[IMC-US] re-proposal

[deva]

I liked the idea of the featurewire being the center column because 
then you had the summary, photo(s) if any, instead of just the title. 
How can that still be incorporated? (Can the featurewire just be the 
center column with compilation features added as the editorial group 
creates them?)

If the site goes with the idea of a separate center column and 
featurewire, I think the idea of emphasis on promoting features from 
the featurewire reasonably addresses those concerns regarding the 
center column being too much the voice of just an editorial group.

I would and do still have a couple suggestions:

One, I think it would be a valuable working principle that "If it is 
good enough for a local imc, it is good enough for the US imc"

What I mean by this is that the only criteria for why a local imc 
feature should not be promoted to the center column is because it is 
local in nature and not of particular concern to people across the 
country. The topic and views expressed should not be a valid reason to 
exclude it from consideration.

For an example, around a couple years ago, Hamilton IMC posted a 
comprehensive feature composed of 6 months worth of observed data 
compiled by people in the Hamilton IMC on the subject of Chemtrails. 
Ignore for the moment that it was from a Canadian IMC. This would be a 
national story because people all over the country are interested. It 
is not a local subject. So if this story were to cross the featurewire, 
it would be appropriate to feature it. Now some people do not like this 
subject, think it is stupid etc. Personally I am not into it myself, 
but I believe it is important to not put personal interests above the 
fact that there are literally millions of people around the country who 
are interested in the subject. So if it is good enough for a local imc, 
it should be good enough for the US imc.

Second suggestion is that the US editorial group should respect the 
purpose and intent of a local imc feature when promoting it to the 
center column. Any editing, additions, links, further info should 
reflects its intent and should not subtly alter or undermine its 
meaning.

Both of these suggestions aim to reflect the broad spectrum of 
interests among the many local imc's and to ensure a more diverse 
center column.


Also, editorial policy for the newswire needs to be discussed and 
decided upon.

deva




On Jul 28, 2004, at 5:37 PM, max wrote:

> it's kind of ugly and it's not organized that well.
> but I incorporated the suggestions so far, and it includes an open
> publishing newswire.
>
> max
>
> ---
>
>
> "featurewire" policy:
> 	-fully automated, syndicated wire of all features from US IMCs
>
> center column policy:
> -the center column is the place to feature:
> 	1) articles promoted from the featurewire
> 		-these articles will be either:
> 		a) bumped to the center column with no changes from the feature wire
> 		b) bumped to the center column with spelling and grammar corrections 
> if
> needed
> 		c) bumped to the center column with added links and content with the
> exclusive
> 			purpose of adding context for a US-wide audience
> 	2) articles written by an editorial team specifically for US-IMC
> 		a) these articles will be written collaboratively over an email 
> list, in a
> very similar
> 		fashion to global
>
> criteria for center column:
> 	1) center column features should be articles produced by local IMCs 
> with
> content relevant to
> 		the US-IMC readers
> 	2) center column features should be original features compiled by the
> US-IMC editorial team
> 	3) there will be an emphasis on featuring articles produced by local 
> IMCs
> rather than by the
> 		US editorial group
> 	4) respect "standard" imc op guidelines
> 	5) be of interest to the entire us
> 	6) should not be reposts of articles published elsewhere
>  	7) should be drawn primarily from independent media sources rather
>    		than the mainstream press, and should be written (in html) with
>    		links to these sources
> 	8) should be primarily news-reports, that is, reports on events which 
> are
>    		taking place or will take place, rather than commentary.  
> indymedia
>    		is a mechanism for the distribution of information, not a 
> political
> soapbox.
>
>
> process:
> 	1) there will be a US-IMC editorial group that will communicate over 
> an
> email list.
> 	2) this group will work out a more detailed policy regarding the 
> promotion
> of features to the
> 		center column from the featurewire as needed (see above section 
> "criteria
> for center 		column").
> 	3) all feature articles (promoted articles from the featurewire and
> original content) will follow a 		similar process to global
> 		(proposal --> 6hrs without blocking --> publish - this can be 
> articulated
> in greater detail
> 		if people want)
> 	4) the email list and the internal message boards in Mir will be used 
> for
> inter-group
> 		communication
> 	5) the editorial group is open to anyone who is already working on a 
> local
> IMC in the US
>
> open newswire:
> 	1) there will be an open publishing newswire, moderated by the US-IMC
> editorial group
> 	2) the newswire will not display on the front page, but there will be 
> a
> "publish" link located on 		the front page
> 	3) additionally, there will be an easily accessible page listing all 
> of the
> US IMCs and i		nformation about open publishing (maybe links to their
> publish pages?)
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