lv-imc : process / Editorial Policy
LVIMC Editorial Policy
Contents:
- Mission Statement
- Open Publishing Newswire
- What to Post
- Center Column / Feature Articles
- Hidden Articles
- Deleting / Editing
- Editorial Collective / LVIMC Editorial Process
- Copyright of Features and Articles
1. Mission Statement
Indymedia is a grassroots network committed to using media production and distribution as tools for promoting social and economic justice. It is dedicated to addressing issues that profit-driven media often neglect and hopes to empower people to "become the media" by providing democratic access to available technologies and information.
The first Independent Media Center (IMC) was created in Nov. 1999 to cover the WTO protests in Seattle. IMC sites exist in over forty countries spanning six continents, which link the entire globe with local grassroots coverage of critical issues overlooked by the mainstream corporate media.
The Editorial Collective is the group of people that have taken on the task of editing the site. Indymedia is a peoples organization and therefore any editing is done only with the goal of providing the best possible service to our community.
Individuals who are members of the Editorial Collective will only uphold the policy agreed upon and all decisions will be open to review at any time by the community.
LVIMC Editorial Collective remains committed to working under the LVIMC Mission Statement and Principles of Unity which can be found here.
2. Open Publishing Newswire
The Open Publishing Newswire, which refers to the right-hand column of the website, works on the principle of open publishing, an essential element of the Indymedia project that allows anyone to instantaneously self-publish their work on a globally accessible web site.
The Indymedia Open Publishing Newswire encourages people to become the media by posting their articles, analysis, videos, audio clips, and artwork directly to the web site. You can publish to the Open Publishing Newswire by clicking the "publish" link on LVIMC and filling out a simple form. Indymedia relies on the people who post to the Indymedia Open Publishing Newswire to present their information in a thorough, honest, accurate manner.
Anyone can post to the LVIMC's Open Publishing Newswire. News articles and media that are uploaded using the publish form will appear a few minutes later on the right-hand Open Publishing Newswire on the front page. In the case of heavy site traffic or large media uploads, the time may be longer.
Articles posted to the site go straight to the Open Publishing Newswire and are not passed through an editorial board or approval process. Once articles and media are on the site, they may be hidden according to the Editorial Policy. The content of posts is never edited, though sometimes formatting is corrected (for example, someone forgot to check html checkbox, or made html errors, etc.).
Please contact lvimc_edit@yahoo.com to call attention to Open Publishing Newswire articles that should/could be featured in the Center Column or to comment about the editorial policy.
3. What to Post
In accordance with the LVIMC's overall mission, the on-line Open Publishing Newswire is designed to empower individuals to become independent and civic journalists by providing a direct, unmoderated forum for presenting media, including text articles, audio and video
recordings, and photographs to the public via the internet. Within that general framework, we specifically encourage individuals to publish:
- Researched, timely articles;
- Eyewitness accounts of progressive actions and demonstrations;
- Coverage of Las Vegas / Southwest regional issues;
- Media analysis;
- Investigative reports exposing injustice;
- Media on events affecting under-represented groups;
- Media produced from within under-represented groups;
- Media on people or projects working towards social and economic justice;
- Original, under-reported media of local, regional, national, or global importance.
4. Center Column / Feature Articles
The Center Column is the place for Feature Articles. Center Column features are determined by the Editorial Collective. These can be either articles promoted from the Open Publishing Newswire or articles written by an Editorial Collective volunteer specifically for LVIMC.
In addition, anyone can submit an article specifically written for the Center Column. To do this, publish the full, written article in the Open Publishing Newswire (the right column) and put the word "center" in brackets, either at the beginning or end of the title. If you need to post to the Center Column immediately, send e-mail to lvimc_edit@yahoo.com.
In selecting postings to feature in the Center Column, the LVIMC's Editorial Collective looks primarily for articles that:
- Are original and are not simply reprints from mainstream/corporate sources;
- Have timely relevance for Las Vegas readers along with local details and connections where possible;
- Put events, such as protests, in context instead of simply providing a blow-by-blow account--remember to cover who, what, when, where, why and how;
- Use factual information from reliable sources;
- Are news-reports, that is, reports on events which are taking place or will take place, rather than commentary;
- Distribute information;
- Are reasonably well written.
These guidelines help us to maintain a site with both integrity and openness. They are only guidelines.
Articles promoted from the Open Publishing Newswire can be promoted with either no changes, with corrections to spelling and grammar, or with added links
and content (with the exclusive purpose of adding context for a worldwide audience).
We expect all contributions to the LVIMC Open Publishing Newswire to meet one or more of the following guidelines, and will assess possible features according to them:
- Timely media on local issues, or media that has a local relevance;
- Stories with picture, video or audio;
- Well researched pieces;
- Upcoming events;
- Stories not yet reported in other media;
- Media offering opportunities for immediate response/action.
5. Hidden Articles
The LVIMC Editorial Collective, in order to maintain the integrity of the Open Publishing Newswire and the media commons it creates for our community of participants, may "hide" posts to the Open Publishing Newswire when the content is in conflict with the guidelines that have
been put in place (see below).
The reason why an article was "hidden" will be stated on the LVIMC General Group E-Mail List, Editorial Collective E-Mail List, as well as in a comment on the hidden article itself.
Hidden posts can be challenged through the LVIMC General Group E-Mail List
where it will be discussed, re-evaluated by the Editorial Collective, and then consensed upon. The Editorial Collective will respond to the request in a timely manner.
To maintain transparency in the LVIMC's editorial processes, all "hidden" articles can be viewed by clicking on View Hidden Posts on the front page.
LVIMC Editorial Collective volunteers reserve the right to hide posts that:
- Advocate criminal activity indicating a specific time, place and/or manner;
- Are duplicate posts (the most recent remaining on the Open Publishing Newswire);
- Interfere with the technical functionality of the website;
- Are empty posts (no content or gibberish);
- Are advertisements of for-profit products or services;
- Promote racism, homophobia, sexism, or other discrimination;
- Are obviously incorrect or misleading, including attempts to spread dis-information;
- Contain threats and/or intimidation;
- Flooding and spamming;
- Posts the author has requested hidden;
- Attempts to impersonate another individual;
- Posts that incite violence against members of the community;
- Posts which publish identifying information without the identified
individual's knowledge or consent;
- Posts which use language, imagery, or other forms of communication whose sole purpose is to promote racism, fascism, xenophobia, homophobia, sexism, ableism, ageism, or any other form of discrimination;
- Persistent nuisance posts to the Open Publishing Newswire or comments sections (Spamming);
- Posts that are deemed to be devoid of content or analysis and appear to be published with the sole purpose of disruption;
- Posts that are simply internal or personal matters which lead to further conflict;
- Verbatim posts of corporate mainstream media without added content;
- Unreadable formats (i.e. photos posteed as text);
- Posts titled "test"
6. Deleting / Editing
Under no circumstance should any individual modify, edit, or delete posts due to content. Deletions will only occur after a consensus of the Editorial Collective and will be very rare.
7. The Editorial Collective / LVIMC Editorial Process
The Editorial Collective is a group of volunteers responsible for overseeing the content of the LVIMC Website. Members of the Editorial Collective regularly monitor the Open Publishing Newswire, keeping their eyes open for particularly significant, well-written, informative contributions to add to the front pages's Center Column. It is also the responsibility of the Editorial Collective to remove any Open Publishing Newswire post that violates the basic principles described above.
Members of the Editorial Collective must be in regular contact via e-mail, and regularly visit and peruse the website's Open Publishing Newswire. Without communication with others, and keeping one's self up
to date on current articles, fair editing may be difficult at best.
The LVIMC Editorial Collective will communicate over an e-mail list.
Only Editorial Collective members are able to edit the site and only according to the Editorial Policy. This group is empowered to create and modify the editorial policy for LVIMC.
Anyone who is found by the community to be abusing this policy can have their rights to participate in this aspect of maintaining LVIMC removed until a later time when their intent can be re-evaluated by the LVIMC
community.
We strive to make decisions in the most democratic, transparent and accountable manner. If you have any questions or concerns regarding our policy or our practice, or would like to volunteer with LVIMC, please
contact us at lvimc_edit@yahoo.com
8. Copyright of Features and Articles
All posts made to the Open Publishing Newswire are effectively covered by the principles of Copyleft.
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 non-profit and educative purposes. Articles may be reproduced in full for any purpose and in any media provided the reproduction is under the same principles as laid out here, that is, the same representations of the Copyleft of the article must appear alongside the article.
Under no circumstances may articles or features from the LVIMC site be reproduced in full in a fee-paying or for-profit medium. However, for-profit media may quote from articles or features in accordance with "fair use" copyright principles.
Specific queries about reproduction of an article or feature can be referred to the Editorial Collective at lvimc_edit@yahoo.com
Password Policy:
In order for an individual to get a password for the administrative section of the website, one must do the following:
1) Attend two general LVIMC meetings
2) Request password for SF-active Administration section at third
general meeting. Group must come to CONSENSUS on one's administrative
status.
3) Attend training with member of tech collective.
4) If members feel a password-holder should not have access anymore, a
proposal should be made at the general meeting that that person should
lose their administrative access and the group (minus the person in
question) must come to consensus on this change.
5) If a former password-holder wants their access back, they can request
this at the next general meeting they attend. Group must come to
consensus on this as well.
Last updated Thu, 14 Apr 2005 17:37:47 -0400
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