ANST - thoughts on moderation ....

j'lynn yeates jyeates at bga.com
Tue May 26 10:36:49 PDT 1998


re: moderation

> Agreed, but no one is trying to control what anyone else is
> saying...only where it is said.  You may write all the Letters to the
> Editor you like, but no law forces the newspaper to publish them.  Pug
> owns this "electronic newspaper"  and he gets to Edit......

in the words of a great american bard, "freedom of the press belongs to those that own 
the press"

i see the same misunderstanding here about the concept of "moderation" and 
"censorship" that i saw those many years when i ran a privare bbs system and 
"moderated" several national conversation threads (very similar to this list).  it was my 
job to enforce topicality and defend the quality of the information from a never ending 
horde of children and misinformed adults who assummed that they had some right to 
say whatever they wanted, no matter how off-topic in a private venue.  and then when 
they were told "no" they start screaming censorship.

if folk choose not to follow the direction of the moderator / owner, the only "rights" such 
people have in thsi situation (and in this lists situation) is go out and start their own 
system.

personally i applaud Pug for the hands off approach that is the norm here  ... this 
shows a strong respect for the information and audience.  i also applaud the hard 
decision about stepping in when necessary to restore order to what was quickly 
becoming a riot.  discussion is one thing, general warnings a borderline thing i'm not 
sure about, but the rabble rousing that was beginning to happen was right-out and 
needed to be stopped cold.

'wolf


... When we hunt, we all function with one mind
... - Boingo, Pedestrian Wolves
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