h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

In the UK there are three sets of elections taking place on 10th June - European elections for the whole of the UK, Local Elections in England and Wales, and the London Mayoral and Assembly elections.

The BBC's commitment to impartiality is closely scrutinised when reporting on election campaigns. This has some important consequences for the whole of the BBC; we welcome community discussion about the elections, but need to ensure that impartiality is maintained.

In order to maintain impartiality all community areas hosting election conversations must be closely hosted and post-moderated. Rather than switch all of the existing DNA sites to post-moderation for the duration of the elections, we've decided to direct members of all DNA sites to the Hub to discuss the UK elections. The Hub will be post-moderated for the duration.

So, if you'd like to discuss the UK elections, please either start a discussion on the Elections2004 page on the Hub [http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/hub/Elections2004] or post to one of the existing conversations on the Elections2004 page.

NOTE: As such discussions on all DNA sites will be similarly diverted to the Hub, we don't want it to become too 'h2g2-centric' as this might alienate non-h2g2 visitors. Likewise, we're not asking any of our volunteers to extend their h2g2 roles over to the Hub - although the standard Codes of Conduct will still apply as usual if any of you decide to get involved.

We've taken this step as a direct result of the many constructive discussions held during the Iraq crisis and we're very pleased that this has been seen as a viable option for DNA sites. We're especially grateful to Peta and the DNA team for offering to host this for the duration.


Where else can we discuss the elections on the BBC?

A number of Messageboards have been prepared for the discussions, so if you wish to discuss the elections you can post to the election discussions page on the Hub, or if you prefer, to one of these BBC messageboards:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/h2/h2.cgi?x=y&board=greatdebate - The Great Debate messageboard

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/h2/h2.cgi?x=y&board=england&sort=T&state=init - English Regions messageboards

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/h2/h2.cgi?state=init&board=asianlife - Asian Life messageboards

http://www.bbc.co.uk/cgi-perl/h2/h2.cgi?state=init&board=essentials - One Life messageboards

This only applies to the elections in the UK, and only for the duration of the elections. You are still free to talk about political issues from elsewhere in the world on any of the DNA sites. As soon as the elections are over, the restrictions will be lifted.

Good to see we can have a good political argument somewhere on here!

Hmmm.

BTW, did anyone spot the deliberate mistake?

Nope

...

I don't get it.

I think this is a marvellous solution to a situation that is not in the BBC control.

Deliberate mistake?!

Oi! That's cheating! Just coz you've got all those fancy buttons doesn't mean we can't take the mickey out of you for making a mistake!

* back clicks a few times to a cached version *

Yes it did

Thanks to those of you who pointed out that we (and by 'we' I mean, er, one of us ) had accidentally put '2003' instead of 2004 in the subject header. As this is such an important announcement, we had to edit the subject headings, so apologise to anyone still looking for the deliberate mistake. I made it - Natalie fixed it - and it's gone.



Who says I'm stuck in the past, eh?

Big fancy buttons? I can't see any, just the bbc.co.uk big bottle of Tippex.

Don't do that when I'm trying to look like I'm working

<>

Thanks for letting us Americans continue to beat around the Bush

So, is it still allowed to discuss EU elections in any other member countries wherever on h2g2?

When I first saw the subject line for this thread, I thought it said
"Guidelines for electrons." Since when have we been allowing electrons into our conversations?

I don't think we should allow electrons into our conversations. It wouldn't be a positive move.

Er, I'll get me coat.

Are you positron about that?