Radio Punk Editorial 2 – July 2020

In editorial 2 of July 2020 we’ll deal with news, anti-racism and comments handling on our social profiles

We get to July with our heads full of cues and reflections: it would be nice to talk and discuss about it face-to-face, but for the time being the only viable option is putting “on paper” some thoughts trough this Editorial 2.

As you might have inferred from our first two editorials, 0 and 1 this aims to be the space where we talk as if we were amongst friends with a six pack (/an icy 66 cl. Peroni), telling you about what’s up, changes and ideas always looking for discussion and debate. Yeah right, because constructive criticisms throughout the years really helped us creating our path. A lot of things happened between May and June and even though our intention is to create timeless contents, we feel the urge to use this space to further investigate the news.

George Floyd’s murder is the tip of the iceberg of years of violence and abuse perpetrated by those who hold or defend power. The “I can’t breath” cry started a raging fire in many cities across the USA and reopened a debate in the rest of the world too. We feel it’s important to express solidarity to those who fight and as someone correctly pointed out the time has come for everybody to take a stand: saying “I’m not racist” isn’t enough anymore (it probably has never been enough), we must have the courage to be and to declare ourselves aloud as anti-racists. Silence and justifications equal complicity since in a society that wants us to be divided and selfish, there’s nothing more revolutionary than fighting for the freedom of other living beings.

Talking about harassment and repression we’d like to extend our solidarity to our comrades in Bologna and Rome, struck by heavy measures and accusations. We feel fit to use this editorial to reiterate that Radio Punk wants to be a space of freedom, solidarity and safety for all those willing to express themselves in a positive, constructive and thus anti-authoritarian way.

When we define Radio Punk as a free space we’re talking both about the contents we deliver – anybody must feel completely free to express himself- and about how we handle our media. Living virtual spaces seems easier than living social ones, anybody can enter just by a few clicks, even those who have nothing to share with this world… and there’s nothing bad about that when said person has good intentions, if it isn’t so, just as at concerts there’s no place for racists, sexists and pigs lovers, there won’t be any place for them on our channels. We’ll proceed to the elimination of any such comment.

It’s not censorship at all, we don’t like that, but pure and simple good sense, giving space to a fascist, or to anyone relating to the above-mentioned categories, implies a legitimation of his/her presence we don’t agree with.

We believe this is the foundation for a safe on-line space, in which everyone can speak his mind with no concern whatsoever. We’d like this webzine to be some sort of self-growth/information resource, that’s why we try to deal with various topics, from sexism to specism, from hooligas history to foreign punk scenes and so on. We’re looking for discussion, not seen as clash but as encounter, as a collective criticism of the status quo, we believe that everybody has something to say and, at the same time, to learn, us first.

Our on-line discussion handling will follow these principles, as we stated before discussion in the comments section is welcome, even when it’s heated if it manages to be respectful. We don’t want to filter or censor anything as long as the ideas and principles that shape Radio Punk are crystal clear.

The only comments that won’t be allowed are those made by fake accounts, trolls, and/or against the principles mentioned before. We’ll try to reply the others in a constructive way even if not always in first person. Since we give free space to those willing to answer our call, that, by the way, is still open, we won’t always have the tools and deep knowledge on specific topics that would give us the chance to give a well-informed reply. This is also due to the fact that, as written before, contents we post are a chance of self-education and growth. Chance might be we’ll leave the debate in the hands of those who wrote the post, if they feel like it.

But what about you, how do you face criticism, observations and comments on social media, both on your personal prophiles or on pages you run ? Let us know in the comments.
In this respect we’d like to thank all those people that expressed their opinions giving us the chance to discuss this difficult governance and decision. No one knows wether we made the right choice or not but one thing’s for sure, that’s what came out of our discussion and that we feel like doing.

See you at the next editorial and don’t forget our most recent update: not all contents are shared on our social media, so just head on to the site to make sure you never miss a beat.

See ya

Radio Punk Crew