Oxford Indymedia

Open publishing was disabled on this site in mid-July 2016 as there was a very low volume of original grass roots news reports from activists being posted and the collective running the site was dwindling as people were working on other things. From 1st May 2017 this site is a static archive and will no longer be updated.

The history of UK Indymedia is somewhat documented under the Indymedia topic but the full history is yet to be written and perhaps never will be... but this archive will remain available.

See you in the streets!

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Celebrating two years of regular film screenings at OARC, East Oxford Community Centre, Oxford Indymedia presents the new independent film Secret City, on Sunday 3rd March from 7pm. For this Oxford Premier, we are pleased to be joined by film makers Lee Salter and Michael Chanan, who will be presenting the film and doing a Q&A session afterwards.

The City of London is an anomaly in UK democracy. With just 7,000 permanent residents and the lowest car ownership in the country, its own police force, its arcane system of self-government with its Lord Mayor, Livery Companies and Alderman, businesses that have the right to vote and it’s direct accountability to the Crown rather than Parliament, the City houses the one of the Globe's key financial centres and the Inns of Court, the heart of the UK’s legal system. The City is the place where banks, brokers, insurers and other money-makers enjoy their unimpeded ascendancy.

The Occupy LSX movement, which arose in 2011, once again drew public attention to the unprecedented political and financial status the City enjoys; largely unchanged since William the Conqueror's time. Secret City will take us on a tour of key City locations by an Occupy activist, Liam Taylor and delve into the history and mystery of the UK's most powerful centre.

The night will be held downstairs in the bar where Catweazel Club is normally held, so there will be refreshments on tap and in bottle for the night. Come along and watch the film and celebrate two years of screenings with Oxford Indymedia.

Article about first year of screenings | oarcfilms web site | Secret City trailer (links to external site) | screening flyer

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There have been disagreements within the UK Indymedia movement for some time. These came to a head on 1 May 2011. As a result, there are now two national projects - Mayday and Be The Media, and conflict between the two groups continues.

We don't intend to go into the details in this article, but you can read about them in the articles Big changes are coming to Indymedia UK (published by Be The Media) and The Attempt to Shutdown UK Indymedia (published by Mayday).

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Oxford Indymedia will be having a public meeting on Thursday 26 August at 7.00pm in the Oxford Action Resource Centre, East Oxford Community Centre, Princes St, OX4 1DD.

We're really keen to involve more people in Oxford Indymedia. If you've got an interest in grassroots camapigning and activism, we would love to see or hear from you. There are many roles within Oxford Indymedia - from writing feature stories to writing computer code; from writing your own news to moderating other people's news; from designing graphics to promoting Oxford Indymedia - everybody has something they can contribute.

Oxford Indymedia is the grassroots alternative to the mainstream media. Unlike most news outlets, we don't have any hidden agendas, corporate sponsors, or owners that we have to appease. Our website (which you're currently looking at) allows you to publish your own stories in your own words and with your own pictures. And we have an events calendar so you can promote your events to get more people involved in grassroots actions in Oxford.

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Oxford activists Hamish Campbell and Richard Hering from Undercurrents have kick-started a radical TV station called OfflineTV. It uses the revolutionary new peer-to-peer open source project Democracy Player.

OfflineTV is innovative because it brings together a number of tried and tested technologies (P2P, RSS, broadband) to make a really user-friendly internet TV interface. It has the capacity to scale from hundreds to thousands and hundreds of thousands viewers in full-screen quality. The other crucial thing is the content: the best of politically radical underground video on direct action, social justice, and the environment. This version is now beta-testing.

Two channels are already up and running :

OfflineTV – a quality-controlled screening of the best of what’s out there in radical cyberspace.

News from the Balkans - the first regional network of what will hopefully be many similar networks around the world. NfB gives a radical voice to this region which is so mis-reported by the corporate media. This project is being launched out of the video workshops in the EYFA Art and Activism caravan, but we hope to create a permanent network of radical film makers posting regular reports.

To watch these channels, download Democracy Player

Then search for Undercurrents inside Democracy Player and subscribe to each channel.

And calling all video activists: if you’ve got a funky report about anything anywhere, post it to the Scratch Channel

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You may notice we have changed the way comments to articles are displayed. If you want to know why and how, please read the full article.

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Oxford indymedia works on your contributions. That means you get to tell your own story, in your own words and in your own style. There are no 'experts' here to muffle, distort or ignore your voice, nobody to report your actions and experiences for you - on indymedia you D.I.Y.

You don't have to register a username to publish here, nor will your article be screened by moderators before appearing online. We do have a set of editorial guidelines, and occasionally hide articles or comments which break them, but this is done after articles appear, so that the flow of information is not held up by bureaucracy. Even hidden articles are not completely deleted from the site; they disappear from the front page but can still be viewed on the view all posts page.

So go on - take the plunge - publish your news!

[ Need help to publish? | More about Indymedia | Get involved | Editorial Guidelines | View All Posts | Explanation of website problems ]

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UPDATE 14th Oct:

Hard drives returned
The two servers recently seized by US Authorities were returned yesterday morning to Rackspace (the hosting service where the servers were first taken from). Indymedia is now weighing additional legal options after this illegal seizure of its servers. Many of the original questions still remain.
Sign the Global Support Declaration

UPDATE 13th Oct: Indymedia UK Call for Solidarity
Indymedia Press Release: 11/12th Oct
Reporters Without Borders Solidarity Statement: "Home Secretary David Blunkett challenged over Indymedia website closures"
Association for Progressive Communications Statement: "APC condemns "arbitrary" seizure of IndyMedia web servers by US and European law enforcers."

Further links to mainstream media coverage can be found at the bottom of this feature. Correspondence between an indymedia activist and Rackspace, and lists of sites that are and are not back on line, can be found on this blog.

It is ironic that that this happens now, just days before Indymedia is due to participate in the European Forum on Communications Rights being held alongside the European Social Forum and several other days of discussions about electronic civil liberties and community media. For more information on these events see www.efcr2004.net

[ Original Press Release | Global Indymedia article and comments | IMC FBI pages]

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The sun is shining, the mood is festive, come and celebrate the Cowley Road Carnival!

As part of the Cowley Road Carnival, Oxford indymedia set up its first public live outdoor indymedia centre! It's behind the Zodiac, together with the Hammer and Tongue poetry slam space. It's open to everyone, there are computers to upload pictures and post articles, come and use the media centre!

All day, Oxford Indymedia will offer live reports and pictures from the carnival. Follow the links below, they will be continuously updated with more pictures and reports!

Report | Pictures [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] | Indymedia centre report and pictures

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On Sunday February 22nd, between 80 and 90 people, many of them new to Indymedia and Undercurrents, turned up to the first of a new series of monthly Oxford Indymedia / Undercurrents screenings. The Fourth World War by Big Noise Productions was very well received, while the Dissent! network in Oxford was sucessfully launched. There was loads of food (thanks for popcorn, soup and loads of cake and chocolates and bread and so on), the bar was good too, and a stall gave people the opportunity to learn about local campaigns and groups, Dissent!, alternative medias like Indymedia and Schnews and the We Are Everywhere project. All that made this social event a complete success.

To start with there were announcements, then John introduced Dissent! and explained that the network is horizontal and to organise direct action, especially against the looming G8 summit. A brief presentation of Oxford Indymedia was also given.

The first screening was a brilliantly edited film about the Oxford folks who managed to close the House of Commons for 10 minutes after the Hutton report came out. It was very empowering.

Then came The Fourth World War. Wow. The film jumped from country to country describing injustice and showing how ordinary people will not put up with it anymore. Footage from Argentina showed thousands chanting "The other is me" and the white hand meaning basta. The footage of Chiapas where the Zapatistas began was moving because it showed how even the poorest campesinos had finally had enough and were so brave they confronted an army post and closed it! The soldiers just refused to use their guns. Lots of other footage of, for instance, Buenos Aires, showed police firing tear gas, but protesters demonstrating against the International Misery Fund grabbed tear gas canisters and lobbed them back at the riot police. Memorably one protester used his hollow drum to cover a gas canister. Palestine - well, what can one say. The horror of seeing footage of Jenin again; the little girl with the wrecked arm; wrecked blessed bodies; wailing families; total injustice. The Zapatista Caravan was shown having reached the Zocalo in 2001 where thousands and thousands protested to no avail (except that they have ignited protest throughout the world!). Iraq was shown too, of course with the Apeman's voice mouthing obscenities like "we must protect the people of Iraq and the oilfields". Quebec, London, New York and Korea were featured and Genoa 2001 too with startling footage of Carlo Guiuliani - the film was dedicated to him and Rachel and Tom among others. Finally back to Buenos Aires where the chant was "Ahora eres nosotros".

Can we win the Fourth World War? Having seen the film, you know, I think we're in with a chance. WE ARE EVERYWHERE!

The next Indymedia / Undercurrents screening will be announced in the Oxford Indymedia calendar. If you want to help organise these screenings, come to the next Oxford Indymedia meeting (see the calendar) or join the imc-oxford discussion list.

Report and Pictures

More links: Dissent! A Network of Resistance Against the G8 | The Fourth World War | We Are Everywhere | Subcomandante Marcos on the fourth world war

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