London Indymedia

The New Indymedia London Website Ready For Action!

IMC-London | 16.10.2008 20:08 | Indymedia | London

It is now almost five years since Indymedia London came to life as part of the United Kollectives network of IMC's throughout the UK. Now, in 2008, things have moved on; the reality in the streets is very different from that of 2003, and so there has also been a change in the way people experience the internet. The kollective in London has been working hard for the last few months to adapt Indymedia London to these new realities, and now we are very happy to announce that the New Indymedia London website is ready for action!

The new Site, that was launched with a presentation at the Anarchist Bookfair 2008, aims to include more political events and media alongside the direct action reporting from the streets, and a better method of video uploading. Note: If you went to check out the new site and you were put off by a security warning in your browser, please try again. More information about Security Certificates here. Click at the 'Full article' link to know more ....



Welcome to IMC London New Website


Ok, so you've just been to a demonstration or an action then? Good on you. We hope you had a great time! And now you feel like telling everyone about it, even better! You've come to the right place. Or maybe you've just been to a great benefit party, or gig, or workshop, or talk, or film screening, or exhibition, or ... whatever else you think you should let everyone know about it. This is the place too!

You can write your first hand report, and you can add to it any photos you may have taken, or audio files. But remember, a report can take many shapes and forms. It can be written, yes, but it can also be drawn, or spoken, or made of photographs, or turned into a music track, or all of these at the same time. In the spirit of Open Publishing, you can easily do any of this using the new publish forms, as long as you are happy to release your material in a non-copyright manner, and as long as you are not trying to report on any corporate and commercial activity, nor engage in some personal or party political promotion.

The medium you use to tell your story it is up to you, but remember, even though Indymedia London is an open and collaborative project, committed to using media production and distribution as a tool promoting social, environmental and economic justice, we have a Mission Statement where we sum up the principles we aim to live up to, and clear Editorial Guidelines which form the basis of our editorial practices.

So, if this is the first time you decide to publish in Indymedia London, welcome! - it's about time you did though! But please make sure you take a look at these before publishing, and please also note that any contributions that may contravene either our Mission Statement or Editorial Guidelines, will be hidden by IMC-London admins and users.

So now, a few basics we think can help you using this site:

  • Remember that other people might not know about the issue you're writing on, so don't forget to include the who, where and when, but also, importantly the why it did happen. If you start your report with a short summary stating these facts, you are much more likely to catch the reader's attention.
  • Links to websites and other articles that provide background information to your story are very helpful. They help putting your report in context.
  • Also spellchecks can make all the difference. It is a good idea to type first your texts into a word processor so they can be spell checked before publishing. Don't forget to check the spelling of your titles and media captions. Using a word processor instead of directly the publish form, also secures your text against being lost in case of any problems with the publishing system.
  • It is also a very good idea to keep revisiting your own article after publishing it, so you have the chance of answering any questions your article may arise, or respond any comments other users may post to your article.
  • See a much more detailed 'How to Publish Guide'. It contains lots of tips and help about how to write a good article.

So, if you want to write a report, or publish media go to the Publish Page and follow the easy steps.

You can also publish information about an event coming up - an action, a protest, a meeting, a party or a gig, for example - and it will appear at the brand new Calendar of Events. Remember, the more background information you include and the more creative you are with your posting, the more likely you are to get people's interest to your event. And please note the the Editorial Guidelines also apply to these posts.

The new site also makes it possible to make your own account. If you become a registered user you will be able to edit your article after having published it.

If you are part of a campaign or a group, you will probably be interested in the groups function of our site. This will enable your group or campaign to have your very own section on Indymedia London, including a presentation about your group, a collection of your articles, and an archive of any other articles or media you are interested in, or relate to your group or campaign. Think of it like a blog, but better! :-) To register your group or campaign click here.

The lenght and depth of your contributions is entirely up to you.. Your group's section can be as much a resource and outreach as you make it. You don't need to be a writer with a capital W, nor a journalist with a J or a photographer with a P to contribute to London Indymedia. This is a DIY project, where everyone contributes skills, interests and knowledge. It is the diversity of approaches of your contributions, and the quality of material you publish what will make Indymedia London a vibrant and useful resource relevant for this city, hopefully reflecting the collective creativity and intelligence of this town. That's why it is important that you write your reports first hand, and that the media you publish is material you've put together yourself instead of doing a lazy copy and paste from somewhere else.

It is time to take back our lives and our city! ... Get publishing! :-)

If you have any feedback or suggestions, come across bugs that need fixing, submit a ticket to the hyperactive project site, email the IMC London list or use the comment function below.

IMC-London

Additions

anarchist bookfair presentation

18.10.2008 19:12

excellent presentation today at the bookfair - the site looks like it has a whole swathe of new and useful improvments. it's clear that even if there are teething problems, the whole thing is very flexible and open to further input.

it'll also be great when it automatically feeds into the uk site, which is the only drawback i can see at present.

in the meantime, i urge everyone to start using it.

rikki
mail e-mail: rikkiindymedia[AT]gmail(d0t)com
- Homepage: http://www.socpa-movie.blogspot.com


Publish in London and UK

21.10.2008 16:08

Hi Bristly pioneer ,

Thanks for the Space Hijackers contribution to both London and UK newswires. As for your question; yes, I am afraid that for the moment there are two separate publish forms, one for UK-IMC and another for London IMC. This is to do with technical issues as both imc's use different CMS's (code)

IMC-London already pulls content in the new site from the UK promoted newswire (see the 'Around the UK' column in the new London site) but content published directly to the IMC-London newswire at present can't be fed into IMC-UK. There is currently talk at the UK network level to work on this as several UK imc's use different code than that of the IMC-UK site, and I am sure people will eventually come up with a solution for this.

The reason why IMC London is now using a different code is because the new site intends to do much more than being merely a 'reporting site' (see the personal log ins, the group function, the new video section, or the new calendar of events for example) People in the London kollective found that the code currently used by IMC-UK was preventing them from developing the ideas the kollective had for IMC-London, and so a new customised CMS has been written from the scratch, and a new site launched hopping that it will become a relevant and useful resource for the many and varied struggles going on in London.

Therefore, and for the time being, we ask users and contributors to please use both publish forms if they want to have their material in both websites.

Cheers!



maqui


Comments

Display the following 6 comments

  1. congrats — sean
  2. crash test it again please — Tony Gosling
  3. Please note ... — maqui
  4. London and UK — Bristly pioneer
  5. . . . .asking if IMC-London has more of a sensible — censorship check . . . .Good luck(DO lets publicise new site out of themargins)!
  6. loookin' good! — redjade

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