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Add an EventOn Hiatus: A Statement from the Editors of It's Going Down
10 years ago a group of people set out to create a new media platform to document and give voice to autonomous social movements happening across so-called North America. It’s Going Down (IGD) has had an impact and audience beyond what many of us thought was possible, and we’re proud of the work that we’ve done over the past ten years.
In the last year however, we’ve come up against the wall of decreasing capacity to continue running this project on a consistent basis. With the coming to power of another Trump administration, we think its important for us to announce that we are taking a hiatus from working on this platform, with the hopes that other projects can find their footing.
A lot has changed since this project started: anarchist and autonomous anti-capitalist voices are louder and more common, as is the push back from elites against them. Both corporate parties are looking to silence and attack those speaking out against the growing push towards authoritarianism, war, inequality, and ecological destruction. We need vibrant media platforms that can speak to the lived realities and conditions of working-class people while also covering grassroots rank-n-file movements from below.
We know that It’s Going Down has been a project that a lot of people have utilized as a resource over the years and we want to encourage participants in social struggles to develop media infrastructure in the coming period. Think about what you can do, who you can connect with, and how you can get your reporting out into the world.
Going forward, we do have several podcasts that we intend to get out into the world in the next few weeks, and we encourage people to check out a new collaborative podcast project, The Beautiful Idea. Our social media accounts on Bluesky and Mastodon will continue to share and post news, upcoming events, and boost other projects. Our columns In Contempt and This Week in Fascism will also now be appearing on CrimethInc. starting in 2025. Finally, we will be keeping IGD online as an archive to ensure that this information is open, available, and able to be sourced for research, future learning, and ongoing projects.
This is far from the end for us, and what is coming next is still forming, but incredibly exciting. In the mean time, here are some projects that we encourage you to check out:
In a world of influencers, grifters, and algorithms, we hope that we a created space for an alternative and built a platform for movements and struggles that challenge domination and exploitation.
The old Indymedia slogan rings as true today as it ever did: make media, make trouble!
Photo by Matthieu Joannon on Unsplash
https://www.anarchistnews.org/comment/76741#comment-76741
For example, their podcast, website, & author recommendations feel like they could be mostly unchanged from 8 years ago. Are they convinced that the usual suspects—mostly white u.s.ians—remain the best representatives of anarchist politics? Why else would they literally recommend billionaire-funded liberal media like The Intercept over new efforts, some of which they've promoted on the site themselves?
https://www.anarchistnews.org/comment/76742#comment-76742
… that IGD didn't have to answer the question [of Caribbean inclusion] either way (no mention of it in the geographical breakdown, no pressure from readers asking why they didn't discuss it more) is itself telling about the environment they operated in.
While I agree that petty vandalism isn't necessarily the Most Important Thing they didn't publish, I still think their choice to stay quiet about the kind of reportbacks typical on other counterinfo sites should've been further explained. Did they come under explicit legal pressure? Did they just feel like it wasn't worth their time? Did others disagree (for example, Night Owls moving off the website)?
Generally speaking, I have seen other anarchist web projects leave closing statements that directly & critically addressed critical aspects of the anarchist "movement"/media space & their own role in it (https://anarchistnews.org/content/we-close-door-publicaci%C3%B3n-refractario-comes-end). This isn't one of them, though I would like to believe such an assessment is on its way. We'll see.
https://www.anarchistnews.org/comment/76751#comment-76751
Igd says (correctly) ppl and movements should build their own media, lists projects but doesnt list a single counter info site. Leaving with one final disappointment.
https://xcancel.com/Gays_4_Galleani/status/1870248571578266029#m
90% of IGD was sharing articles, but that 10% of playing "More Anarchist Than Thou" while also promoting liberal ratfuckers, especially from elitist colleges was something else.
https://xcancel.com/Ergoat/status/1870275133606395950#m
Let all that “communities!” “neighbors!” “abolitionist!” bullshit find its grave alongside the very American poison of trying to appeal to the lowest common denominator.
https://xcancel.com/lilsteeptech/status/1870266402302579087#m
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