ImcScotlandPrinciples

The basic philosophy of ImcScotland is expressed in its Mission Statement and the Editorial Guidelines.

Very important for us are:

• Consensus Decision Making.

About Us

The Scotland Independent Media Centre (IMC-SCOTLAND) is an non-corporate, anti-authoritarian network of independent media makers, media activists, and media outlets, and is the local organizing unit of the global Indymedia network. Indymedia was founded in direct action reporting and the Global Days of Action, and it in this path we walk in.

IMC-SCOTLAND is an area IMC network as opposed to a topical, available to the many groupings of independent media activists in Scotland. This is a network that maximizes autonomy by having all decisions being made from the bottom up.

Other IMC-SCOTLAND groups may and hopefully do form in other parts of Scotland. These groups should abide by the IMC- SCOTLAND editorial\newswire policy and Principles of Unity\Mission Statement. When they do, they are an official IMC-SCOTLAND group. They are subscribed to the imc-scotland-discussion at lists.indymedia.org listserv to which all meeting minutes and proposals are sent and we meet with all other groups, when they form, at least face-to-face biannually to discuss IMC- SCOTLAND.

Decisions are made by active consensus. This means that consensus is reached by IMC-SCOTLAND about issues effecting the IMC, and that this consensus implies both active participation in the consensus process and in getting the work done.

Region groups in Scotland all have the ability to autonomously communicate using face-to-face meetings and listservs, to help create front-page IMC features and regulate IMC-SCOTLAND with respect to our newswire and editorial policy. If there is any conflict between members of IMC-SCOTLAND, it will be solved through meetings, discussion, and possibly mediation. Currently IMC-SCOTLAND groups in Glasgow and Edinburgh meet together at least monthly and locally more often.

We believe our own IMC would strengthen IMC-SCOTLAND's active participation globally, in the UK network, and locally.

The Scotland Indymedia Center:

a) Agrees in spirit to the IMC Mission Statement and Principles of Unity

b) has a committed membership substantial enough to sustain a functional IMC

c) has open and public meetings (no one group can have exclusionary "ownership" of IMC-SCOTLAND).

d) has a local Mission Statement and a Statement of Purpose.

e) has established and published an editorial policy which is developed and functions through democratic process, and with full transparency.

f) agrees to the use of open publishing as described in the IMC Editorial Policy, with the understanding that clarification of the terms and practice of open publishing is constantly evolving and is subject locally to the approval of IMC-SCOTLAND. If there is a conflict between IMC-SCOTLAND and any global decision-making process, IMC-SCOTLAND will exercise full autonomy.

g) has adopted a decision-making policy that is in alignment with consensus principles which include open, transparent and egalitarian processes and active participation in the work of running the IMC.

h) has a participant(s) willing and capable of participating in the global decision-making process and meetings as a rotating liaison/ representative, with a clear understanding of the responsibilities that come with this role.

i) will participate in the key IMC Network Communication Methods that pertain to the health and vitality of the Network and that contribute to the work of the IMC. At least one person from the Scotland IMC will participate at any given time on the IMC-Communications list.

j) has no affiliation with any political party, state or candidate for office, although individuals have freedom to do whatever they like and local IMCs may "feature" stories influenced by various political parties and initiatives.

k) does in no way engage in commercial for-profit enterprises and is committed to the decommercialization and decolonization of information and so will disassociate from any other IMC that decides to become a for-profit media corporation.

l) will display a local version of the IMC logo on our website and literature.

m) will include the IMC Network current Cities List on our site, preferably on the front page.

Mission Statement

The Scotland Independent Media Centre is a network of activists that are committed to using media and journalism as a tool for social change. As a network, we will make decisions through a consensus process and do our best at representing the diversity of our local communities.

Though currently based in Edinburgh and Glasgow, the IMC-SCOTLAND will attempt to cover issues anywhere in Scotland that are not being given adequate coverage by any other media. The Scotland Independent Media Centre will also work to network with existing independent media and publications that are committed to social, ecological, and economic change throughout Scotland, the British Isles, and beyond.

The IMC-SCOTLAND will continually oppose hierarchy within its structure. The Scotland Independent Media Centre advocates and promotes media democracy through video showings, skill-share workshops and teach-ins, which are to be open for the benefit of all. Along with web publishing, we will also hopefully produce print resources and videos to spread media democracy amongst those who may not have access to on-line resources.

As a collective, our attitude is assertive, and where necessary confrontational, and we will defend and keep free the space we are helping create.

Mainstream corporate media exist to propagate the power of capitalism, attempting to hide their corporate interests underneath the banner of objectivity and impartiality. IMC-Scotland is proudly a network of subjective voices reporting the reality of our own lives, and our passionate desire for a world large enough to hear all of our voices.

We believe that Scotland is only as large as our collective imagination, and that since we are a regional rather than topical media center, we will include other parts of Scotland by allowing them to have as much autonomy as they wish, including full access to all features of the site and moving main IMC-SCOTLAND meetings from city to city so one group does not centralize undue influence on IMC-SCOTLAND.

EDITORIAL POLICY

IMC-SCOTLAND Editorial Guidelines

Members of the IMC-SCOTLAND network who participate in maintaining the site will update the site.

Suggestions for helping the editorial process run smoothly:

An editorial request should be made at the meeting of the working group or through the imc-scotland-discussion listserv, by rating articles highly as a user or with site admin interface to which those who help run site have access. Always feel free to contact the IMC-SCOTLAND network. A consensus process will approve or reject the request. Make requests as specific as possible, i.e. include all wording, url's, etc. Having a specific, well-formed request will allow the website to be updated more quickly.

One can post it to the newswire or imc-scotland-discussion listserv first, then make the request. Write a short introductory paragraph summarizing the content of the posting. The introductory paragraph will appear on the front page with a link to the actual posting.

IMC-SCOTLAND Newswire policy

The Scotland Independent Media Centre is a grassroots collective committed to using media production and distribution as tools for promoting social and economic justice. Through this work, we seek to promote diversity and unity in the progressive community throughout Scotland and the rest of the British Isles, further the self-determination of people under-represented in the media, and to illuminate and analyze local and global issues that impact ecosystems, communities and individuals. We are dedicated to generating alternatives to the corporate media and to identifying and creating positive models for a sustainable and equitable society, particularly in Scotland since it is our local community.

In accordance with the Scotland IMC's overall mission, the online newswire is designed to empower individuals to become independent journalists by providing a direct forum for presenting media, including text articles, audio and video recordings, and photographs, to the public via the internet.

IMC-Scotland has the following maxim it would like to apply to publishing:

The article should be relevant, written for IMC-SCOTLAND and not spam.

The Indymedia Scotland website operates on a system of 'open publishing' i.e. anyone can upload a written report, image or audio clip directly to the site through an openly accessible web interface, given the guidelines detailed.

Indymedia Scotland encourages:

- Grassroots coverage of important social and political issues, especially those ignored my mainstream media.

- A focus on events and issues relevant to people living in Scotland.

- Announcements of any forthcoming actions or campaigns (in the Calendar section).

- Comments added to any news report on the site.

- Participation in Indymedia Scotland is encouraged!

Also, please remember Indymedia Scotland hides and may delete:

- Language or imagery which is racist, sexist, anti-semitic, bullying, mobbing or homophobic, or in any other way discriminatory and domineering.

- Commercial advertising.

- In-factual or misleading reports.

- Repeated posting of any text, image or audio clip.

- Party political propaganda.

- 'Spam' includes 'tofu', spam relating to activism that is mass-posted.

- Postings by individuals who have a pattern of behavior that leads to the above mentioned discouraged postings.

After stories have been published, they can be edited, linked or even deleted by IMC-SCOTLAND. We like to link related stories, so that they appear grouped together on the summary pages. For instance, this can be used to display together:

Sound bites from the same event; a picture with text about the same thing; a lower quality real audio or quick-time file with a higher quality (but slower to transfer) audio clip for radio stations to re-broadcast; a video in real video or quick-time with a freeze frame picture; a group of stories about the same issues;

The newswire is an open-publishing resource, as detailed by above. The newswire is not intended for promotion of commercial enterprises, advertisements, religious diatribes, or as forum for sociopaths to abuse the community. To serve this end, the network is empowered to delete posts that are sexist, racist, homophobic, pornographic, fascist, or repetitive (spam). The decisions to make newswires middle-column features on the main page will also take place through an IMC-SCOTLAND active consensus process.

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-- AnarchoBabe - 30 Aug 2003 -- AnarchoBabe - 05 May 2008