Dear a,

Your skepticism is healthy. I have been a no-budget independent documentary maker and activist for the last 11 years and I was inspired to do this because I think journalism is the key to advance humanitarian causes, local production is the way to go as informatization increases across the world, and filtering per a user's preferences is necessary when we are hyper-saturated with online content, corporate propaganda via social networks, and of course spam and scams. My resources are minimal at the moment, and I'm getting web development assistance graciously donated by Foam Garden.

So why not devote my minimal resources to Indymedia? I think the sites should be complimentary, different tools for somewhat different functions, but both in the service of getting more exposure to independent and non-corporate journalism. I think different IMCs have further objectives and purposes developed through consensus, but I would like to hone my focus to that, as far as a website goes, and do my part to create an inclusive, corporate-ad free environment with simply original news. I will never sell or publish user information. User communications are not stored on the site, and email addresses and identities not published unless specified by the user.

My posting on local IMCs is not intended to pull users away from Indymedia (I think most people have adjusted to contributing to multiple websites to reach broader audiences) but to get feedback from independent news producers in different countries as to what they would like to see in a network strictly for original news. I would argue that spam is defined as often repeated, indiscrimininate, irrelevant, profit-seeking solicitation. I am trying to communicate with people in multiple locations about a subject I think many would be interested in, I gain no profit from those who might indeed be interested to explore the site, and I am not hitting publish 6 times for my post as you see frequently (and currently) on the Global Indymedia open newswire. I have also tried to post on the global page to no avail. I'll try again in the future.

Trust is a difficult thing to ask for over the Internet, especially in an introduction. So, like any good journalist, meet me, research me, investigate me, call for transparency, but most importantly, document what happens over time as the site and organization develops.

Feel free to write me at colin@dogit.org but I will check back here periodically if you prefer to reply anonymously.

Cheers,

Colin