Gene Hyde’s article “Breaking Through the Information Blockade,” provides profound insight into the development and growth of the Independent Media Center and it’s domino effect on other independent media outlets.
With its birth in Seattle, the Independent Media Center was set up in order to employ passionate grassroots reporting geared to “break through the information blockade” that is currently enforced by the corporate control of news reporting.
The Independent Media Center’s website is great for other dissident voices to become heard globally. I thought it was interesting how they developed their website in regards to dealing with stories that were published.
At first they had an “open posting” policy, meaning anyone could publish a report with little editorial restrictions. However, after noting the attention and popularity the site gained and amount of stories, they decided to rank them, allowing the most newsworthy stories to appear first.
The Independent Media Center’s impact has been vast, covering many perspectives and using the Web as a platform in order to gain an immense following.
It is evident just by looking at their website just how far their impact reaches. Their website allows for the translation of numerous languages and for the option of even adding a translation. The Independent Media Center is just one example of an outlet trying to work towards a better world.
As stated in the article, after seeing the Indy center newsroom during the Seattle protests, Stephanie Greenwood from The Nation noted it was “full of committed people doing really good documentary work and reporting… something is starting.”
And that “something” has sparked a flame for dissident reporting outlets on the Web and has been burning ever since.
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