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DRAFT Editorial Guidelines

The Independent Media Centre (Indymedia/IMC) UK is an open-publishing platform for news, issues, actions and analysis reporting on grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial social justice, environmental and political issues. IMC UK is maintained by a network of media activists and groups. IMC stands for Independent media center, UK stands for United Kollektives.

IMC UK is dedicated to the open publishing ethos. This site explains how content on the site is generated and how you can contribute.

IMC UK volunteers are moderating the site and collaborate in the production of features. Contents on the newswire and calendar are generated by anyone who wants to contribute. The open posting guidelines below have been created to ensure the integrity of the site.

Occasionally we are forced to hide postings offending the open posting guidelines. Because of the 'real time' nature of the newswire, it is not possible to monitor its contents 24 hours a day.

Newswire Open Posting Guidelines

# Repeated : content that is reposted or text that was originally a comment posted as a report.

# Non-news : posts which are clearly purely comment, opinion or rants unrelated to a recent event or action etc.

# Discrimination : posts using language, imagery, or other forms of communication promoting racism, fascism, xenophobia, sexism or any other form of discrimination.

# Inaccurate : posts that are inaccurate or misleading.

# Advertising : posts with personal or product promotions.

# Hierarchy : The newswire is designed to generate a news resource, not a notice-board for political parties or any other hierarchically structured organization.

# Disruptive : Contributions by individuals who habitually publish above mentioned discouraged content.

Sections on IMC UK

1) Newswire (right-hand column) IMC UK adheres to the open publishing ethos. Everybody is free to post on the newswire or add comments to newswire articles. However, the IMC UK volunteers take the liberty to hide postings, which are offending the open posting guidelines. Hidden postings and comments are visible in the Editorial Admin page. You can click to read them. Moderators: please notify imc-uk-features if you're in doubt about a hiding.

2) Comments Everybody can add comments at the end of each article. Comments are subject to the open posting guidelines. They can be used to:

# State an opinion about any given posting. # Add information. # Correct inaccurate or malicious information. # Rectify misinformation.

Corrections and rectifications can be given prominent status by contacting the IMC UK features list with the qualified accurate information.

3) Calendar Please list all announcements and upcoming events on the Calendar. Just click the calendar link on the left hand column, on top of the newswire.

4) Features The features on the middle column of the IMC UK startpage reflect postings to the newswire. Features are highlighting specific issues to make them more accessible. They are put together by volunteers communicating on the imc-uk-features list.

Any individual can join the features list and propose a new feature for the middle column. A proposal can take the form of an idea or a completed feature. Completed features are usually between 50 and 80 words and include at least one link to the newswire, preferably also links to background information. If no one objects to the feature proposal within 24-hours, and if it is completed, it will be uploaded to the middle column. The 24-hour rule ensures that everybody can contribute to the middle column and allows time for collaborative improvements and considerations.

Legal disclaimer

IMC UK is an interactive site offering inclusive participation. All postings to the open publishing newswire are the responsibility of the individual authors and not of IMC UK. Although IMC UK volunteers attempt to ensure accuracy of the newswire, they take no responsibility legal or otherwise for 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.

uploaded on IMC UK: 17 Mar 2003

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Comments - changes - additions

-- replaced admin volunteers by moderators IonNec - 19 May 2003

-- added heading "sections". IonNec - 05 May 2003

added paragraph adressing admin volunteers to 1) Newswire --Main.IonNec - 10 Apr 2003

--twiki page created -- IonNec - 08 Apr 2003