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tottenham riots kicking off now

Upriser | 06.08.2011 21:16

Upriser

Comments

Hide the following 11 comments

this article is lacking in content

07.08.2011 07:36

the mainstream media is much better than indymedia for learning what is going on

anon

Indymedia Article and its Discontents

07.08.2011 09:01

I think the above comment fails to see that the content and indeed the discontent were on the streets of Tot-Tot-Tottenham at the time of posting, so that those of a curious nature who would not find the journey too troubling could wander down and learn from the events first hand.

Larry

You want His Master's Voice?

07.08.2011 10:20

Anon, what do you honestly expect? The mainstream media has thousands of paid journalists, financed by millions upon millions of pounds and has inexhastable resources at their disposal every day. Indymedia is a bunch of ordinary people doing their best with the limited time and resources they have. Sometimes the reporting here is good, othertimes not so good. What's important is that it delivers an independent voice. But if all you want is His Master's Voice, then stick with the telly or the Daily papers.

Incidentally, just been watching the BBC with local MP David Lammy's interview and the council leader - they're vomiting the usual outrage over rioters, the old 'should have gone through the proper channels' guff and standard talk of 'oustide agitators'. Har har.

What a gang of cunts.

King Pleb

plebby boy

07.08.2011 10:43

pleb.... stop trying to defend the indefensible
that isn't reporting.... it is about 1/3 of a sentence.......... it is LAZY arse
if people can't be bothered, then yes, i will turn to the daily mail because it is better than this shit

people will go to the best news. if indymedia is dilluted by shit then people will avoid it

> What a gang of cunts.
yes, the rioters are cunts. most are just teenagers looking for free stuff and doing what kids do.
just a bunch of monkeys

anon

@King Pleb

07.08.2011 11:48

“The mainstream media has thousands of paid journalists, financed by millions upon millions of pounds and has inexhastable resources at their disposal every day.”

Good point, but potentially Indymedia has more than that - thousands of motivated and involved activists across the country who are committed to telling the truth. If only it could garner these resources properly .

The trouble with Indymedia is that it doesn’t work collectively to collect news . The mainstream corporate-owned media does for all its faults work collectively :it uses news teams , editors , sub-editors , photographers etc, working together to produce stories . For Indymedia to live up to its potential as a genuine news site , contributors will have to learn to work in teams .

Part of the problem with indymedia is its over-reliance on the slogan of "reporting the news while making it ". You might need people who are not directly involved in an event such as this riot to report on it . Knowing that a riot is about to kick off is very useful ,but Tottenham should have had an organized group of on-the-ball , ready to go indymedia reporters prepared in advanced for the kick-off .

JoeMcIvor
mail e-mail: joemcivor@gmail.com

someone needs to be in charge and co-ordinate it all

07.08.2011 12:11

> The trouble with Indymedia is that it doesn’t work collectively to collect news . The mainstream corporate-owned media does for all its faults work collectively :it uses news teams , editors , sub-editors , photographers etc, working together to produce stories . For Indymedia to live up to its potential as a genuine news site , contributors will have to learn to work in teams .

That is because mainstream media has competent people working for them.
If they didn't, then they wouldn't continue to exist.

Indymedia has incompetent people, highlighted by the fact that most of them are poor and require handouts from the state in order to survice. Ie. need a parent to look after them.

mainstream is the realworld. Indymedia is fantasy

the only way they will achieve solid news reporting is if someone is in charge and calling the shots.

devil

Hmm

07.08.2011 12:21

Fair point, Joe McIvor.
Anon, I think I've got the cut of your gib.
Devil, fuck off back to sucking Murdoch's withered cock.

King Pleb

you don't need a dictator, just organization .

07.08.2011 12:22

The Telegraph reports today that the Metropolitan Police has set up a “gold command room in Lambeth to oversee the [Tottenham] incident.” Lambeth lies ten miles or so to the south of Tottenham . So why are the police overseeing their response from Lambeth? In anticipation of riots spreading to other areas where there are large numbers of disaffected youth. Does Indymedia have activists contactable in Lambeth who could quickly set up a gold command room for reporting any riots that break out in the area.?

JoeMc

Babies and bathwater

07.08.2011 12:40

We delude ourselves if we think there isn't a problem.

This isn't pros vs amateurs per se. This is pros vs amateurs who for some silly reason think they can do journalism without bothering to learn the basics of that craft. Who think that the standard rules of thumb like the "5 W's" don't apply to them.

Some of the journalism we see here is fine but all too much of it is downright awful. To post a proper story you don't need just the story details; you need to know HOW to write an article for "news".

Suggestion? (at least for discussion) ---- perhaps we need a volunteer crew of journalism assistants. People who can be contacted by those who want to post a story but don't know the first thing about journalism. Would be tough because the only way I can see that this would help is if this trainer/rewrite team was promising to serve all comers whether they approved the politics or not. Sort of the way pros like lawyeres promise to do their best for a client whether they think innocent or guilty. Or we might offer "headline editors" at the very least*

Don't some of us have at least some amateur "real journalism" experience (school newspapers, etc.).

* Disallow headlines that aren't supported by the first paragraph (to say nothing about those unsupported by anything in the article!)

MDN