IMPORTANT GUIDELINES FOR USING INDYMEDIA PICTURE DESKS
IMCer | 01.07.2005 23:13 | G8 2005 | Indymedia
During the G8 the Indymedia centers will be running picture desks to enable photographers to upload their pics and reports to the newswire. This is very much training and educational project to help budding photographers to fine tune their skills and learn how to resize their material for the web and try and speed up the process of getting pictures online.
However it has to be remembered that raids have taken place on IMC centers during summit mobilizations in the past. It is important the picture desks are an important resource for grassroots media covering the demonstrations and NOT the Police.
We therefore suggest the following guidelines for anyone using this service.
1) Only download the pictures you are planning on publishing. Select them from the preview window on the back of your digital camera. If a picture is not for publication then do not pass it from your camera to anywhere else. Remember that you can in theory be stopped and searched at any time. If you have an image that you think could incriminate others then consider deleting it. Only accredited journo can demand (special procedure) consideration for their material and this is by no means foolproof.
2) We are not operating a censorship service. If you think a picture is important and should be published but want to remove or manipulate part of it (e.g. someone's face) then do this yourself. A seized hard drive will show EVERYTHING including what an image looked like BEFORE it was altered.
3) If you have an image that you think may be of interest to the legal teams then contact them directly.
4) Do not assume that because someone is helping out at an IMC centre they are totally trustworthy. There is a long history in Britain of infiltration of radical groups by undercover journalists and people with more sinister agendas. The people staffing the centres are all volunteers and it is impossible to monitor everything and everyone that passes through. If in doubt alert others around you.
5) Use your common sense and trust your own judgment. We are all individuals.
Finally (THIS IS THE REALLY IMPORTANT BIT) please remember that the guidelines above are to safeguard against a number of worst-case scenarios. We encourage everyone recording the G8 mobilizations in whatever medium to contribute to Indymedia. We want to ensure that our coverage is bigger, brighter, more representative and vibrant than anything the corporate media serves up. We can only do this with your participation.
We therefore suggest the following guidelines for anyone using this service.
1) Only download the pictures you are planning on publishing. Select them from the preview window on the back of your digital camera. If a picture is not for publication then do not pass it from your camera to anywhere else. Remember that you can in theory be stopped and searched at any time. If you have an image that you think could incriminate others then consider deleting it. Only accredited journo can demand (special procedure) consideration for their material and this is by no means foolproof.
2) We are not operating a censorship service. If you think a picture is important and should be published but want to remove or manipulate part of it (e.g. someone's face) then do this yourself. A seized hard drive will show EVERYTHING including what an image looked like BEFORE it was altered.
3) If you have an image that you think may be of interest to the legal teams then contact them directly.
4) Do not assume that because someone is helping out at an IMC centre they are totally trustworthy. There is a long history in Britain of infiltration of radical groups by undercover journalists and people with more sinister agendas. The people staffing the centres are all volunteers and it is impossible to monitor everything and everyone that passes through. If in doubt alert others around you.
5) Use your common sense and trust your own judgment. We are all individuals.
Finally (THIS IS THE REALLY IMPORTANT BIT) please remember that the guidelines above are to safeguard against a number of worst-case scenarios. We encourage everyone recording the G8 mobilizations in whatever medium to contribute to Indymedia. We want to ensure that our coverage is bigger, brighter, more representative and vibrant than anything the corporate media serves up. We can only do this with your participation.
IMCer