[Imc-web] Editing Etiquette and Noting Some Needed Updates Again

[Mike Lehman]

OK, I moved it, making it a Time and Date item and putting it at the top 
of the Upcoming Events.
Mike Lehman

David Gehrig wrote:
> I agree with Mike. Let's wait until there's news for the feature;
> I think the article should remain, but not as a feature.
>
> On 2/24/07, Mike Lehman <rebelmike at earthlink.net> wrote:
>> I've added Brian Dolinar to the imc-web list, since he apparently didn't
>> add himself to the list when I suggested that this was SOP for web
>> editors after he was granted editing privileges. All web editors must be
>> on this list, as it is the primary means by which this function is
>> handled at UC IMC.
>>
>> Just to go over this again -- although I know that everyone should
>> already be aware of this, because I made sure to CC the info to Brian
>> the last time it came up a couple of weeks ago.
>>
>> If you make a story into a Feature, please remember that you should send
>> a brief message to this list, including a link to the story as a
>> feature, with a brief justification for why the feature was created.
>>
>> Announcements, except for IMC events, are generally not made into
>> features. Exceptions can be made, but this justification must be
>> included as part of the feature justification.
>>
>> I want to raise one thing I do have a concern with, given the ways
>> things have been going. The feature that Brian created today announces
>> the upcoming plea bargain date for the long-running Myers story, which
>> has been the subject of numerous prior features. My recall on this is
>> not perfect, but most of its content has actually been previously
>> featured. And I suspect that this story may finally be resolved this
>> coming week, after many false starts. Then I presume that Brian will do
>> a story on what is actually new news, the outcome.
>>
>> So I am a bit troubled that the plea bargain announcement is now a
>> feature. This also contributes to some of the misunderstanding in the
>> community about the difference between our users -- people like Brian
>> who actually do the writing and retain ownership and responsiobility for
>> it -- and the IMC itself -- where decisions on what should be featured
>> are subject to some sort of group vetting process, even though we assume
>> that the creators of content can also involved in this decisionmaking
>> process.
>>
>> This is a potential problem, if we somehow let it appear that there is
>> no distinction between the two aspects of using Indymedia, because our
>> editing needs to use this small bit of discretion due to the status of
>> UC IMC as a non-profit. We are here to serve underserved parts of the
>> community, but we also must not give the appearance of simply being an
>> extension of any group's political project, no matter how good or
>> compatible it might be with the wide range of political interests
>> represented in the underserved communities that UC IMC exists to support
>> through our making available to them easy media access.
>>
>> I would suggest that the announcement of the upcoming plea bargain
>> should be de-featured, under the presumption that we will actually have
>> new content upcoming shortly on this story that will clearly be eligible
>> to be a feature.
>>
>> There are many more policies and understandings that are part of web
>> editing legacy that may be unfamiliar to new editors. I'd be glad to
>> have a meeting to discuss and/or clarify any of this. Our editorial
>> policy page is buried on the old website, but it was agreed several
>> years ago it needed a rewire to reflect actual practice as it has
>> evolved through various Steering group decisions and into the present
>> form of leaving much of the actual decisionmaking to the Web group, in
>> order to incporate current policy. This has been working well with the
>> fairly stable and small group of editors we've been operating with, but
>> is also somewhat less than optimal from being transparent to anyone new
>> being involved as well as to website users.
>> Mike Lehman
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>