[New-imc] IMC Bulgaria - process

[Val]

I believe we've done everything we were supposed to do according to the 
IMC documents:
We translated the basic Editorial Policy, Mission Statement, Principles 
of Unity and Membership Criteria, discussed them in length, looked at 
other centers' documents, wrote our own Editorial Policy and Mission 
Statement, went through many iterations, learned to work with each 
other, installed and hacked dadaIMC to make it work for us (bi-lingual), 
worked together on the banner for the website (now we have a dozen 
rotating ones), published a tone of materials (our own texts, 
translations, photo galleries, videos), invited other people to beta 
test it, etc.
I guess the only thing left is your input and eventually the approval 
process :-)

Regards,
Val


blicero wrote:

>they seem to be almost ready to go through the new-imc approval process.
>
>can people give some first feedback on the documents ?
>
>let us know :)
>
>----- Forwarded message from Val <val at truefire.com> -----
>
>OK, here are our final versions of Editorial Policy, Mission Statement 
>and Principles of Unity:
>
>http://imc.radr.net/mod/info/display/mission/index.php
>http://imc.radr.net/mod/info/display/policy/index.php
>http://imc.radr.net/mod/info/display/unity/index.php
>
>And while there, you can check out how well our site turns out to be :-)
>
>Val
>
Depending on your browser settings you may need to change the language 
in order to see the documents in English. You can do that from the 
second drop down box under the logo.

Anyway, I attach the documents here too.
=============================
Mission Statement

Indymedia is an alternative source of information which is neither 
controlled by any corporation or government, nor is a mouthpiece of any 
party or organization. Indymedia started in 1999, in order to cover 
protests against the World Trade Organization which came to be known as 
"the battle of Seattle". Now the Independent Media Center Network (IMCN) 
comprises more than 150 Independent Media Centers.

Indymedia is committed to the principles of equality, decentralization 
and autonomy and does not allow discrimination based upon race, gender, 
age, class, religion or sexual orientation. It is not derived from a 
centralized bureaucratic process of hierarchical or authoritarian 
structures, but rather it's based on self organization of autonomous 
collectives which consider open exchange of and open access to 
information a prerequisite to the building of a more free and just 
society. Indymedia strives to remove the wall between consumers and 
producers of information.

We accept the principle of global thinking and local action. Our 
long-term constant goal is connecting and belonging to the global 
progressive processes and local resistance against the political, 
economical and cultural pressure of corporate globalization and imperial 
militarism. We cover the local progressive processes, actions and 
movements with their specifics and characteristics in the context of the 
global struggle for social change and justice. Our direct goal is a 
two-way exchange of alternative issue information, news and coordination 
of events - distributing international independent news and issue 
articles locally, as well producing local coverage and translating it to 
make it globally accessible.

At this point, the neoliberal mantra of T.I.N.A. (There Is No 
Alternative) to the destructive processes of corporate globalization is 
virtually not challenged and overwhelmingly dominating the Bulgarian 
media and society, which was systematically ruined by the neoliberal 
"assistance" of local and foreign "experts". The mainstream media 
enforces the stereotype of the powerless “ordinary” person who has no 
right to participate directly neither in the media production, nor in 
the control of the political power.

We would like to change this and we believe we are not alone.

============================

Editorial Policy

Indymedia is an Internet news service where political parties and other 
hierarchically structured organisations will not be able to pursue their 
interests. We will strive to maintain the service as an open forum, but 
will, nevertheless, monitor the content of posts and remove them if 
necessary.

1. IMC Bulgaria will take the role of editorial staff;
2. Posts on IMC Bulgaria are to be hidden if they are:
* Discriminatory: posts that aim to abuse through text, image or other 
forms of communication by advocating racism, fascism, chauvinism, 
xenophobia, sexism and other discriminatory ideas;
* Insulting: posts must satisfy basic standards of decency;
* Advertisements: posts that promote commercial products;
* Fabrication: posts found to contain false information;
* Pornographic: images or links to web sites with pornographic content;
* Technically corrupt: if the message is posted twice, not complete or 
defective because of bad connections, et al.
* Unrelated: materials that have nothing to do with the thematic 
orientation of the site, such as sport news, religious agenda, personal 
information, et al.
* Political/electoral propaganda: direct political indoctrination and 
pursuing voters;
* Politically and morally unacceptable: articles from the controlled 
media and other materials that directly serve the power structures – 
political and corporate – and reactionary forces;
3. Everyone is permitted to comment messages posted to IMC Bulgaria and 
to voice their opinion concerning news and comments posted by other 
visitors.
4. The posts will be of a non-profit character, with exceptions
accompanied with acceptable arguments
5. IMC Bulgaria mostly encourages posts:
* That are timely, based on facts and are of interest to the global 
and/or local public;
* That expose injustice;
* That pertain to or are sent by marginalized social groups;
* That pertain to activities aimed to improve the economic and social 
rights of people.

Our editorial policy is conceived to welcome and broaden the population 
of activists struggling against the powers that be. With the noted 
exceptions, activists are free to post any piece of information they 
feel is of value to IMC Bulgaria viewers.

=======================

Principles of Unity

1. 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 of developing a union of networks.

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

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

4. 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.

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

6. All IMC's recognize the importance of process of 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.

[7. 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.]

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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.