[New-imc] IMC West-Vlaanderen - New Imc - [ deadline: 18 dec 2002 - 12 GMT ]

[PseudoPunk]

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Hey Everyone,

We filled in the form in june. (And again 20 minutes ago, to get it
automatically included in the contact database).

We slacked for the summertime and then started somewhere in
oktober/november with 4 people from imc-be who wanted to get a real more
local imc instead of a nationwide. We started a mailingcampaign to
whoever we found & was progressive and on our first meeting we had 25
people (and some who want to help but couldn't come). In between we did
organisational work (setting site up, making mission statement,
editorial policy, dividing us up in teams/working groups, ...). We think
we're prepared enough and we'll have a working site online in less then
2 weeks (there's a testsite now on http://wvl.hacknet.tk).

- - - - The Documents will be in Dutch (Nl) & English (En)

Greetings,

Bart


- - - ---- Documents ----

1. Mission Statement = Personal Introduction

[ Nl ] West Vlaanderen (Wvl) is een relatief kleine provincie waar op
het eerste zicht niet veel demonstraties en akties plaatsvinden. Toch is
er volgens ons nood aan een lokale indymedia. De traditionele media, die
net als elders in handen zijn van grote bedrijven of de overheid, slagen
er ook in deze provincie in om er een zootje van te maken. De dagelijkse
corruptie in de stadsbesturen, het sluiten van bedrijven en de
bedreiging van het milieu op verschillende plaatsen,... wordt (bijna)
nooit op een serieuze manier in beeld gebracht.

De mensen die eronder lijden of die ermee geconfronteerd worden, kunnen
hun eigen stem, mening hierbij niet kwijt. In de eerste plaats willen we
een stem geven aan degenen wiens stem nooit of nauwelijks of verdraaid
in de media komen.

Iedereen die zich houdt aan enkele basisregels (zie ook edito-policy),
kan publiceren op de website, zodat mensen en groeperingen zelf nieuws
en media kunnen maken; dat de mensen in deze streek hun eigen media in
handen hebben en deze kunnen aanwenden voor een andere wereld. Om dit te
bereiken willen we doorheen de provincie een gedecentraliseerd netwerk
opzetten, dat op verscheidene manieren werkt aan de democratisering van
media, in samenwerking met de reeds bestaande lokale onafhankelijke
media en indymedia.be.

Om dit platform (de website) te ondersteunen, werken we met een brede
groep mensen, waarin iedereen welkom is, uit de ganse provincie -
jongeren, ouderen, geëngageerden, onafhankelijken, ... die het zien
zitten om de hele boel op poten te zetten en draaiende te houden.
Daarnaast willen we op langer termijn in een aantal centra in de
provincie lokalen inrichten, die toegankelijk zijn voor medewerkers en
sympathisanten. In deze centra zouden we computers ter beschikking
willen stellen aan degenen die thuis niet over een internetverbinding
beschikken, en wat informatiemateriaal over onderwerpen die elders
moeilijk te vinden zijn. Deze lokale centra zouden ontmoetingsplaatsen
kunnen worden voor degenen die aan het project meewerken.

[En] West-Vlaanderen is a relatively small county where there aren't
much demonstrations and actions, at a first sight. However, we feel
there's a need for a local indymedia. Traditional media, who are like
elsewhere, in the hands of corporations and goverment, succeed in making
a mess of it. The daily corruption in the city-councils, the closing of
companies, the danger for the environment on several places ... it
hardly ever gets serious coverage ...

The people who suffer from all this, or who are confronted with it, have
nearly no way to voice their opinions on it. In the first place, we want
to give a voice to all people who's voice never get in the picture or do
so in a distorted way ...

Everyone who follows some basic rules (see edito-policy) can publish on
the website. In this way, people and groups can make their own media.
They can use this to work on a better world. To achieve this, we'll set
up a decentralised network through the county, that works on varied ways
on democratising the media, in cooperation with other independent media
and indymedia.be.

To support this platform, we work with a wide group of people -
everyone's free to join - from the county (youg & old, independents,
engaged, ...) who're committed to get it set up and running. Within some
 time we want to set up some 'offices' around the county, open for
volunteers and sympathizers. In the centres we want to offer internet
access to people who have problems getting to it and documentation about
progressive/left topics. These centres could become meeting places for
those interested in working together with indymedia.


2. Answers to Membership criteria
 [THIS IS THE CURRENT DRAFT OF THE IMC MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA. WE WILL SEND
FUTURE DRAFTS AS THEY ARE AVAILABLE.]

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

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

we agree


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

we agree. We see committed as: willing to do some work

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

we have.

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

we have one. see above :-)

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

We have. See further ...

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],

We agree

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

We strive for consensus. If consensus seems to be impossible, we'll go
on with 85% supermajority. (this was decided upon in consensus)

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,

for now on:
imc-tech: me
imc-process: me
imc-finance: joeri at indymedia.org
imc-proposals: will be directed to our process list once it's set up
imc-europe: me, joeri and françoise (and probably libby as well)
imc-communication: jotie

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,

see h.

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),

We agree

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.]


We agree

l. Display a i² logo on your website and literature.

Once we have one, we will

m. Include the IMC Network current &Cities List² on your site,
preferably on the front page.

it's there yet on our test-site



3. Principles of Unity

a. The Independent Media Center Network (IMCN) is based upon principles
of equality, decentralization and local autonomy. The IMCN is not
derived from a centralized bureaucratic process, but from the
self-organization of autonomous collectives that recognize the
importance in developing a union of networks.

We agree

b. All IMC's consider open exchange of and open access to information a
prerequisite to the building of a more free and just society.

We agree

[c. All IMC's respect the right of activists who choose not to be
photographed or filmed.]

We agree. However, we see in concrete, reallife situations, it's not
always possible ...

d. All IMC's, based upon the trust of their contributors and readers,
shall utilize open web based publishing, allowing individuals, groups
and organizations to express their views, anonymously if desired. **see
appendix: Open Publishing document --> still in proposal phase, at this
address:
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-communication/2001-April/00170
7.html
http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-communication/2001-April/00087
4.html

We use open publishing. By default we won't log ip nr's. (We can do for
short time to find out about dosattacks, spam attacks and so on).


e. The IMC Network and all local IMC collectives shall be not-for-profit.

We agree

f. All IMC's recognize the importance of process to social change and
are committed to the development of non-hierarchical and
anti-authoritarian relationships, from interpersonal relationships to
group dynamics. Therefore, shall organize themselves collectively and be
committed to the principle of consensus decision making and the
development of a direct, participatory democratic process] that is
transparent to its membership.

We agree. If we don't get consensus on something, we'll use a 85%
supermajority. Consensus will be the default option and we'll try to get
 it.

g. [All IMC's recognize that a prerequisite for participation in the
decision making process of each local group is the contribution of an
individual's labor to the group.]

We agree. To be more clear: everyone who does some organisational work,
according to his own energy, availability of time and willingness to
commit time, we'll have an equal participation in decision making;
People who don't do any organisational work (people who only publish, or
not even that) will not have a say in the decisionmaking process.

h. All IMC's are committed to caring for one another and our respective
communities both collectively and as individuals and will promote the
sharing of resources including knowledge, skills and equipment.

We agree


i. All IMC's shall be committed to the use of free source code, whenever
possible, in order to develop the digital infrastructure, and to
increase the independence of the network by not relying on proprietary
software.

We agree

j. All IMC's shall be committed to the principle of human equality, and
shall not discriminate, including discrimination based upon race,
gender, age, class or sexual orientation. Recognizing the vast cultural
traditions within the network, we are committed to building [diversity]
within our localities.

We agree


4. Editorial Policy

[ Nl ]
    *  Deze Edito-Policy bepaalt hoe er omgesprongen wordt met
gepubliceerde artikels. In principe mag alles gepost worden wat niet
valt binnen de onderstaande voorbeelden. Onderaan het document wordt de
procedure weergegeven die we volgen voor het verbergen van artikels.

    * Algemene opmerking: Dit is een nieuwssite. Gelieve dus vooral
nieuws en achtergrondinformatie (in gelijk welke vorm) te posten.

    * Algemene opmlerking: Gelieve te discussiëren op een menselijke
manier met respect voor elkaars mening en volgens de netiquette (vb:
enkel hoofdletters kan niet).

    * Welke artikels / commentaren worden niet getolereerd:
          o Racisme, fascisme, seksisme, homofobie, porno, spam,
leugens, gescheld, niet geargumenteerde persoonlijke aanvallen op
individuen en/of politieke strekkingen.

          o Een artikel dat enkel uit hyperlinks bestaat.

          o Artikels waar de poster niet zelf de copyright op heeft, of
waarvan de licentie herpublicatie niet toelaat.

          o Dubbele postings (inclusief postings die eerst als comment
gepubliceerd werden en later opnieuw gepost worden als artikel).

          o Aankondigingen van evenementen.

          o Artikels die nergens relevantie hebben met West-Vlaanderen
of Westvlamingen. (wij zijn hier vrij soepel in)

          o Deze lijst is een huidige versie. Het editoteam & imc Wvl
kunnen deze lijst steeds wijzigen.


    * Hoe worden artikels verwijderd ?
          o Elk lid van het edito - team kan artikels en comments hiden
als ze volgens zijn/haar inzicht voldoen aan de vooropgestelde criteria.

          o Wie een artikel verbergt, plaatst in een comment de reden
waarom het verborgen wordt en stuurt - indien mogelijk - de auteur een
mail en mailt dit ook naar de edito lijst.

          o Deze actie is niet noodzakelijk definitief, indien het edito
- - - -team anders beslist kan een comment/artikel weer zichtbaar gezet
worden.

[ En ]
    o This editorial policy determines how we will deal with  published
articles. All postings to which the limitations described below are
allowed. At the of this document we describe the procedure to be used
for hiding articles.

    o General remark: This is a news site. Please post mainly news and
background information (under any form)

    o General remark: please have your discussions in a polite way,
respecting each others opinion and follow the rules of netiquette (e.g.
don?t write in caps only = shouting)

    o What articles/comments will not be tolerated

	§ Racism, fascism, sexism, homophobia, porn, spam, lies, swearing,
non-argumented personal attacks on individuals and/or political views,
articles that are just hyperlinks.

	§ Articles  for which the poster hasn?t got the copyright or for which
the licence doesn?t allow republication.

	§ Double postings (including postings that were posted as a comment first
and later republished as an article)

	§ Announcements of events

	§ Articles that have no relevance to West-Flanders or West Flemish people
 (in the broadest way)

        § This list is a present state of affairs, the edito-tema and
imc-Wvl can always decide on modifications.

   o How to hide articles ?

	§ Every member of the edito - team can hide articles and comments if they
judge them to be in line with the set criteria.

	§ When someone hides an article he/she puts a comment underneath,
explaining why the article is hidden, sends a mail to the author if a
mail address is available and sends a mail to the edito ? list.

	§ Hiding an article is not irreversible, when the edito-team decides
otherwise, an article or comment can be put back on showing again.


5. Contact List

- - - - Global network: see membership criteria
- - - - Tech & layout: me (for the moment)
- - - - the Team: imc-wvl at indymedia.org
- - - - Translation & Outreach team: libby at indymedia.org
- - - - Edito & process: joeri at indymedia.org
** Note: this are the people who are currently 'coordinating those
teams'. Once we're really well smoothly running we'll rotate
coordinators. (contact db. will be updated when things change).

6. Roll Calls of our participators

You can see a list of roll calls from the people who subscribed (= those
committed to help) here:
http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/ImcWvlIntroductieMedewerkers


- --
No Gods, No Dancing !

http://indymedia.be     |     bart at indymedia.org
http://thepits.be       |     bart at thepits.be
http://pseudopunk.be    |     icq: 48682266

gebruik vrije software -- Debian GNU/Linux -- http://debian.org

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