We are contacting you as an important member of the independent media community to ask you to participate in, support or promote independent media coverage of the upcoming presidential inauguration in January. From Jan. 10 through Jan. 24, independent media makers will converge in the nation’s capital to provide continuous coverage of the inauguration through video, photography, radio, print, and web postings.

We are a group of independent media makers in Washington, DC that has formed to help facilitate and coordinate coverage of the inauguration. For more information, please visit our website at www.inaugurationmedia.org. A list of our needs follows at the end of this letter, along with information on how to join out listserves. Information about specific media projects during the inauguration will be available on our website in the coming weeks.

If you are in the DC area or coming to town for the inauguration, we ask you to contact us to help coordinate independent media coverage and/or tell us what your needs are. We will have three media workspaces from Jan. 10 to Jan. 24, all with broadband Internet and utilities. The exact locations of the spaces will be announced shortly. One space will be used for web postings, breaking news, dispatch, audio production, photo scanning and editing and Internet radio. The other spaces will be used for video production and distribution. Although we will appreciate and request donations for use of the space, no one who legitimately wants to use the space to create independent media will be turned away.

If you cannot come to Washington for the inauguration, please help promote and distribute the independent media that is produced. For example, post a link to our website on your site. Repost or re-air content produced during the inauguration. Use whatever forum you have to discuss and promote the independent media produced during the inauguration. Share this letter and the existence of our media center with your readership, listenership, viewership, fellow journalists, photographers, filmmakers, and writers. Also, consider sponsoring a trip to Washington for someone else who wishes to create media.

Finally, we ask everyone to review the list of needs at the end of this letter and help us however you can.

This year’s election was won by a razor thin margin. Indeed, almost half of those who voted did not vote for Bush. The same was true of the last election. Despite this, the mainstream media provided almost no coverage of the protests and general dissent surrounding the 2000 inauguration. We do not want this situation to occur again, and we are determined to use our voices and the voices of others around the world to ensure that independent messages are heard.

The success of delivering these messages depends upon how much unity we can create in the world of independent media. One person acting alone is one voice. Acting together, we are many voices, and can pool our resources to rise above the din of the mainstream media. With your assistance, we can ensure that the voice of independent media is heard loud and clear.

Thank you for any support you can offer us.

DC Inauguration Media Group

ABOUT US:
We are a not-for-profit coalition of independent media makers working on an entirely volunteer basis. Any money we receive in the form of contributions will go directly towards supporting the creation and distribution of independent media. A list of participants is available on our website, www.inaugurationmedia.org.

LIST OF NEEDS:

Financial Contributions. Please consider making a financial contribution of any amount. All contributions are tax-deductible through the DC Independent Media Center. Complete information on how to make on online or mail donation is listed at: dc.indymedia.org/info/display/support/index.php.

Equipment Donations. We are currently seeking equipment donations. Items needed include working computers (preferably P3, G3 or better); flat screen monitors; digital video cameras; 35mm or digital cameras; digital audio recorders; flatbed or negative scanners; video tapes for dubbing; digital audio tapes; hubs and routers; disposable cameras; networking gear; table and chairs. Equipment donations can be tax-deductible as well.

Translation Services. We need people to help translate content, especially in the languages of Arabic, Spanish, and French.

Technical and Server Support. We need individuals with IT and networking skills. We are also seeking additional servers to help host the high volume of media we anticipate during the inauguration.

Archiving Support. We need individuals to help us archive media produced during the inauguration.

JOIN OUR LISTSERVES
Please join the following listserves to coordinate media coverage during the inauguration:

General communication and announcements:
imc-dc-AT-indymedia.org (Join at
lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-dc)

Logistics and Overall Coordination: imc-dc-work-AT-indymedia.org (Join at lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-dc-work)

Tech coordination: imc-dc-tech-AT-indymedia.org (Join at
lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-dc-tech)

Video coordination: imc-dc-video-AT-indymedia.org (Join
at
lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-dc-video)

Audio coordination: imc-dc-audio-AT-indymedia.org (Join
at
lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-dc-audio)