editorial policy

Infoshop News Editorial Policy

version 0.4 :: February 27, 2003

Purpose of Infoshop.org [this will match the mission statement drawn up when the AMP nonprofit is incorporated]: Infoshop.org exists as an ecumenical online resource for the anarchist movement, which aims to promote all forms of anti-capitalist anarchism to the greater public.

The editorial policy for Infoshop.org is in the process of being further defined. The information below is meant for the Infoshop moderators, but is being made public to explain how this news service works.

Editorial Notes

1) Infoshop News is NOT an open newswire. People are welcome to submit news, but there is no expectation that every item will be approved. This is mainly because of resource limitations, but also because of content and other issues.

2) We have a limit of 10-20 news stories per day. We have this limit because we don't want people to feel like they can't keep up with the newswire if they only check it once a day.

3) First priority on the newswire is given to articles and news written by or about anarchists. On slow news days, the newswire will include a variety of articles and news of interest to anarchists, as well as radical articles that would be of interest to the general public. As the subtitle of Infoshop News says: "anarchist, activist, and alternative news."

4) Infoshop News will include articles from sources such as the corporate media, socialist websites, and occasionally from libertarians. We are not afraid of reading ideas from people who aren't exactly like us. However, these types of articles should not be posted on a daily basis. This is not a re-posting service for LewRockwell.com.

5) News stories and opinion should be newsworthy and current. We do not accept articles or opinion written 5 or 55 years ago. Infoshop is in the process of creating a news archive, but older news will not be approved for the news wire. People who want to see older material posted on Infoshop can either post it in Infoshop Forums, or ask an Infoshop volunteer to add it to the website.

6) Articles and excerpts from magazines and zines should be submitted by people associated with the publication. Infoshop News will set up arrangements with magazines and zines to make sure that authorized people are posting content from the publication.

Editorial Practice

1) Choosing topics - Make sure that each news story has an appropriate topic. Often it will be difficult to choose one topic for a story with many possible topics, but think about how people might try and access the article in the future. Will they search for the article under "Europe" or "Anti-war Activism?"

2) Choosing submissions - Throughout the day, people will submit news stories and articles. This is where you have to make an editorial judgment call. In the past, about half of the articles that are submitted get rejected. Keep in mind that you have to save space for articles for the rest of the day, as well as regular stuff, such as content from A-Infos.

3) Corporate articles - Generally, only the first few paragraphs from a corporate news article should be posted, so that we can avoid copyright infringement complications (Infoshop hasn't been hassled to date). Create a "Read more" link to the rest of the article.

4) "Anarchist events" - Events posted under this topic should be of interest to a region or bigger. Information about strictly local protests should not be approved for this newswire. People should post those announcements to Indymedia or Protest.net.

5) "Summary box" - This is the biggest headache for the editor of the newswire. Often people will put the wrong things in this box. The content of this box should be a teaser for the news story. Often, the first paragraph or two from the story is the best content for this box. If the text is from the article, or wasn't written by the person who posted it, put the text in italic tags like this You are free to add a one to two sentence editorial comment after the teaser text. Often the people who submit the news story will put nonsense or a sentence fragment in this box. Feel free to remove that content in order to insert content that better describes the news story.

6) Link box - Please be careful about posting long URLs in the "Link" box below the story. In general, long links should be put into the body of the story. Long links put into the "Link" box create layout problems for the website.

Additional notes about topics:

Anti-Racist Action - Stories and news about anti-racists. Do NOT approve posts about neo-nazi activities, as fascists often try to sneak this content onto the newswire.

Earth First - Environmental stories

Fascism - Articles about neo-nazis go in anti-racist action. This topic for stories about fascist states or everyday fascism implemented by said states.

Feminism - For articles that are focused on feminist topics. This is not a topic ghetto for all articles about women.

Free Peltier - For articles about Leonard Peltier. This is being phased out and older content will be put in the "Indigenous" category.

Left - For news and articles that are critical of the traditional Left.

North America - For articles about stuff in Mexico, the U.S., or Canada, that don't fit well into other categories.

Oceania - New Zealand and the South Pacific

Interviews - Reserved for exclusive interviews conducted by Infoshop volunteers.

Practical anarchy - For news and articles about anarchy being practiced or implemented in projects.

Snitch - This topic is being phased out.

Special - For announcements, mostly from Infoshop. This is the only topic that doesn't allow comments.

Weird - For funny content or weird stories. This topic should only be used a few times each week. Most of the submissions for this topic should be rejected.

Last Updated Sunday, January 09 2005 @ 10:41 AM UTC|37,421 Hits