[IndyMedia Bombay] PASS: Membership Criteria

[PUKAR @ IndyMedia]

Dear Bombay IndyMedia Network:

IMPORTANT: In order to complete our registration with the global IMC 
network, we must approve these Membership Criteria and the responses 
given to each of them, authored by Sanjay and Shekhar. THIS DOCUMENTS 
MUST BE PASSED BY EVERYONE ON THIS LIST BY SUNDAY 14 JULY. Any 
objections/additions to the Principles of Unity and Membership 
Criteria responses must be communicated  to this list and discussed 
by then.

Please also send a self-introduction about yourself, your interest in 
IndyMedia, if you would like this to be communicated as part of IMC 
Mumbai's members' introductions.

Solidarity,


Shekhar and Sanjay
______

IMC MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA - DRAFT
Each IMC and Global Working Group is expected to:

a. Agree in spirit to the NIMC Mission Statement and Principles ofUnity,

A: Yes, we have read through both and agree. We have also come up 
with a mission statement specific to our goals in Mumbai.

b. Have a committed membership substantial enough to sustain a functional IMC,

A: Yes, we have done outreach, have held four large meetings and many 
other informal group meets, we have a commited group of volunteers to 
provide content, and a core group willing to work hard to sustain and 
manage IMC Mumbai and the IndyMedia concept and network.

c. Have open and public meetings (no one group can have exclusionary 
"ownership" of an IMC),

A: Yes, the IndyMedia network in Bombay shall always be an open 
collective in which everyone participates as an individual, even if 
they belong to some organisation.

d. Work toward developing a local Mission Statement or Statement of 
Purpose. Network Mission Statement may be adopted or used on an 
interim basis,

A: Yes, we have come up with a Mission Statement, and hope to be able 
to add to it further as more groups get involved and we get more 
inputs, have more discussions about our role, etc.

e. Establish and publish an editorial policy which is developed and 
functions through democratic process, and with full transparency,

A: We are working on and developing an editorial policy which will be 
finalized and up very shortly.

f. Agree to the use of Open Publishing as described in the NIMC 
Editorial Policy [editorial collective comments: "We did agree that 
the term "Open Publishing" was one that is still being defined by the 
Global Network Collective, and we would wait and see what the results 
were before rewriting
this criteria],

A: Yes, we believe that the practice of Open Publishing is at the 
core of the Indymedia concept and we will do everything possible to 
keep the IMC Mumbai as "open" as possible.

g. Adopt a decision-making policy that is in alignment with consensus 
principles which include open, transparent and egalitarian processes,

A: Yes.

h. Have a spokesperson(s) willing and capable of participating in the 
global decision-making process and meetings as a rotating 
liaison/representative, with a clear understanding of the 
responsibilities that come with this role,

A: Yes.

i. 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. Assure that at least one person from your 
local IMC participates at any given time on the IMC-Communications 
list,

A: Yes.

j. (NOT FINALIZED): Have no official affiliation with any political 
party, state or candidate for office (comments: but individual 
producers have freedom to do whatever they like and local IMCs can 
"feature" stories about various political parties and initiatives),

A: Yes, we are definitely not affiliated with any political party.

k. IMCs shall in no way engage in commercial for-profit enterprises. 
[We could add: The IMCN is committed to the decommercialization of 
information and will disassociate from any local IMC that decides to 
become a for profit media corporation.]

A: Yes, very much agree.

l. Display a "local version" of the IMC "i" logo on your website and 
literature.

A: Yes, and we are working on a local version of the IMC logo which 
we will post very shortly.

m. Include the IMC Network current "Cities List" on your site, 
preferably on the front page.

A: Yes, to be listed as "Bombay/Mumbai".
_____

PUKAR (Partners for Urban Knowledge Action & Research)
P.O. Box 5627
Dadar, Mumbai 400014, India
E-Mail <pukarsecretariat@vsnl.net>
Phone +91 (022) 2077779, +91 98200.45529, +91 98204.04010
Web Site http://www.pukar.org.in/