<nettime> Re: zkp6

[Andreas Broeckmann <abroeck@v2.nl>]

>The nettime moderators are now discussing a possible publication which
>will summarize the reports, discussions and analyses of spring 1999. It
>could be published as a free magazine, like the zkp4, produced in
>Ljubliana (May 1997 - circulation: 10.000 copies). This newspaper could be
>produced in close collaboration with Syndicate, HelpB92, Cross the Border,
>anti-war groups, etc. and could be distributed as a PDF file.

three concerns:

- we would need this very quickly; having it in july or so is not much
use, Kosova and large parts of Yugoslavia will be in shreds by then; is it
possible to produce something like this by mid-may? 

- do *we* know what we want to be in there, and what the purpose of this
would be? my feeling is that different people here have different needs
and interests, and i am not sure whether a zkp4-style text-desert is what
everybody needs right now; one possibility would be a 'print on demand'
design with a selection of texts that can be used in various local
contexts; another option, as fokky has already suggested, is a 'lean'
selection that covers the most important arguments against the war, the
atrocities in kosovo, the refugee crisis in AL and MK, important calls,
project descriptions (like Sunflower), and some visionary texts for a
better future (like Balkan to the Balkanians), and that is translated into
different languages. 

- i partly agree with fokky that people's attention should maybe be
focussed more on specific (local) projects, although this does not rule
out the production of shared (text) material; the 'media strategies'
working group at the recent syndicate meeting in budapest pointed out that
there is a *demand* on the part of some mass media channels for
alternative views on the war, so that it might be more a matter of 'us'
better communicating what we have to the outside world, than another
laborious collective editorial process. the problem of finding the right
language to speak, of defining a position that is honest, effective, and
that *does not jeopardise the work (and lives) of people in yugoslavia* -
this might be the bigger problem. the idea behind this is that we might
not be using available media outlets to the extent that we could be. 


i don't want to sound too pessimistic. i think that a lot is happening,
and people are very carefully trying to find their way through this
labyrinth of bombs and atrocities and words and feelings. i believe that
there is no way that we will have a big impact on the course of the war,
so we have to make sure that we are effective on the minor levels where we
_can act_. this is partly a strategic question, and partly one of
resources. who can actually do all this stuff, i mean physically? we have
to decide this for ourselves and see where potential alliances are. even
the 'Nettime' label is politically so insignificant that it will not
really change very much if the publication Geert suggests does not run
under this flag. find viable (new, temporary) alliances. 

and maybe let us also try to be better prepared for the end of the war
than we were for its beginning. as we learn from comrade tito: we have to
live like the war will last forever, and we have to be prepared as though
the peace would begin tomorrow. (he said it the other way round.)

-a

ps: i think it is a silly idea to create an alternative channel for
'kosova-related matters'; maybe people who want 'peaceful' topics want to
create a 'kosova-free list'. even if this is not our war, we're stuck with
it - tragic reality. 


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