Friday, Nov. 23 was Indymedia’s 2nd birthday. They present news from all over the world to people all around the globe, as “a network of collectively run media outlets for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate tellings of the truth,” according to their online statement; it is also a reaction against “corporate media’s distortions and unwillingness to cover the efforts to free humanity.”

In celebration of this event, they set up an area for people to post birthday wishes and various other comments about the site. This was an appropriate tribute, considering the structure of the web site. “We are in the early stages of a tremendously exciting international mass movement and the Independent Media Center is a leading player in its partner media movement,” said Naomi Klein, columnist and author of No Logo: Taking Aim at the Brand Bullies.

Indymedia is an open publishing newswire, which is, according to the organization, “an essential element of the Indymedia project that allows anyone to instantaneously self-publish their own work on a globally accessible web site.” Articles may also be commented on by other users. This is a new way to handle the spreading of news, which is unique to the online community. No other form of media allows such instant gratification.

Articles can be submitted in nine different languages – Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, and Russian. This is a step towards developing a global news source, even though the majority of the articles are currently written in English.

Additionally, there are numerous Independent Media Centers in places all over the world that have regular coverage of events, which can be seen at their respective sub-sites. This is a good way to find out what is going on in a specific place of interest, rather than having to search through the main site trying to find the news that you want.
For those who wish to have regular news updates, there is also the option of subscribing to Indy News Updates. This would be convenient for people who do not have time to browse the page on a regular basis, but would like to keep abreast of the news.

As with any media source, it is hard to make sure that all of the sources are trustworthy. As Katie Hicks commented, “it’s a good idea but seems prone to spread rumors.” “It seems more opinionated, not objective,” agreed Lauren Lippencott. However, when you dig deeper and browse the sites of the Media Centers in specific locations you are looking at sources that are known to be credible.

Indymedia may be on to something with this form of delivering news to people around the globe in an efficient and consumer-friendly manner. The more people who know about and take advantage of this service, the more in-depth it will become. The articles are easily accessible to anyone who has a computer with an internet connection via their website at www.indymedia.org.
Happy 2nd Birthday, Indymedia!