies to enact alternative utopian worlds based upon the values associated with the Indymedia network, which includes free and open information through the use of open publishing.
This book portion analyses Indymedia and its rise to becoming a new medium of independent news and publication. Kidd describes Indymedia as a phenomenon arising from the convergence of technology with new social movements. Kidd demonstrates that the Indymedia network is another turning point for media activists in their effort to develop new communication methods that reinforce what she terms the “communications commons�?. Kidd portrays Indymedia and its open publishing model as a powerful means to counter the trend towards the privatization of public spaces in order to increase the ability of activists to reclaim open communication and publication resources. Kidd professes that the Indymedia network constitutes a new commons where everyone can share the communication technology. Kidd likens Indymedia activists to the 16th century workers within the English commons; they are new media workers who operate their own copy-hold plot and share the communications commons. Kidd views these media activists as sharing a vision of Indymedia as open communication resource that allows access to all through the innovation of open publishing. Kidd concludes that Indymedia is a colorful commons compared to the monocultural enclosures of the mainstream media corporations.
This book portion explores the philosophy and ideology behind open publishing and other open technologies such as open source software. Meikle focuses specifically upon the Indymedia movement and its advocacy of open publishing and open source software. The article maintains the themes of DIY culture, activism, decentralization, intercreativity, editorial gatekeepers, and the approaches of Internet Version 1.0 and 2.0. Meikle presents several notable points throughout. He identifies that the Internet is a technology that inherently supports decentralization and is consequently a communication tool that supports the decentralization ideology of Indymedia participants and activists. Meikle argues that the open publishing and open source movement is not only a powerful tool for activists but it is an activist movement in itself. Meikle asserts that the circulation of ideas sustains the open publishing philosophy and that the circulation of ideas online is not the precursor to activism but is activism; writing is action and open publishing is a direct cultural intervention. Meikle concludes that the open publishing model of Indymedia demands for older media to be viewed in a new light. He suggests that the skepticism often shown towards online information should also extend to mainstream media while the active engagement with the Internet should also extend to other media forms.
This book portion provides a discussion of Indymedia as the leading online open publishing system. It examines the principles, practices and structures of Indymedia within a theoretical framework while exploring Indymedia’s history, challenges and innovations. As a participant observer within the Indymedia organization and with a Ph.D in Sociology Morris provides both practical and theoretical perspectives of the potential of new Internet based media such as Indymedia. Morris acknowledges that Indymedia offers an alternative media publication outlet that is fundamentally based upon the open publishing model. He presents the perspective that open publishing is the defining attribute of the Indymedia network and the networks’ ability to provide democratic media. Morris presents a critical social theory informed by Manuel Castells’ new social-movement theory to reach the conclusion that alternative media networks, such as Indymedia, can use the Internet to circulate counter-hegemonic critiques and news, which the corporate mainstream media ignore, to introduce the public to global justice issues and actions.
This article investigates the question of whether the principles of online alternative media and open publishing can be incorporated into mainstream corporate news media. The authors utilize the Indymedia journalism phenomenon to develop their investigation through qualitative research. The article provides a comprehensive and thorough description of open publishing and its use in Indymedia. The authors develop a detailed analysis of the Indymedia open publishing news model and acknowledge both positive and negative aspects of the model in relation to journalistic publishing. In order to address their research question the authors identify four features of the Indymedia open publishing model; ideology, practice, access and process. These features are used as a basis of comparison between Indymedia and mainstream media and an analysis is drawn based upon theories of journalism and online open publishing. The authors conclude that corporate news media and online alternative media are similar forms of journalism in relation to the problems and editorial discussions encountered in everyday publishing; however, the Indymedia open publishing model presents several innovations that mainstream organizations can learn from. These innovations include commitment to transparency and a non-hierarchical system, and the Indymedia ideology concerning truth, ethics and inclusive storytelling.
Michelle Manners 19:51, 11 Aug 2005 (EST)
