Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world...


Reflections on the growing energy of Rochester IndyMedia. Why it's incredibly exciting to be involved with this group. How you can become a part of it, and why you should.

Fifteen people were present at the Rochester IndyMedia general meeting last night. And that doesn't include several people who are regulars who couldn't be there that particular night, and a few who are committed to RIMC but have conflicts with Tuesday night meetings.

They range in age from 20-something students to "older folks" like me. They come with a wide variety of skills, including video, photography, information technology, organizing, and writing, and with an eagerness to learn more.

I got involved with RIMC after I returned from the National Media Reform Conference in Madison, WI, last November. Before then I had no idea that the IndyMedia movement existed, and certainly no idea that there was an IndyMedia center in Rochester. But there was a wonderful presentation at the conference by the Urbana-Champaign IMC, and I thought it would be a terrific way to respond to the problems inherent in corporate media megaconglomerates. Silly me, I thought I would come back to Rochester and organize one, only to find that a few hardy souls had beat me to it by two whole years.

Obviously there's a bit of a problem when an information-seeker and media educator like myself is not informed about the existence of such an organization right at home. But instead of assuming that there's something wrong with the organization itself just because few people knew about it (as did the general manager of a local television station), I decided to do what I could to make RIMC better known, and to contribute my knowledges and skills as an educator to improving the abilities of participants to cover news.

At my first RIMC meeting I was mightily impressed with the raw video footage that RIMC reporters came back to Rochester with following the FTAA protests in Miami last November, and I invited representatives from RIMC to come to my Introduction to Media class at Monroe Community College to show clips and to talk about what was in their footage that never appeared on national television news. For the first time I think most of the students finally began to understand the point I had been trying to make all term about the devastating effect the consolidation of the media into increasingly fewer numbers of owners has had on our access to information about our world.

Right now a number of people with RIMC are working to improve the quality of the RIMC website as well as the coverage of local news. And people are working to improve RIMC's public access tv news program, TV Dinner (shown weekly in Rochester at 8:30 p.m. on RCTV-15). In addition, we are working on making TV Dinner more accessible to the community by providing public screenings of the show monthly. (Stay tuned for information on those screenings when our plans get firmed up!)

Of course, it takes talent and it takes commitment to do what needs to be done, and everyone who works for RIMC is a volunteer with other obligations to meet. To be sure, there is a great deal that needs improvement. But instead of saying "you should have covered this or that," or "why don't you do this or that," or "why did you do this or that," volunteer your own talents and time. You can't make Gannett or CBS or NBC or ABC or Fox do a better job of covering local news, but YOU CAN come down to RIMC and help US do a better job.

Don't say "I don't know how," because there is plenty of talent available to teach you if you don't already have the skills. And of course, no matter what your skills are, there is always something to learn.

If you don't have the time to commit (hopefully because you are already involved with too many other things you are doing to improve the quality of life for people in this area and/or around the world), you can donate money. (Check back soon and I will provide a link for you to be able to do that.)

As I looked around the room last night and listened to people kidding each other good-naturedly while nonetheless accomplishing the business at hand, I thought, what a great group of folks! While we are taking on serious business, we also have a lot of fun. It's exciting to see the group growing and evolving. New projects and new ways of serving our community are developing rapidly, as more people commit themselves to the cause.

You can be part of it. For information on how to "get connected," go here. Or call and leave a message with the RIMC at 585 325 2603.

Posted: Wed - March 24, 2004 at 09:24 AM          

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