2008 Editorial Policy

Editorial policy of Quebec Indymedia (CMAQ)

V3, April 19th, 2008

<>About Quebec Indymedia – Quebec Center for Media Alternatives (CMAQ)

The Quebec Center for Media Alternatives (CMAQ), the collective responsible for Indymedia Quebec (the website), is a meeting point for individuals and groups who take the production and sharing of independent information to heart. The CMAQ encourages grassroots, direct action towards re-appropriating information.

The CMAQ belongs to the Indymedia network (Independent Media Centers):
The Independent Media Center is a network of collectively run media outlets for the creation of radical, accurate, and passionate tellings of the truth.

*Basis of unity for the entire IMC network:
http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/PrinciplesOfUnityFr

*About Indymedia
www.indymedia.org/fr/static/about.shtml

*What is Indymedia? (IMC Nice, France) http://nice.indymedia.org/questceindy.php3

<>The editorial policy which follows applies to all content, including the comments.

<>Submissions which are refused by the CMAQ are placed in a special section where only the titles are visible (known as the “dungeon”)

<>Comments deemed unacceptable are made invisible with mention by the validation committee.

<>Anonymity

As much as possible, the CMAQ collective will work to preserve the anonymity of the website’s users. In the case that a submission to the site explicitly reveals an identity without the consent of that person, the validation committee reserves the right to edit or revise the submission in order to preserve the identity of the person in question.
Indymedia Quebec does not keep a log of connections or IP addresses of its submissions (a special section on the question of internet anonymity will follow).

◊ Validation process

The CMAQ collective has decided to adopt an a priori validation process: the submissions received are first placed “in waiting line”, then validated (or not) by a member of the validation committee according to the editorial policy, before being published in one of the sections of the site.
The validation committee is made up of volunteer members of the collective (see how to get involved).

Invalidation criteria

1. Submissions completely unrelated to the mission of Indymedia Quebec

By definition, Indymedia Quebec exists for the publication of information produced by and for the grassroots, in an autonomous framework, meaning independent from corporate, institutional, and state structures. Under the same philosophy, Indymedia Quebec distributes information, analysis, and multimedia content of a socio-political nature which supports popular struggles or the emancipation of oppressed and exploited peoples.

Here are some examples of commonly explored themes:
• Human rights (cultural, democratic, women’s, social, work, etc.)
• Ecology
• Feminism
• Social forums
• War and imperialism
• Social housing
• Freedom of the press
• Activism
• Globalization of markets and anti-globalization
• Poverty
• Racism
• Repression
• International solidarity
• Public healthcare
• Specism (Discrimination against other species)

2. Material which is oppressive or discriminatory in nature

The validation committee could reject any contribution judged to be reactionary or containing unacceptable material, notably material which is sexist, racist, homophobic, transphobic, etc.

3. Commercial announcements

Any commercial contribution (for profit) will be rejected by the validation committee. Internet links or contact information for businesses will be deleted from these submissions. On the other hand, announcements about books and zines published or distributed by publishing houses or collectives who share the principles of the mission of Indymedia Quebec (DIRA, Ecosociete, AK Press, L’Insoumise, Lux, Page noire, etc.), will be published under the “literature” section.

4. Copyrights

The CMAQ collectives adheres to a philosophy of free knowledge. We consider that in publishing on Indymedia Quebec, our collaborators tacitly accept that their articles and other documents submitted can be freely reproduced for strictly non-profit uses in other alternative media or websites, provided that the author is mentioned in the copy.
Any text copied in its entirety from the commercial media, or subject to a publication restriction, will be rejected by the validation committee.

The CMAQ collective encourages its collaborators to use their own discretion when it comes to copyrights.

Most institutional media allow their content to be referenced on the Web, with the condition that the content is only PARTIALLY reproduced (for example, the first paragraph, a quotation, etc.) and that the source is clearly cited and the link is clearly displayed

5. Duplication

In the case that a submission has already been published – under the same title or another title, the copy will be erased by the validation committee.

How the validation committee works

Someone working with the validation committee has the right to object to the publication of a submission according to the criteria of invalidation mentioned previously. The invalidation criteria must be mentioned underneath the submission. All submissions which are the object of a debate within the validation committee will stay in the waiting line until a consensus is reached.

Users who have an account can follow the debates in the articles in waiting section.

Headlines on the homepage

Submissions placed directly in the center of the homepage are known as headlines. They are placed on the homepage by a subjective choice of members of the CMAQ collective.

◊ Contact information

To report abuse or to contest a decision of the validation committee, you can write to the collective here (info [at]cmaq.net).