IMC
Scotland
Below is the second draft of the imc docs for new-imc-process.
A later version which is still a draft as further modifications are in pipeline
can can be found at:
http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/imc-scotland-discussion/2003-February/000207.html
or go to final updated version
Everyone who has a stake in IMC in Scotland should try to read it, or at least
the first part, 'Reasons for an IMC-SCOTLAND', and post response on imc scotland
disscussion list see link at end to subscribe.
What is Scotland Indymedia Center / IMC-SCOTLAND?
The Scotland Independent Media Center (IMC-SCOTLAND) is an non-corporate,
anti- authoritarian network of independent Scottish media makers and media
outlets, a e walk in.
IMC-SCOTLAND Reasons for Having its own IMC:
IMC-Scotland is an official IMC in all but name only. It has regular meetings
with good attendance in multiple cities, currently Glasgow and Edinburgh.
It has put on workshops on tech and media activism, throws on regular alternative
and anti-capitalist movies (including showing the European IMC
Newsreel), and regularly updates the sub-page it was given on indymedia.org.uk.
However, IMC- SCOTLAND, while grateful to the rest of indymedia.uk, has had
its growth significantly hampered
by not being a fully independent IMC. First, the current web-page allows
posting of features with only the utmost of technical difficulty by manually
hacking together HTML. This is a skill IMC-SCOTLAND has tried and is trying
to spread, however this process excludes non-technical people from posting
features to IMC-SCOTLAND. Also, the newswire of IMC-UK is almost entirely
devoted to non-Scottish issues, and so we feel that an IMC-SCOTLAND web-page
would provide better access and encourage more publishing from Scotland.
Lastly, the name IMC-SCOTLAND has
been in use for almost a year now, and is becoming known among the local activism
and media community, and the inevitable question is: 'Where's the web-page?' or
'Why is scotland.indymedia.org.uk not working?'. We have recently convinced the
server www.ibiblio.org to host us and our streaming
media for free, and with the aid of members of NC-IMC and the ibiblio staff have
already commenced setting up versions of both Mir and DadaIMC and hope to have one or the other fully
running by the end of February. On March 7-9th Indymedia Scotland is
hosting
a 3-day Guerilla Camcorder weekend in Glasgow, with workshops on media
activism and video editing. We expect this to be a large and well-attended
event, and would highly appreciate it if we were approved by new-process
by then. Indymedia Scotland also intends to remain fully active in the Indymedia
UK network, and will only be strengthened by the changes it is suggested.
We are sending
multiple representatives to the Lancaster IMC UK network meeting.
IMC-SCOTLAND Mission Statement
The Scotland Independent Media Center is a network of activists that
are committed to using media and journalism as a tool for social change.
As a network, we will make decisions through a concensus process and do our
best at representing the diversity of our local communities. Though currently
based in Edinburgh and Glasgow, the IMC-SCOTLAND will attempt to cover
issues anywhere in Scotland that are not being given adequate coverage by
any other media. The Scotland Independent Media Center will also work to
network with existing independent media and publications that are committed
to social, ecological, and economic change throughout Scotland, the UK,
and beyond. The IMC-SCOTLAND will continually oppose hierarchy within its
structure.The Scotland Indymedia Center advocates and promotes media democracy
through video showings, skill-share workshops and teach-ins, which are to
be open for the benefit of all. Along with web publishing, we will also hopefully
produce print resources and videos to spread media democracy amongst those
who may not have access to on-line resources. The Scotland Independent Media
Center will actively oppose racism, homophobia, classism, sexism, mobbing,
and nationalism within our framework and within the framework of society.
Since we are a regional media center, we will include other parts of Scotland
by allowing them to have as much autonomy as they wish, including full access
to all features of the sites within their local category and moving main
IMC-SCOTLAND meetings from city to city so one city does not centralize undue
influence on IMC- SCOTLAND. This process has already admirably worked with
the two IMC working- groups set up in Glasgow and Edinburgh, Scotland UK.
IMC-SCOTLAND How to Join
IMC-SCOTLAND is a regional IMC network, with a single web-site http://scotland.indymedia.org
(assuming we get approved) available to the many groupings of independent
media activists in Scotland. This is a network that maximizes decentralization
through autonomy.
Other IMC-SCOTLAND groups may and hopefully do form in other parts of
Scotland. These groups should abide by the IMC- SCOTLAND editorial\newswire
policy and Principles of Unity\Mission
Statement. If they do, they are an official IMC-SCOTLAND group. They
are subscribed to the imc-scotland-discussion@lists.indymedia.org
listserv to which all meeting minutes and proposals are sent and we meet
with all other groups, when they form, face-to-face biannually to discuss
IMC- SCOTLAND. Announcements for this meeting are sent out over the imc-scotland-discussion
listserv. [??] Proposals which effect the entire IMC should be approved
over the internet with a one week wait for discussion. All other decisions
should be made locally. Groups have the ability to autonomously commuicate
using the listservs, newswire policy, and editorial policy to help create
front-page IMC features and regulate IMC-SCOTLAND.
IMC-SCOTLAND Principles of Unity
The Scotland Indymedia Center:
Agrees in spirit to the IMC Mission Statement and Principles of Unity
- has a committed membership substantial enough to sustain a functional
IMC.
- has open and public meetings (no one group can have exclusionary "ownership"
of IMC-SCOTLAND). Currently such meetings are held nearly bi-weekly, although
that is subject to
change given circumstances.
- has a local Mission Statement and a Statement of Purpose.
- has established and published an editorial policy which is developed
and functions through democratic process, and with full transparency.
- agrees to the use of open publishing as described in the IMC Editorial
Policy, with the understanding that clarification of the terms and practice
of open publishing is
constantly evolving and is subject locally to the approval of IMC-SCOTLAND.
If there is a conflict between IMC-SCOTLAND and any global decision-making
process, IMC-SCOTLAND will exercise full right of autonomy. IMC-SCOTLAND
is also currently investigating options
like GNU
licenses and Creative Commons licenses
as a way to take open content publishing to the next level of evolution,
- has adopted a decision-making policy that is in alignment with consensus
principles
which include open, transparent and egalitarian processes,
- has a spokesperson(s) willing and capable of participating in the global
decision-making process and meetings as a rotating liason/representative,
with a clear understanding of the responsibilities
that come with this role,
- will participate in the key IMC Network Communication Methods that
pertain to the health and vitality of the Network and that contribute to
the work of the IMC. At least one person from the Scotland IMC will participate
at any given time on the IMC-Communications list.
- has no affiliation with any political party, state or candidate for
office, although individuals have
freedom to do whatever they like and local IMCs may "feature" stories influenced
by various political parties and initiatives.
- does in no way engage in commercial for-profit enterprises and is committed
to the decommercialization and decolonization of information and so will disassociate
from any other IMC that decides to become a for profit media corporation.
IMC-SCOTLAND, is in addition, anti-capitalist.
- will display a _local version_
of the IMC logo on our website and literature.
- will include the IMC Network current Cities List on our site, preferably
on the front page.
has a committed membership substantial enough to sustain a functional
IMC.
Scotland IMC Editorial Policy
The process for making changes/additions/deletions to featured content on
the website is:
A request is presented at the weekly meetings detailing the requested
changes. Anyone may request changes to the website.
For the changes to be made a consensus must be reached by the IMC-SCOTLAND
network if the change effects the whole website.
If a IMC-SCOTLAND network request receives two rejections it will not
be acted upon, rejections must be sent to the imc-scotland-discussion list
within one week of the initial proposal. One week after the initial consensus
if two rejections have not been registered the website will be updated at
its
earliest convenience. The feature request originator may make further
updates to the feature without further consensus.
Suggestions for helping the editorial process run smoothly:
An editorial request should be made at the meeting of the working group
or through the imc-scotland-discussion listserv. Always feel free to contact
the IMC-SCOTLAND network at
scotland@indymedia.org. A consensus
process will approve or reject the request. Make requests as specific as
possible, i.e. include all wording, url's, etc. Having a specific,
well-formed request will allow the website to be updated more quickly
. In most cases, post it to the imc-scotland-discussion listserv first,
then make the request. Write a short introductory
paragraph summarizing the content of the posting. The introductory paragraph
will appear on the front page with a link to the actual posting.
Scotland IMC Newswire Policy
The Scotland Independent Media Center is a grassroots collective
committed to using media production and distribution as tools for promoting
social and economic justice. Through this work, we seek to promote diversity
and unity in the progressive community throughout Scotland and the rest
of the United Kingdom, further the self-determination of people under-represented
in the media,
and to illuminate and analyze local and global issues that impact ecosystems,
communities and individuals. We are dedicated to generating alternatives
to the corporate media and to identifying
and creating positive models for a sustainable and equitable society,
particulary in Scotland since it is our local community.
In accordance with the Scotland IMC's overall mission, the online newswire
is designed to empower individuals to become independent journalists by
providing a direct, unmoderated forum for presenting media, including text
articles, audio and video recordings, and photographs, to the public via
the internet.
IMC-Scotland has the following three maxims it would like to apply to
news:
- It shoud be news, in any form! Theoretical articles about social, ecological,
and economic change are also welcome.
- News is the contemporary reporting events with some regard for what
is usually called the facts. It inevitably has some opinion in it, but
that forms a subsidiary part of the news.
- It should have some link to Scotland. This includes a writer who currently
lives in or is from Scotland, or an issue pertaining to Scotland. We don't
appreciate spam.
The Indymedia Scotland website operates on a system of 'open publishing'
i.e. anyone can upload a written report, image or audio clip directly to
the site through an openly accessible web interface.
Indymedia Scotland encourages:
- Grassroots coverage of important social and political issues, especially
those ignored my mainstream media.
- A focus on events and issues relevant to people living in Scotland.
- Announcements of any forthcoming actions or campaigns (in the Calendar
section).
- Comments added to any news report on the site.
- Participation in Indymedia Scotland is encouraged!
Also, please remember Indymedia Scotland discourages:
- Language or imagery whichis racist, sexist, anti-semitic,
bullying, mobbing or homophobic.
- Commercial advertising.
- Infactual or misleading reports.
- Repeated posting of any text, image or audio clip.
- Party political propaganda.
After stories have been published, they can be edited, linked or even
deleted by the IMC-SCOTLAND network running this site. We like to link related
stories, so that they appear grouped together on the summary pages. For
instance, this can be used to display together:
sound bites from the same event; a picture with text about the same
thing; a lower quality realaudio or quicktime file with a higher quality
(but slower to transfer) MP3 audio clip for radio stations to re-broadcast;
a video in realvideo or quicktime with a freeze frame picture; a group
of stories about the same issues;
The newswire is an open-publishing resource, as detailed by above. The
newswire is not intended for promotion of commercial enterprises, advertisements,
religious diatribes, or as forum for sociopaths to abuse the community. To
serve this end, the network is empowered to delete posts that are sexist,
racist, homophobic, pornographic, fascist, defamatory or in violation of libel
law, or repetitive (spam). The decisions to make newswires center-column
features on the main page will also take place through a IMC-SCOTLAND network
consensus process. The decision for making a city\region feature newswire
a city\region center column Consensus must be taken through the entire IMC-SCOTLAND
network through the imc- scotland-discussion listserv, with a one-week discussion
time. All non-votes will be assumed to be approval. If contact information
is provided for the publisher of a hidden post, the publisher will be contacted
with the reason for the editorial action.
end
see first draft of this imc doc
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-scotland-discussion
imc