Imagine an online space where you could go to not only receive the latest news about actions in your locality, but also share information about campaigns or events – without driving more traffic to the digital capitalists of Facebook and Twitter, who continue to ban anti-fascists.
Those who recall #IndyMedia will not only be familiar with the concept, but also lament its lack of editorial oversight and eventual collapse under the weight of conspiracy theories and anti-Semitism that have no place in antifascist media.
Last year, the #IWW celebrated writers at The Canary overthrowing management and becoming a workers’ co-operative. But even now, much like the #BylineTimes (a private company with directors), #TheCanary still faces a battle for online clicks within the commercial landscape.
It’s useful to remember that the term “freedom of the press” did not originally mean the media marketplace, but literally the freedom to publish using a printing press: #CitizenJournalism, based on the spirit of #MutualAid.
It is mutual aid that inspired the name of France’s #MutuNetwork that today has over a dozen regional websites in not just #France, but also #Switzerland and #Austria, reporting on striking workers, occupying students, and other local struggles, operated in a non-hierarchical but also non-commercial way – true citizen journalism, with a set of agreed standards.
Several of us media activists have started to discuss how we could develop Local Autonomous Media (or #LoAM) in the UK after hearing about the success of #Mutu. We’ve set up chat groups and even held Jitsi meetings online with Mutu contributors in Switzerland. And we’re looking to set in place the building blocks to create something similar in the UK.
If you’re interested, contact me or email loam at riseup dot net.