[New-imc] IMC-SCOTLAND (internal approval - deadline 10/03/03)
Tony
cactus at zetnet.co.uk
Thu Mar 6 10:33:14 PST 2003
Hello New-imc list
I will push Scotland through the new-imc process before handing over
other regional imc's to the new volunteers.
See below for their documents and info:
I have been in contact with the IMC-scotland group since they first
applied and must say they are very organised and productive. For 6
months they have been using a page on the imc-uk site to practice
until this application goes through, and have been doing alot of
outreach and trainings, involving many groups and individuals across
scotland in the process.
They have servers sorted and good tech support, and i hope this
application can sail through. Any questions or problems with this
application - please respond to this list before monday 10th March -
after which i will pass this on to process ad communication list.
cheers tony
=========================
Here is the document required to apply for
IMC-SCOTLAND
through the new imc process.
Two contacts are:
General Contact: Ulla (imc @ fempages.org)
Tech Contact: Harry (imctech @ j12.org)
Space Bunny (lists @ j12.org) will be our global communications contact
on the imc communications listserv.
Thanks so much - and e-mail us any problems, complaints, as are gushes
of approval!
Note by going to www.imcscotland.org you can get see the full history
of this document, and other background.
---------------------------------------------------------
What is Scotland Indymedia Center / IMC-SCOTLAND?
The Scotland Independent Media Center (IMC-SCOTLAND) is an
non-corporate, anti-authoritarian network of independent media
makers, media activists, and media outlets, and is the local
organizing unit of the global Indymedia network. Indymedia was
founded in direct action reporting and the Global Days of Action,
and it in this path we 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. Although we realize that IMC-UK is switching to Mir
and this may correct many of the technical issues IMC-SCOTLAND is
facing, we have no firm deadline, and would rather have the
autonomy to solve our own problems. We also realize that IMC-UK
is attempting to use a network architecture for decisions, however,
at the current moment that process has just begun and at our
local meetings members of IMC-SCOTLAND have unanimously decided
in favor of local autonomy, co-operating with IMC-UK and remaining
in the network, but limiting our dependence on the network. Removal
of this load should work in the favor of both activists in Scotland
and IMC-UK. Also, There are many activists
in Scotland who have expressed interest in an independent
IMC-SCOTLAND newswire, and cite the high-turn over rate of the
IMC-UK newswire as intimidating and a reason why they aren't
posting. 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 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 ibiblio staff
have already commenced setting up versions of both Mir and
DadaIMC and hope to have dadaIMC fully running by the end
of March. 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. 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. Since both dadaIMC and Mir support full RSS syndication,
we also plan to continue syndication with IMC-UK. We believe our
own IMC would strengthen IMC-SCOTLAND's active participation
globally, in the UK network, and locally.
IMC-SCOTLAND Mission Statement
The Scotland Independent Media Centre 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
consensus 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, nationalism,
and any other form of domination and discrimination within our
framework and within the framework of society. As a collective, our
attitude is assertive, and where necessary confrontational, and we
will defend and keep free the space we are helping create. Mainstream
corporate media exist to propagate the power of capitalism, attempting
to hide their corporate interests underneath the banner of objectivity
and impartiality. IMC-Scotland is proudly a network of subjective
voices reporting the reality of their own lives, and their passionate
desire for a world large enough to hear all of our voices.
We believe that Scotland is only as large as our collective
imagination, and that 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 site and moving main IMC-SCOTLAND meetings from city to
city so one group 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 autonomy by having all
decisions being made from the bottom up.
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. When they do, they are an official IMC-SCOTLAND
group. They are subscribed to the
imc-scotland-discussion at lists.indymedia.org listserv to which all
meeting minutes and proposals are sent and we meet with all other
groups, when they form, at least face-to-face biannually to
discuss IMC- SCOTLAND. Decisions are made by active
consensus. This means that consensus is reached by IMC-SCOTLAND
about issues effecting the IMC, and that this consensus implies
both active participation in the consensus process and in getting
the work done. Region groups in Scotland all have the ability to
autonomously communicate using face-to-face meetings and
listservs,to help create front-page IMC features and regulate
IMC-SCOTLAND with respect to our newswire and editorial policy. If
there is any conflict between members of IMC-SCOTLAND, it will be
solved through meetings, discussion, and possibly
mediation. Currently IMC-SCOTLAND groups in Glasgow and Edinburgh
meet together at least monthly and locally more often.
IMC-SCOTLAND Principles of Unity
The Scotland Indymedia Center:
a) Agrees in spirit to the IMC Mission Statement and Principles of
Unity
b) has a committed membership substantial enough to sustain a
functional IMC.
c) 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.
d) has a local Mission Statement and a Statement of Purpose.
e) has established and published an editorial policy which is
developed and functions through democratic process, and with full
transparency.
f) 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 autonomy. IMC-SCOTLAND is also
currently investigating options like GNU licenses and Creative Common
licenses as a way to take open content publishing to the next level of
evolution,
g) has adopted a decision-making policy that is in alignment with
consensus principles which include open, transparent and egalitarian
processes and active participation in the work of running the IMC,
h) has a participant(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,
i) 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.
j) 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.
k) 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.
l) will display a _local version_ of the IMC logo on our website and
literature.
m) will include the IMC Network current Cities List on our site,
preferably on the front page.
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.
Members of the IMC-SCOTLAND network who participate in
maintaining the site will update the site.
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 at indymedia.org or imc at imcscotland.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 Great Britain, 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, particularly 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 forum for
presenting media, including text articles, audio and video
recordings, and photographs, to the public via the internet.
IMC-Scotland has the following maxim it would like to apply to
publishing: The article should be relevant, written for
IMC-SCOTLAND and not 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, given the guidelines detailed.
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 hides and may delete:
· Language or imagery which is racist, sexist, anti-semitic,
bullying, mobbing or homophobic, or in any other way
discriminatory and domineering.
· Commercial advertising.
· In-factual or misleading reports.
· Repeated posting of any text, image or audio clip.
. Party political propaganda.
. 'Spam' includes 'tofu', spam relating to activism that is
mass-posted.
. Postings by individuals who have a pattern of behavior that
leads to the above mentioned discouraged postings.
After stories have been published, they can be edited, linked or
even deleted by IMC-SCOTLAND. 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 real audio or quick-time file with a
higher quality (but slower to transfer) MP3 audio clip for radio
stations to re-broadcast; a video in real video or quick-time 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, or repetitive (spam). The decisions to
make newswires center-column features on the main page will also
take place through an IMC-SCOTLAND active consensus process.
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