the new media committee has just published a statement
The Occupy Oakland Media Committee (OOMC) is a committee of Occupy Oakland* (OO) that makes use of the press, social media, multimedia, and other forms of media to connect with supporters by promoting actions events, workshops, and nurturing political dialogue. The OOMC will develop and adhere to policies regarding the following responsibilities:
Connecting outside press inquiries to current and relevant sources of information – rotating “spokespersons,” contacts within committees, or document archives – primarily within OO but also within the greater Occupy movement.
Working with other committees to write, edit, and distribute press releases and articles to the media, Occupy journalists, and community organizations of interest.
Keep a list of press contacts and community organizations and other outreach resources.
Facilitating or giving aid to other committees in calling press conferences.
Using the official OO versions of social media platforms to support our mission. The social media policy will be made public.
Scouring media sources for journalism positively covering OO activities. Circulating those stories on to our supporters via social media, email, etc.
Producing media trainings and skill shares for OO.
Coordinating with the Web Committee to ensure that the OO website is serving the movement’s informational and media needs, for example making sure that events are updated and accessible on the website.
The OOMC will develop relationships with members of the press, a general understanding (and evaluations) of the media outlets and reporters that cover OO, and lists of resources (human or technological) for media dissemination. The OOMC will interact with alternative and mainstream media outlets, including independent and Occupy journalists. Media committee members will adhere to the resolutions of the General Assembly (GA) resolutions, especially those relevant to the Media Committee. The OOMC will not generate its own opinionated content or maintain (web/technical/media) resources separate from official Occupy Oakland resources.
On March 4, 2012, the GA disbanded the OOMC, denouncing the February 25, 2012 publication and promotion of an irresponsible, racist and offensive article on the hellaoccupyoakland.org website.** Pursuant to this decision, the OOMC committee has been reorganized. Its role shall remain limited and the committee shall be accountable to the GA and Occupy Oakland as a whole, in the interest of preventing future abuses of its representational power.
* The committees and General Assembly of Occupy Oakland.
**The hellaoccupyoakland.org website is no longer operated by or affiliated with OO. This website remains online only because it was hijacked by the administrator, in defiance of our GA which voted to shut it down. The OOMC will not post to the site, promote articles posted on it, or cooperate in producing media intended for publication on the site.
this is a complete cut & paste of the statement, republished for the sake of allowing comment, which is blocked where it is currently published. please discuss this, folks. please see my comments below. you know i speak the truth, and i publish the truth.
responding to russ d, who said the following:
“also, I wasn’t aware that there was anything inherently wrong with males, specifically ‘white males.'”
nothing wrong with the individuals, to my knowledge. there is an aspect of the organization itself that is a problem. there is something wrong with the fact that the media committee has always been run by males, particularly white males. if i had the answer to this i’d give it to you, but i don’t know why it is that way.
good question, russ. why did the new committee find it necessary and important to publish these lies about oomedia?
but of course you seem to be referring to my publication here… even though my publication here is only to allow discussion on a proposal which the new committee published as a public statement… one which they published with no option for comment or discussion.
while we’re both here, why did you spend weeks censoring me and refusing to publish my questions/comments to a thread which may have caused people to engage in conversation that would’ve brought and end to this unfortunate problem through discussion, eh? do you really believe sweeping problems under the censorship rug will eliminate the problems?
ask why some people continue to point fingers inward within OO and stir up shit. What does it accomplish? Who does it benefit?
also,
I wasn’t aware that there was anything inherently wrong with males, specifically “white males”.
Its is very unfortunate that within the Media Committee of Occupy Oakland which should encompass some the most intelligent people within the movement,that there are still accusations being made.I read the Media committee’s statement in which the terms i could agree upon until the childish way in which the authors began to state claims once again of racism.It is very clear to me that these statements are made to continually make some people unconformable voicing there opinion,this behavior seems to be by design so the there can be no unity in a movement where its strengths are Solidarity & Transparency.This movement,Occupation & the people in it should be reflections of the world we would like to see.We currently live in a world of lies,wars,lack of transparency & very little Solidarity.(To authors) Why would it be necessary to write negative statement a website on an official OO statement? These actions will only perpetuate negative responds which feeds into the internal destruction of this OO movement.No one individual or group control this movement & any person or group that intimidates journalism & free speech is functioning with a 1% mental state of mind & should personally check there motives for participating.My purpose is to be the change i want to see in this world through solidarity, transparency & by being fearlessly aware.We are at a crossroads in human evolution & change can happen & is happening through non violent actions i.e. Occupy the Farm.My suggestion is that we identify all types of intimidation & abuse …create open discussions about past events & work to create peaceful resolutions so we can get back to the business of benefiting humanity through peaceful non-violent direct action.Iam as always available to discuss my reasons & actions openly.Thank u
the screenshot, oh anonymous ‘media committee’ poster, does, indeed represent exactly what we are here to discuss. we are not here to discuss your opinion about what you are doing now, but what the ‘new’ committee already did by publishing this statement; and to discuss the truth about those who pushed for the excommunication of several dozen people from occupy oakland through a process that can be described as misuse of power at best, and outright facism if all is known…
the image represents a point in time, within days of the passing of a resolution to overstep the boundaries of revolutionary logic, in which the very people pushing for that resolution violated it within several days. i’ve made a comment to clarify when the image was produced, when the lie was revealed.
this is my article. i am a member of occupy oakland, and i have come here to open discussion on the topics of dishonesty, vanguard, censorship, mob behavior, and the willingness of the ‘new’ media committee to publicly state what has been happening all along : that you all believe you have the right to determine who is and is not a member of occupy oakland. i have not violated any terms of publishing on this website, ever, but have been subjected to censorship because my opinion does not follow the ‘party line.’
you do not have to engage in this discussion, but it is far from ‘transparent’ for you to publish as the whole media committee, when you cannot possibly represent the media committee without a meeting, without coming to consensus with other members of the committee. because of that, it is beyond inappropriate for you to be commenting as media committee instead of using your own handle or name.
you published this statement as the media committee, and disallowed commentary in the process. that was your choice. now the discussion is here.
you also insinuated, by publishing that the way you did, that it had somehow been approved by the general assembly. i know you did not actually claim that, but it is insinuated by it being published in this way. besides that, this is a proposal on the queue for hearing, but has not been published in the ‘proposals’ section of this website. it is highly inappropriate for the general assembly to be considering proposals which could have but have not been published for public discussion before consideration.
You can answer my questions. AFAIK, this statement was never approved by GA consensus. So when did the media committee get the authority to kick people out of OO, since I and everyone who posts on hellaoccupyoakland.org–including many whom have never been a part of any Occupy media committee–have been declared “no longer affiliated” even though we still consider ourselves members and we also show up for actions on a regular basis (which is somehow, although it was never voted upon at a GA, an official requirement to be a part of OO)?
wiseoldsnail,
That screenshot does not reflect the current status of the media committee and we would apreciate if you took it down as it is not accurate and it is violating those people’s privacy. The new committee has been understaffed and we have been working to get all our ducks in a row with regards to our media and membership policies. At some point we hope to open membership back up to old members that are willing to decry the offensive article, and we are more than welcoming to everybody else that wants to help.
btw, this screenshot was taken 8 march 9:14 am. the ‘members’ box contained thirty or so names up until this time. thirty or so people were punished for the perceived crimes of three, by a general assembly which has no authority to punish anyone.
the agreement to disband the old media committee (which i disagreed with) included the formation of a completely NEW committee, devoid of old membership. if what is posted here is true – that old members of the media committee are still on this new committee, that needs to be explained. however, if that isn’t true, then i have no quibble to make there.
i question the integrity of such a committee when i know for a fact that one of the new members was active and vocal in supporting the march GA decision to *disband* the old committee (conflict of interest, anyone?). yeah, that’s right. appear in front of the GA to disband the committee, continue to make snide sideswipes about it online, then swoop in to take a position on the new committee. what’s that all about?
i’m serious.
WHAT IS THAT.
ALL.
ABOUT?
i would also like to know if the new committee is diverse in any of the following facets: race, gender expression/sexual orientation, political stance, and socio-economic background. one glaring area of concern is that all of the members are male. it has been mentioned by several activists that OO’s powerhouse committees have been dominated by males, specifically *white males.* self examination, please.
no one has any right to bar a resident of the bay, much less a resident of oakland, from participating in any activity. that smacks of the big bad “state” that OO activists stridently speak against. i mean really, is this a kinder and gentler stay away order? get your priorities in check, OO media committee.
all of that aside, the new media committee really doesn’t amount to much at this point, because media moves (press conferences, newspaper interviews, and radio appearances) are being made by individuals the smaller autonomous groups in occupy, as well as by the independent- minded activists who do as they damn well please anyway.
When was there a vote to kick me out of Occupy Oakland?
What does “affiliated with OO” mean? Please enlighten me, because I thought it was for everyone. I guess it’s a closed organization now?
How can someone hijack a website he bought and paid for and has maintained not only by his own decision but by the explicit request of numerous people who wish to utilize its completely open publishing policy?
i really hope people will come here to discuss this publication by the ‘new’ media committee. i would like to make you all aware that the web masters have recently been censoring me, not allowing me to comment.
i’m here to inform everyone that two tech people from the original media committee, and also krystof and scott johnson, also of the original media committee, were all four members of the new media committee within the first week or so of pushing a supposedly ’emergency’ proposal to alienate a whole working crew from occupy oakland. this was in direct conflict with the resolution to toss us all off the island.
the end of this document states outright lies, which include the false statement that http://hellaoccupyoakland.org/ was ‘hijacked’ by the administrator. it is virtually impossible for a group to hijack our own website. what ever happened to autonomy? the next lie is that oomedia is not affiliated with occupy oakland. this is completely false, as anyone who reads or contributes to our website knows full well. exactly who gave the new committee or the webmasters here the right to determine who is and is not affiliated with occupy oakland? what are you gonna do when they come for you, eh?
now, please somebody tell me what is the value of publishing lies?