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

[Jay]

Strypes,

At 10/14/2008, you wrote:
>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

Thanks for this thoughtful analysis.  I think you're really 
pinpointing the nuance of the decisions we're going to face when we 
decide what fits on the Solutionswire and what doesn't.  As you say, 
our particular editorial orientation will develop over time, and no 
matter how explicit our policies are up front we'll probably have to 
use our gut instincts for a while until we get the hang of things.

Certainly we should do our best to have the Solutionswire focus on 
information about practical, "proactive" (though that's an over-used 
word) projects that have been or will soon be implemented in the real 
world.  A visit to the Solutionswire should ideally be an empowering 
and inspiring experience.  We should also encourage alternative ideas 
and theories, and invite disucssion of those ideas, though maybe 
we'll find that we want to do that in a different place on the 
site.  Or at least if someone posts ideas on the Solutionswire we 
should consolidate discussion about those ideas to the comment area 
of the original post, rather than having the wire itself fill with a 
post/rebuttal/post/rebuttal cycle.

As for protest reports, in general I'd be inclined to say the 
Alternatives site is not a likely place for them, unless they have a 
very specific focus onalternatives.  An anti-war march itself may not 
be appropriate, but a march that promotes an alternative framework 
for global peacekeeping would be more interesting.  In the example 
above about the animal rescue, I'd suggest that a news item that's 
just about the rescue itself would be best posted elsewhere, but if 
that article is placed in the context of an alternative system of 
farming and agriculture that the rescuers are proposing, especially 
with examples of places that system is been implemented, it would be 
a great fit.

If we're going to call our wire the Solutionswire, we should 
encourage posts that contain not just a reaction to what is wrong in 
the world, but solutions for how to build something better.  That may 
mean we'll have less newswire posts than a traditional IMC newswire, 
but the type and quality of the information offer will be unique.

Those are just my instincts.  We'll have to see what comes in and 
develop a good sense of how to cope.
Jay







>--
>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
>
>http://www.creativecommons.org.nz
>http://www.indymedia.org.nz
>_______________________________________________
>Imc-alternatives mailing list
>Imc-alternatives at lists.indymedia.org
>http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-alternatives