[Imc-alternatives] [content] AltIMC.org editorial policy

[strypes]

Kia ora koutou

As I mentioned in my other email about getting the solutionswire
working, we need to draft an editorial policy for the site. I have
created a page for this on our wiki, and made a tentative start
(suggestions welcome):
http://www.openplans.org/projects/imc-alternatives/editorial-policy

Some other resources that might be useful in helping us write this
policy, and some of the issues it needs to address...

Here's is a basic editorial policy that has been distilled from the
various local IMC editorial policies, to guide new IMCs in writing theirs':
http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/BasicEditorialPolicy

...and a list of some local ed policies (disturbingly short, given that
every approved IMC is supposed to have one and publicly display it):
http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/EditorialPolicy

Because we are a topic IMC, rather than a local IMC, as well as laying
out our implementation of open-publishing, our ed policy will need to
include criteria for deciding which stories fit our topic, and which do
not. This will need to evolve over time, and I'd like to see an area of
the site (a wikipage, or forum topic?) dedicated to ongoing, open
discussion of the issues it raises.

To guide us in drafting our policy, I have started looking for policy
documents for existing topic IMCs. The BiotechIMC are listed in the 'imc
list' on the global site, so I presume they have been through the
new-IMC process. They only have a mission statement on their site:
http://biotech.indymedia.org/en/static/mission.shtml
But this seems to be their editorial policy from the docs wiki:
http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/BiotechEditorialPolicy

The only other topic IMC I am aware of is the ClimateIMC, which I
presume has not been approved by IMC Process. I tried to find the
editorial policy for the ClimateIMC but they don't seem to have any
reference to one on their site:
http://www.climateimc.org/

<off-topic> I believe human industrial and agricultural activity is
contributing to climate change, but I know a number of well meaning
activists for many good causes who disagree. The question is far from
settled among the broader alliance of radicals/ revolutionists/ liberals
that have traditionally co-operated in the Indymedia movement. An IMC
site on the topic of climate ought to facilitate respectful, productive
debate, and mutual education, not use the respect earned by the work of
Indymediatistas over they years to propagate a narrow, ideological position.

The ClimateIMC collective seem to have an explicit agenda on their
topic, and use their editorial powers to remove any content that
disagrees with their position. In my opinion, the ClimateIMC site as it
stands is not open-publishing by the Indymedia definition, and should
not be using the IMC names or logos.</off-topic>

The reason I mention this, is that we are going to be walking a even
finer line clerking the solutionswire. For example I can anticipate
people trying to use the wire for anarchist vs. marxist flamefests, or
revolutionist vs reformists flamefests. When we hide these, we must be
able to refer to an ed policy that objectively distinguishes between
ideological debates, and protest politics on the one hand, and practical
solutions on the other hand.

This could get tricky, take for example an article contrasting forms of
protest that are more open to public participation, and achieve
something practical (eg open rescues of factory farmed animals) with
forms of protest than are elitist and token (eg smashing car windows at
night in a working class area to protest "car culture"). The very
existence of our topic site that there are more practical forms of
resistance than protest. Yet, the more open, participation-orientated
protests could be defined as 'solutions' in the field of direct
democracy, or civic participation.

In summary, our policy needs to describe as precisely as possible how
AltIMC.org will pursue its goals, while operating in harmony with the
Indymedia founding values of pluralist co-operation among diverse
networks of activists for global justice.

RnB
Strypes

-- 
BTW Fight the 'Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement'!
http://indymedia.org.nz/newswire/display/76066/index.php

"Whether gods exist or not, there is no way to get absolute certainty
about ethics. Without absolute certainty, what do we do? We do the
best we can."
- Richard Stallman
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy

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