Journal Entries
Moderation vs. Censorship.
Posted Mar 23, 2001
The basic rulez :
Let's see what DOES work, in my opinion of course...
The basic rulez :
1. No swearing(no spitting) - Fine with me. Used to be the same in "the old days."
2. No breach of copyright in the official entries - Fine with me. After all, the BBC is responsible for those entries. And they always had to be approved anyway.
3. Infringement of free speech on the forums and in personal entries - Forget it ! If someone decides to broach a sensitive subject just to see what kind of input he/she gets, then this person should be allowed to make a mistake. No doubt his/her fellow-researchers will step in and take a stand against anything that goes too far. It has been that way until now so why should that change ?
Laying the responsibility where it belongs.
WhatEver is going on at h2g2 about moderation/censorship : I do not blame the Towers ! They did a hell of a job and should be complimented on the fact that they kept the h2g2-ship floating. And neither do I think that they knew in advance that this was going to be such a big sensitive issue. So my comments on censorship at hg2 are aimed directly at the BBC, not the people who do the dirty work at the moment.
Censorship vs. moderation.
Moderation, to me, implies a mediator(between two or more parties). It does not mean judging people's work without a dialogue.
Having said that, it may be that the moderators have to pick up steam before they can really discuss refused entries etcetera. Just like it used to be in the past. We may be getting emails in the future stating that : "Your subjectline says that it's about R2D2 but the article is about robots in general". Good, fine, great. But we are talking officially submitted h2g2-articles here, not entries and posts.
Censorship means applying arbitrary rules to initial input.
I deliberately used the word censorship instead of moderation because my third comment above is definitely about censorship. Telling people what they can and what they cannot talk about is plain, simple and obvious censorship.
The difference between The Towers and the BBC.
So I am not against moderation, moderation is fine. I am against censorship. Who in his right mind would want to write an entry about Amnesty International if the rulez of h2g2 itself are at the least ambiguous ?
The towers are now looking into a question I asked them regarding this subject. Thank you for that Abi. But it doesn't mean that we should shut up until we get a reply. What it means is that the towers understand our objections. That's great, but it does not mean that the matter is resolved yet.
Why Why Why do I write these things ?
And one final thing : I know I am pretty p*ssed off about this. That is because I feel personally involved this time. If I didn't care about h2g2 I would not be here...
TM.
Discuss this Journal entry [2]
Latest reply: Mar 23, 2001
Sorry, my first posting on this subject.
Posted Mar 19, 2001
Sorry, sorry, sorry. I thought I'd better put my first response re. the new h2g2 here too.
TM.
___________________
Hi Peta,
Finally a chance to write a long soapbox-post Been too long !
O.k. :
I think that joining the BBC may be a very good move for both organizations. Of course the original h2g2 was(in my opinion and to my great joy) a bit of a rebelclub . Now, you can't really have that in an organization as big as Auntie. Copyright-issues are just the start of the list of things that have to be taken into consideration. What about the legal liability of the Beeb ? Researchers are basically building a website that is, and will be, H*ll to monitor ! And being in IT myself, I feel the greatest sympathy for your technical staff. The work is never done, is it ?
BTW : Can I still say Hell ? Perhaps the uncertainty about the copyrights-issue could be solved by sending all researchers an email with the complete message when the site reopens ?
Anyway, I can understand that h2g2 must go to the mountain and that the mountain does not come to h2g2. Besides, looking at the way things are going, one could say that either there IS no more h2g2, or it is done through the BBC. Surely h2g2 needed Auntie more than Auntie needed h2g2 ?
So the only - or at least the major - problem that I see that may pop up, will be the integration of the h2g2-way of life into the BBC-culture. How to give researchers maximum freedom without endangering the whole of the corporation. I hope that the BBC realizes that the reason h2g2 is what it is stems from the freedom the researchers have had so far.
But : On the other hand I can see that this liason will provide the h2g2-team with everything they need to expand and improve the site. So if initial problems are solved this could be the best thing since sliced...erm...since DNA started h2g2.
The bottom line is that all researchers should point out these issues, but they shouldn't whinge about them before h2g2 has had a try to improve the new structure.
I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Especially h2g2.
And of course ANY broadcastingcorporation that gives us Anne Robinson MUST have some sense of humour !
TM.
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Mar 19, 2001
Moderation, censorship and double standards.
Posted Mar 19, 2001
Hi,
Let me make it very clear that I will not use any words or descriptions that violate the rules of the BBC as they are applied to BBC-television.
BUT : I had the distinct pleasure of watching Comic Relief last friday. Among the language used where various f***s and the 'bloody's were abundant. And I am not going into the truckloads of innuendo because that would take me all day.
This was topped by Billy Connolly walking round a monument in Edinburgh stark naked with his dick in full view... 
This, by the way, was perfectly allright with me. But we are not discussing me, we are discussing the BBC-rulez and regulations.
NOW : I am curious as to whether this journalentry will be removed, censored or moderated. If this is the case I think I have undisputed evidence that the BBC uses a double standard. As a matter of fact : In this entry I have used far less profanity then I saw last friday. Basically because I don't really feel like using this kind of language on h2g2 except for the occasional 'bloody'. I never did and I never will. That however does not mean that this subject is unimportant to me. Moderation is bad enough as it is, but a double standard would really take the biscuit...
Let's just see eh ?
To be continued...
TM.
Discuss this Journal entry [7]
Latest reply: Mar 19, 2001
Helloo..elloo..lloo..loo...oo
Posted Mar 6, 2001
I feel very alone in here at the moment...
Is there anybody out there....?
Discuss this Journal entry [2]
Latest reply: Mar 6, 2001
Solid Air
Posted Dec 4, 2000
Last saturday MarZ brought along a cd with the latest Solid Air sessions.
MarZ plays bassguitar in Solid Air, although it's not really fair to just call him 'bassplayer'. He does tend to make a lot of other weird noises on his Midi-bassguitar too .
Of course I listened to the CD, and I have never heard a band evolve this fast. And it's a hell of a lot of fun, I tell ya !
TM.
'Looking at Albert, into those old eyes'
'I can still hear him say God does not play dice...'
"Albert's last words"
Solid Air.
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Dec 4, 2000
TowelMaster
Researcher U45152
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