Project Management and Risk Assessment

SUGAR Zine, alongside the Instagram page and landing page, will be run independently by myself. Due to the independence of the project, there are many potential operational risks. This project may be running alongside potential full-time jobs and other business ventures therefore operational plans will need to be in place for SUGAR to run smoothly and successfully for example, Instagram posts and stories can be scheduled for upcoming weeks.

SUGAR zine focusses on purpose over profit, the way success will be measured will be through audience response, rather than income. However, that doesn’t mean to say there are not financial risks that need to be taken into consideration. For example, a lack of sales means could potentially mean there are insignificant funds to pay models and creative contributors, resulting in not respecting SUGARS ethics and values, or having less content featured in the zine.

There are many legal risks that could be detrimental to SUGAR if not researched and understood before publishing any work. All written work, from myself and contributors needs to be checked for plagiarism and copyright infringement. Not only would this break laws, it would also go against the values of SUGAR resulting in inauthenticity.

“The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines “plagiarism’ as “to steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own: to use (another’s production) without crediting the source: to commit literary theft : to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source’1. This implies an element of dishonesty, as it involves the stealing or deception of work or ideas. However, The Oxford English Dictionary is more general. There, “plagiarize’ is defined as “take and use (another’s writing’s etc.) as one’s own2”. This does not necessarily involve any intent to deceive.” (Wiss-Carline, 2021)

Libel is another large legal risk that most publications fear. Libel is “something written

or published that makes false or unfair statements that are likely to damage the

reputation of a person or organization.” (libel, 2021). A way to prevent this would be for me and all future staff to complete media law training, as well as having all contributing work checked before publishing.

Posting and reposting other creatives work via Instagram could also face legal issues.

“You can’t post someone else’s private or confidential information without permission or do anything that violates someone else’s rights, including intellectual property rights (e.g., copyright infringement, trademark infringement, counterfeit, or pirated goods).” (Instagram and Copyright: What Are the Terms of Use? - Copyrightlaws.com, 2021)

All work that is featured in the zine, or posted on the brands Instagram will be credited, whether that be my own work, paid collaborators or reposting other creatives work. All work not of my own or a collaborator will be posted out of admiration and appreciation, although, copyright claims could still be made regardless thus making it essential to have permission to reshare others work.