The Rhode Island Media Cooperative is a group dedicated to helping those creating media used to entertain and inform in the Ocean State reach a wider audience and work in a cooperative fashion. Anyone who is creating such media is encouraged to join for free and contribute to these efforts. We also hope through our front page to become a portal for all Rhode Islanders to visit for their media intake. To that extent, our syndicated writers page features streams from a variety of alternative new sites that do not appear in the mainstream.
But what if I already am doing work for another outlet?
That’s the reason this is for you! This is not about taking you away from your efforts, it is about bringing all these different efforts together in one place! For example, Andrew Stewart writes for RIFuture. He will keep doing that BUT all his materials are also going to be posted here and he will be able to cooperate with other people!
Cooperatives historically arise out of economic periods of downturn when producers choose to work together to help each others’ efforts. The most notable is the Mondragon winery in Spain. Vintners there saw they would have more luck if they literally pooled their resources by putting their wine in the same barrel to increase their outputs and therefore profits. Mondragon is one of the most successful companies today in Spain despite the economic downturn of the past decade. It is worth noting here that Mondragon formed during the Franco dictatorship when political agitation in the workplace was actively discouraged. Here is a video featuring Richard Wolff on this topic.
We are now in similar political and economic times. This effort is to help media producers overcome hindrances to their efforts and build a network that helps us reach our goals.
Watch the video below for further insights on this effort.