My nephew, Cameron, wrote me a few days ago. He just turned 16 and has been involved with the Seattle Independent Media Center.

well i was lookin at your sources and things like seattle times and pi and new york times but NO IMC!?!?!?! do you check it out ever or just didn't post a link. well if you don't know its www.indymedia.org. check it out cause its our media.

And then today Doc Searls notes this article:

Modern Day Muckrakers

The very first Independent Media Center (IMC) sprang to life in Seattle, during the fall of 1999. In November, the World Trade Organization and hundreds of international delegates were preparing to come to the city. At the same time, young activists -- galvanized by years of anti-globalization work -- were asking themselves how they could impact the meeting and get the word out about protest marches and rallies. Part of the answer was to create an alternative news source that would cover the demonstrations and the issues behind them.

The Seattle IMC attracted scores of media activists who provided round- the-clock coverage of what came to be known as "the Battle in Seattle." Members said the Web site they built got about 1.5 million hits during the WTO protests. Like everything else, the ISP services were (and still) are donated. When the site traffic skyrocketed, a staff person from the ISP braved the tear gas in downtown Seattle to bring the IMC a second DSL line. (Tech members today estimate the entire network gets about 400,000 page views a day.)

After Seattle, IMCs began to pop up around the world, from South Africa to New York City. At current count there are more than 60 centers in 25 different countries. Some, like Seattle and New York, have permanent, physical offices. Others, such as Philadelphia, live mostly on the Net -- with meetings taking place online and in the homes of local members of editorial collectives. This model is replicated around the world.
(...)

Donations also come from individuals. Media analyst Ed Herman, who co- authored the book Manufacturing Consent with Noam Chomsky, gave money to the Philadelphia IMC when it was gearing up to cover the convention and said he plans to give more in the future.

In an e-mail interview, Herman said he considers alternative media crucial for a democratic society.

"I think the IMC movement has done very important work in counteracting the mainstream media's gross bias in dealing with events approved by the elite, like the political conventions and actions of the World Trade Organization and [International Monetary Fund] IMF," he wrote. "They have actually embarrassed the mainstream media. They have an important potential, and I must support them because they are part of the hope for a democratic future. If they and institutions like them don't succeed, this society is in deeper trouble than I like to think about."
[read more]

I will be adding Seattle Independent Media Center, Independent Media Center, and Israel Independent MediaCenter to my list. There are a lot more. Check them out.