The idea of The Australian Independent Media Network sprung up overnight in response partly to this quote from the Under the radar article on the Café Whispers blog:
Isn’t it a great pity that excellent articles are being written in the Fifth Estate that slip under the radar into oblivion? Isn’t it also a great pity that this will continue to happen? Isn’t it also a greater pity that such hard-hitting, truth-telling articles will forever be drowned out by our hysterical, manipulative, dishonest, sensationalist, gutless, unfair and unbalanced media in this country?
Has there ever been a greater need for the Fifth Estate to join forces? If we don’t, a lot of what we write will continue to slip under the radar.
And capped off with this comment under the blog topic:
One fears that it will not be an evidence-based election, but there is plenty of evidence that it will be a fear-based one. Our strategies for getting the message across needs lots of thought and discussion like this post provides.
The idea of a representative body for Australian bloggers has been tossed around for a couple of years but it had never really taken hold. Tim Dunlop’s article in The Drum last October titled Media pass: citizen journalists need an industry body emphasised the need for something to be done. The introduction to the article reads:
Australian bloggers have a lot to offer in public debate, but an independent body is needed to establish the credibility and increase the exposure of our citizen journalists.
We are now at that point.
Over the coming days and weeks, you’ll see this site take shape and the network develop, followed by what we endeavour to be quality, unbiased, balanced, independent journalism. Goodness knows this country needs some.
The Australian Independent Media Network: Build it and they will come.
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We wouldn’t go anywhere without you, Bilko.
count me in
this is fantastic count me I will be providing news from what is happening in Zimbabwe
yay – you must include Margo Kingston
PS – it’s not our aim to compete with other blogs, but to build up an entity that represents the blogs. Individually we’re never going to compete with the mainstream media, however, collectively we might just have a voice that is heard.
Reblogged this on AZIAZONE.
Looking forward to some balanced and informative articles.
Looking forward to reading informed articles. Thank
Margo would be a good inclusion. I’ll have to leave that up to Margo though. If the great mob at Independent Australia let me, I might be able to reproduce some of her posts from IA.
This is a great initiative! The quality writing of bloggers are too easily ignored by Australian citizens. Hopefully this helps our voices be heard!
That certainly is the aim, Luke.
Great work! Heaps of great bloggers have insightful opinions. Many have interesting tales and stories. Fewer can actually break news before MSM but they will report the news unlike MSM. Even more rarely we have an independent truly investigative story based on breaking facts that the MSM deliberately misrepresent or misreport and those bloggers deserve recognition and status and some form of accreditation as journalists to allow them the protection under law to protect their sources.
One deserving soul of such accreditation is Peter Wicks of Wixxyleaks for his outstanding work on the HSU and Kathy Jackson. I know that this is an ongoing investigation with links back into Fair Work Australia and its appointed members and with deeper linkages still….If eligible for a Walkely, he deserved one. Perhaps the Independence that the Australian Independent Media Network deserves could be patronised by Julian Assange and an annual award of the “platinum Assange” could become an equivalent award to a Walkely?
Sign me up for foundation membership as soon as possible….Hayzeee
Great idea…http://denniallen.wordpress.com
Do you need anything from the Preston Institute?
This holds so much promise. Great idea.
Would love it.
Yes ! Give the ‘Old Media’ either a ‘Wake Up’ Siren, or Boot ’em further down their own Slippery Slope …. Great Works are Needed !
Tim,
You never did get back to me regarding this very idea, but let me know how to get involved.
Brett
It would be great if this network could accredit writers, reporters, aural-and-visual artists. This would enable us to be present where & when news is generated, and to begin to deliver our own authentic firsthand accounts. Blog-makers are geographically well-distributed, interactively-connected and richly-informed. We can help create a different news-scape.
I agree, an accreditation panel needs to be an essential part of the AIMN. Keep me in mind if wishing to pursue dialogue with the Federation of International Journalists.
Keep me in mind.
Looking forward to seeing some decent, credible journalism here. So sick of reading MSM crap. Thanks for taking the initiative!
Great idea. I’ve been missing Larvatus Prodeo very much this last year, so this could be a good replacement!
Nice initiative – I hope there’s room for bloggers with right of centre perspectives.
Would like to see critical analysis & evidence based of topics covered not just opinions (we all ready get too much from MSM).
Great idea.
Very interested third year journalism student.
Congratulations Migs. I know how much work you have put into creating this… a long held belief and faith in the right of every person to have a voice.
I cannot help but think of the campaign waged last year; a campaign by the MSM to try to undermine the creditibility of the alternative media. You’re not real journalists the MSM journo complained…but then neither was Mark Twain.
The alternative media continues to thrive, and as Migs says not via completing but via co-operation and support.
That’s all coming over the next few days.
Would be more than happy to have your contribution, D’.
Have suggested in other places that a method of delivery to the general public may be to have a broadband deliverer include one or several Fifth Estate news media in the price of the package….that way the media makers could be remunerated for their effort and the public can choose their news media deliverer.
It would be great to have AIMN reporters attend press conferences to ask the questions of politicians that the Old Media do not. There are questions about #AshbyGate, for example, that need to be answered. Another idea: How about some one-on-one interviews with government Ministers, as a means of bypassing the Old Media and enabling the government to get its narrative out.
Aren’t there more than sufficient “right-of-centre” outlets / perspectives in the Old Media?? Media consumers deserve alternatives, not more of the same.
Looking forward to seeing how this can help quality near-Australian journalism thrive also, especially in peace journalism / conflict prevention journalism. Congratulations on the initiative. Count us in for sure!
Good to see this movement emerging. Our own AlterNet, perhaps.
Yes, this is naturally the next step. The blogs seem to be coming together, and spreading their influence.
Good luck in this endeavor.
Would love to see well thought out efforts from those who lean towards the right. All we see from this body at this time is abuse and degnigation
I explored this issue, talked to various people and put together a few ideas on how it might work, I hate posting links to my blog on others blogs, but here it is (part of it was co written with the editor for Independent Australia, if that makes this seem less tacky), it might be not what you envisage, on the other hand it takes a few minutes to skim over, and it might cover issues you havent thought of.
I was prepared to do a lot of the behind the scenes work, (I have an academic background and IT background) but was never popular enough on social media, nor my blog liked enough, to gather much interest. A project like this is too important to be dragged down by having TurnLeft2013 attached to it.
Good luck
But here are the ideas: feel free to delete the link: Outline for a United Progressive Blog http://turnleft2013.wordpress.com/2011/06/21/new-media-revolutions-here/
Does the bias of the Murdoch press make the considered writing of right-of-centre bloggers redundant? It would be a great shame if this initiative chose to promote only left-of-centre views. If it does decide to do so, then it should be transparent. Independent does not mean objective – or balanced, for that matter.
Excellent.
tl2013, don’t underestimate yourself. I for one have been reading and enjoying your work.
Have noted. 🙂
Hi Brett, I used Tim’s photo as I had referenced his article. In hindsight that might have been misleading, but it was never intended.
I look forward to hearing any of your ideas, btw.
Yeah, that’s what I envisaged.
So, is @dragonista attempting a takeover here?
No David, just keeping me on the straight and narrow. 😉
Nice work Migs and other blog owners.
I reckon you want a “don’t write crap” moderation policy and a team of people to enforce is so that this blog doesn’t get hijacked by the extreme left or right.
Watch her carefully, the Right are devilishly cunning.
Miglo, thanks for your comment re the TL blog (my blog post I linked was NOT telling anyone how to do it, and I hope anyone seeing that comment doesnt think that, it was more, some of the issue that might come up) and again Good Luck
as they said in that baseball movie : Build it and they will come
The Global Goddess is behind you all the way!
Go you good thing. After a long attempted drowning by murdoch and big money Democracy will find an island of safety here.