Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about the future of Intercontinental Cry. I’m actually very satisfied with how things are going, especially now that I’m starting to speak up more. But even so, I’m feeling a need to take things a bit further. Here’s what I’m thinking:
1. At the moment, I’d say the site covers about 30% of what’s happening to Indigenous Peoples in the world. I definitely can’t handle writing any more than I already do, but I’m in a good position to provide daily (or maybe, weekly) news briefs on the site, possibly in the form of a ‘notebook’. I’d like to do it so mailboxes and news readers don’t get flooded.
2. I’d also like to make everything on the site a little more accessible. With the way it’s organized right no, a lot of important situations get buried and it’s difficult keeping track of specific regions and topics. I’m not too sure what to do about this, all I know is it will probably take me a couple months.
3. And, I’d like to open things up so anyone can contribute news. I’mnot too sure what to do about this either. Perhaps it could be similar to the notebook, separate from the main content.
4. Last but not least, the site needs a completely new look. I’ve been tweaking the design for a while now but it’s just not working for me. I’d like it to have a more magazine-type feel, sort of like what Dustin Rivers did at his blog, liberatedyet.com.
I have a copy of the website installed on my own computer (using something called xampp) so no one has to worry about the site becoming a mess, and I’m going to continue delivering the news, so I figure it’ll take me at least 4 months to get everything done… The end goal being that I never have to do this sort of thing again.
Eventually I’d also like to get a few dedicated authors here, so I can pull back and focus more on what I do best, but that’s still a ways off.
There are also some money issues that I should probably mention. I’ve only received $10.00 in the last 13 months…
It’s a bit of a tragedy since the site costs $150.00 a year. Thank the universe, Ben Melancon has been carrying the financial burden. If it wasn’t for him, Intercontinental Cry would be long gone. But I wish it didn’t have to be all on him, considering the number of subscribers (250+) and visitors I get each day (450 on average, with the occasional flash flood of 2,000 – 30,000 people).
Not to mention my decaying third-hand computer. As things stand, I can barely afford to feed myself on a given month, so if it dies on me, then, I’m sorry to say, this site is done for.
I hope that doesn’t happen, because Intercontinental Cry is a pretty important resource. One of a very number of sites dedicated to the global struggle of Indigenous Peoples.
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