[IMC-Process] Asheville IMC new-imc DEADLINE 26 May 2007 GMT 14:52

[nick]

proposed_imc_name: Asheville Independent Media Center
proposed_imc_url: asheville.indymedia.org
current_url: ashevilleimc.org
city: Asheville
state: North Carolina
country: United States
contact_name: Drew
contact_email: hand_sanitizer at hotmail.com
contact_phone: 214-683-8776
tech_name: Micah
tech_email: m0untainrebel at riseup.net

new imc liason: nick, sarsnic at gmail.com

the rest of the new-imc form:
http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/new-imc/2007-February/0218-w3.html

(Mission Statement, Editorial Guidelines, Membership
Criteria Response, Diversity Statement):

Mission Statement
Asheville Independent Media Center (AIMC) is a non-hierarchical
autonomous collective that operates as part of an international
network of IMCs. It is our mission to increase community access to
vehicles of expression. We exist as an alternative to commercial press
and seek to give exposure to groups and issues typically overlooked by
mainstream media. For a more equitable and just society, all voices
must be heard.
--
Editorial Guidelines
Asheville Indymedia's Editorial Guidelines
Asheville Indymedia is built on the foundation of an open and
democratic newswire. We want to see and hear real stories, news, and
opinions from users of the site around the Asheville area. Anybody can
post a story or a comment on a story to Indymedia. While we struggle
to maintain the newswire as a completely open forum we do monitor it
and remove posts.

Editorial Aims and Objectives
General - To provide an open publishing newswire in accordance with
general and specific Indymedia policies and philosophy. Access - To
keep the Asheville Indymedia web site as a space that welcomes and
encourages members of disempowered, and marginalized groups Media
outlet - To provide and facilitate the consumption and dissemination
of radical news media and critical art from a radical perspective and
to provide documentation of activism in the region Speech - We
acknowledge that words have the power to act as a critical response
and catalyst for necessary change Credibility - To preserve the
quality of the web site as a useful, credible, and participatory media
resource

Features
Features are the articles in the center column of the website. The
Asheville Indymedia editorial working group reads everything that gets
posted to the newswire and decides which articles are pertinent enough
to become features.

Asheville IMC hosts an open publishing newswire. Anyone can publish. We
particularly encourage grassroots activists, community groups and
individuals to publish their media releases on these newswires.

Newswire
The open publshing column on the right hand of the site is referred to as
the newswire. Anyone may submit articles to the newswire. The newswire is
for:
Reporting, commentary, interviews, announcements, and reviews that
support and encourage activism. Stories not covered elsewhere:
ideas/views that can't be heard elsewhere due to the limitations of
corporate media. Text, photos, and audio. Posts written in a way that
are open and accessible to a wide range of people, for example,
avoiding jargon, technical and specialist vocabulary.

Hidden Posts
The Asheville IMC tries to avoid removing articles from the main page
(thus hiding them). We reserve the right to hide posts on the
Newswire, Other press, or comments sections, particularly if posts
contravene any of the following guidelines:

Advertising: Posts with personal or product promotions
Degrading and/or hateful: posts using language, imagery, or other forms of
communication promoting racism, fascism, xenophobia, sexism or any
other form of harmful discrimination
Inaccurate: Posts that are inaccurate or misleading
Establishment: The newswire is not a notice board or promotional outlet for
political parties or other established mainstream organizations.
Personal attacks: Comments on the Editorial Policy (contact the mailing list
instead.)

Hide Requests
Anyone can rate comments and newswire articles, either to try and have
them hidden from view, or to try and prevent them from being hidden.
Users of the site may also e-mail the Asheville IMC Editorial mailing
list to request that posts be hidden or unhidden. People with admin.
accounts are able to hide posts.

Notifiable Removals
Posts the author has requested be hidden.
Posts an effected family or close community wishes removed.
Blatant political advertising--in accordance with indymedia protocol
Posts that are obviously incorrect or misleading. This includes attempts to
spread disinformation or to impersonate another individual. It is an abuse
of the publish feature to deliberately misinform others.
Posts that incite or are threats of violence against disempowered
members of the community.
Threats to maim or kill.
Posts which publish identifying information without the individuals
knowledge or consent.
Posts which use language, imagery, or other forms of communication to
promote racism, fascism, xenophobia, homophobia, sexism etc., or any
other form of discrimination.
Persistent nuisance posts to the newswire or comments sections.
Posts that are deemed to be devoid of content or analysis and appear to be
published with the sole purpose of disruption or intimidation.
Obvious pornography, but not sexually explicit satire.
Note: The editorial collective may choose to hide (or in extreme cases-
delete) posts which publish personal identifying information without others
consent. Please let us know if you think this has happened. Contact
AshevilleIMC_Editorial at lists.mountainrebel.net

Non-Notifiable Removals
Unreadable formats (photos posted as text or text only posts without
relevance)
Duplicate/Repetitive/Spam/Noise posts
Advertising of products or for-profit services
Notification or cancellation of events. Please use the action calendar.
We also move items to appropriate wires for easier clarity.( A global story
may be transferred to the international wire, or a regional item to the
regional wire).

You don't agree with a decision?
Make a comment in the appropriate wire, for further information e-mail us.
AshevilleIMC_Editorial at lists.mountainrebel.net

We strive to make decisions in the most open, transparent and accountable
manner possible. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this
editorial policy or our practices, or better still would like to work with
the Asheville IMC, please contact the Asheville IMC mailing list.

Copyright of Features and Articles

All posts made to the newswire are effectively covered by the principles of
Copy left. Features can be used anywhere by anyone for free.

What is Copy left?
Basically the author retains the moral right to be recognized as the author
of the article in question, but the article is free for distribution
for nonprofit and educative purposes. Articles may be reproduced in
full for any purpose and in any media provided the reproduction is
subject to the same principles as laid out here, that is, the same
representations of the Copy left of the article must appear alongside
the article

Under no circumstances may articles or features from the Asheville IMC be
reproduced in full in a fee paying or for-profit medium.

Reposting Media From Elsewhere

The majority of reposted news stories are mostly copyright protected. Be
aware of copyright infringement and plagiarism issues when massive cutting
and posting of regurgitated corporate media to the newswires. (citing)

Please only use reposted stories to quote from or to exemplify your own
articles or to alert others of significant events not covered widely in
mainstream pop culture speed news media.

We generally discourage outright corporate repostings. We prefer an
intro as to why its necessary to regurgitate the mainstream. We want
Asheville
Indymedia contributors to think and create media for their own
community - and for the global indymedia network.

We also don't want any letters from copyright lawyers.

Don't regurgitate the media, recreate it.

Radical Disclaimer

This IMC is an interactive media web site offering open and inclusive
community participation via open publishing.

As such, all postings to the open publishing newswires are deemed the
responsibility of the individual authors and not of and individual member of
the editorial collective or the general Asheville IMC community, in any way
whatsoever.

As a rule, Indymedia web sites does not keep IP addresses - unless under
attack. In other words, we have no idea who posts to this site, so don't
blame us for what's posted.

Although, as IMC volunteers, we will attempt to ensure accuracy and clarity
of the newswire, we take no responsibility whatsoever in any way - legal or
otherwise for any of the contents of the open publishing site.

Mention of external web sites or services is for information purposes only
and constitutes neither an endorsement nor a recommendation by the
individuals of the collective.

You are the media.
Thanks for contributing. We are all in this together.
--
Membership Criteria
The Asheville Indymedia is committed in spirit and practice to the
core values delineated in the NIMC's mission statement and principles
of unity. The AIMC aims to further facilitate the use of media, in its
many forms, as a means of promoting social, economic and environmental
justice and equality, and also to host a decentralized and equitable
forum for any and all voices to be heard.

The level of commitment demonstrated by our members will make the
manifestation of these core values possible. Through a balanced and
non-gender/ethnic/race specific system of task sharing, we are able to
produce a functional IMC and give this network a solid foundation upon
which to thrive.

The AIMC is wholly open to new contributors and members, and actively
seeks to further expand and diversify the group. By promoting the AIMC
in the greater Asheville area through existing media sources, word of
mouth and public events, we hope to illustrate the spirit of open
contribution and make the Asheville Indymedia readily accessible to
all members of the community. Our meeting times and places are highly
visible and are a matter of public record.

As a group, we have developed, drafted and posted both an
Asheville-specific mission statement and an editorial policy which
flesh out the goals, values and processes of the Asheville Indymedia.
Our editorial policy is rooted in a theme of egalitarianism, and
agrees to the use of open publishing as we best interpreted the
concept. The editorial hand of the AIMC will not strike out in
accordance with any personal moral policy or political persuasion.
However, in keeping with our desire to give voice and body to the
oppressed and underrepresented, those submissions which are based only
in hatred and oppression will not be maintained on the site.

In all aspects of the Asheville Indymedia, decisions are made along
the lines of open, transparent and balanced consensus principles. We
have also selected an individual spokesperson to serve as the AIMC
participant in the global Indymedia decision-making circuit. Further
participation in the greater IMC network has also been addressed, and
our members will possess an understanding of pertinent IMC
communication methods. At least one person from the Asheville
Indymedia will be active on the IMC communication list. To further
foster these links between communities on a global stage, the IMC
network cities list will be featured prominently on the main page of
our local website. Finally, the Asheville Indymedia exists free of all
commercial and for-profit enterprises, as we fully understand that to
become entangled in such ventures would hugely compromise the
independent spirit of media that we want to cultivate.
--
Diversity statement:
How does the makeup of your collective reflect the diversity of the local
community (e.g. in relation to gender-, sexual-, spiritual-, and/or cultural
identity)?

Our IMC collective represents mostly white, single, spiritual, non-religious
people of diverse sexual orientations from various sub-cultural backgrounds.
See answer to next question.

If your group currently does not represent the diversity of the local
community, particularly in relation to groups who are underrepresented
in mainstream society and denied access to vehicles of expression,
what steps will be taken to address this on an ongoing basis?

We have formed an outreach working group whose mission is to increase
the diversity of the Asheville IMC and reach out to potential new
members. The outreach working group has plans to distribute
informational printed materials (leaflet/zine/AIMC user manual), make
presentations to other groups around town, invite members from other
groups to guest speak at AIMC meetings, table at benefits/functions.
We plan to offer multi-language
support in the future.

What steps will be taken to involve individuals in workfields new to them?
What measures will be taken to overcome a gendered a work division?

To overcome a gendered work division and involve individuals in
workfields new to them, we will promote skill sharing and small group
meetings. We will encourage each other to try new things. After a
period of time in one position, members will be encouraged to serve
the group in another capacity. We will monitor for gender division
issues and collectively address any issues that arise.


-- 
peace,
Nick
freerads.com
nickcooper.com
houston.indymedia.org
somadocumentary.com
nickcooper.com/antipowerworkshop.htm