Dearest moderators,

[Versatile]

If we can't not talk about politics, what can we talk about? And why delete a thread? Are we the International New York Times?

Transparency is a journalism bedrock.

 

[TheSportsPredictor]

Are you new here?

 

[Mystery Meat II]

It's a sports journalism website. You talk about sports. And journalism.

We're not entitled to talk politics here just because we want to. Technically, you could say the same about all the goofy crap on Anything Goes. Difference being is that threads on pooping properly don't routinely turn into total ****shows, whereas politics ones almost always do.

Clearly the people who run the site think that politics talk hurts the site. So it's not allowed. Every time they let a little of it in, it ends with the inevitable buttmad and locked threads. And we go right back to NO POLITICS EVER until the next time, when it all happens again.

Is it really that difficult to not talk about politics on a board that has a long history of being unable to discuss politics civilly?

 

[da man]

It's a sports journalism website. You talk about sports. And journalism.

We're not entitled to talk politics here just because we want to. Technically, you could say the same about all the goofy crap on Anything Goes. Difference being is that threads on pooping properly don't routinely turn into total ****shows, whereas politics ones almost always do.

Did you do that on purpose?

 

[Mystery Meat II]

It's a sports journalism website. You talk about sports. And journalism.

We're not entitled to talk politics here just because we want to. Technically, you could say the same about all the goofy crap on Anything Goes. Difference being is that threads on pooping properly don't routinely turn into total ****shows, whereas politics ones almost always do.

Did you do that on purpose?

That might be something I would do. Do.

 

[da man]

If we can't not talk about politics, what can we talk about? And why delete a thread? Are we the International New York Times?

Transparency is a journalism bedrock.

Does that mean we have to talk about politics?

 

[Versatile]

That's my only reasonable assumption. I don't want to talk about politics, but one of our finest members created a thread with the simple concept of not talking about politics, and it was deleted. Furthermore, none of the moderators pay the bills here. Why are they limiting discussion topics (and, presumably, traffic).

 

[da man]

Oh, my bad. I assumed you had mistyped and meant to write "can't talk about politics." Although I've got to tell you now that I know that wasn't a typo, I have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[outofplace]

That's my only reasonable assumption. I don't want to talk about politics, but one of our finest members created a thread with the simple concept of not talking about politics, and it was deleted. Furthermore, none of the moderators pay the bills here. Why are they limiting discussion topics (and, presumably, traffic).

No, they don't pay the bills. What they do is dedicate their time to keeping this place running without any compensation. That absolutely gives them the right to make choices regarding which topics are allowed and which are not. Also, do you really think that the folks who do pay the bills disagree and allow it to happen anyway?

That thread you admired so much? It was created to thumb their noses at the moderators for doing their jobs. The ones they do for all of us without getting paid. It was created to start **** and I have no problem at all with its deletion. I say all of this as somebody who has had issues with the moderators in the past. I don't agree with some of the choices they have made, including locking the politics thread, but I respect their right to make those decisions.

There are a few posters who constantly push at the rule against political discussion. One in particular got the Ukraine thread locked. Vers, your problem should be with them, and with the other folks who consistently turn political discussions to ****.

 

[Vombatus]

I agree with MMii and oop, but I wish offenders were sent to the penalty box for two weeks instead of threads getting locked or deleted. Aren't there mod tools to put people on timeout? If so, what are the drawbacks to using them?
Seems like a penalty box approach might promote more civility since thread locking obviously isn't doing it.
Just some thoughts.
Threads of course could still be locked or deleted, but maybe far less frequently.

???

 

[Starman]

I agree with MMii and oop, but I wish offenders were sent to the penalty box for two weeks instead of threads getting locked or deleted. Aren't there mod tools to put people on timeout? If so, what are the drawbacks to using them?
Seems like a penalty box approach might promote more civility since thread locking obviously isn't doing it.

Especially sock puppets

 

[cranberry]

As always, there's little reason to lock or delete threads. If you don't want to read a thread or post on it, nobody is forcing anyone. It's the whiny little ******* who complain to moderators who get threads locked. My guess is the mods just get tired of dealing with some of you. But it's ridiculous that we can't discuss stuff like Crimea.

 

[Mystery Meat II]

As always, there's little reason to lock or delete threads. If you don't want to read a thread or post on it, nobody is forcing anyone. It's the whiny little ******* who complain to moderators who get threads locked. My guess is the mods just get tired of dealing with some of you. But it's ridiculous that we can't discuss stuff like Crimea.

Why is it ridiculous? It's a sports journalism message board, not a geopolitics board.

I mean, I get *wanting* to talk about it, but politics isn't part of the site's mission.

Maybe if we brought back NewsJournalists.com?

 

[jr/shotglass]

I feel very comfortable in the fact that I don't know what Crimea is. And ...

No, they don't pay the bills. What they do is dedicate their time to keeping this place running without any compensation. That absolutely gives them the right to make choices regarding which topics are allowed and which are not. Also, do you really think that the folks who do pay the bills disagree and allow it to happen anyway?

That thread you admired so much? It was created to thumb their noses at the moderators for doing their jobs. The ones they do for all of us without getting paid. It was created to start **** and I have no problem at all with its deletion. I say all of this as somebody who has had issues with the moderators in the past. I don't agree with some of the choices they have made, including locking the politics thread, but I respect their right to make those decisions.

There are a few posters who constantly push at the rule against political discussion. One in particular got the Ukraine thread locked. Vers, your problem should be with them, and with the other folks who consistently turn political discussions to ****.

Just yes.

 

[Versatile]

It's SportsJournalists, not SportsJournalism. Acceptable topics should be what sports journalists (and other members of our community) want to talk about.

 

[cranberry]

As always, there's little reason to lock or delete threads. If you don't want to read a thread or post on it, nobody is forcing anyone. It's the whiny little ******* who complain to moderators who get threads locked. My guess is the mods just get tired of dealing with some of you. But it's ridiculous that we can't discuss stuff like Crimea.

Why is it ridiculous? It's a sports journalism message board, not a geopolitics board.

I mean, I get *wanting* to talk about it, but politics isn't part of the site's mission.

Maybe if we brought back NewsJournalists.com?

Because the idea of a website is to attract an audience so that it can pay the bills if not make a profit. It isn't doing that on sports and journalism alone. Many if not most of the best threads here over the years have had little to do with sports or journalism.

 

[Versatile]

How was that rousing season of sports journalism Sheep, Mystery Meat II? Rick Reilly for every answer, right?

I am excited for the return of The Odd Couple. The TV thread hasn't been the same since Sports Night got canned.

 

[imjustagirl]

I feel very comfortable in the fact that I don't know what Crimea is. And ...

I used to think I was the least-informed person on this board re: current news events.

No longer.

 

[YankeeFan]

But he knows Joe Paterno's shoe size.

 

[cranberry]

I feel very comfortable in the fact that I don't know what Crimea is.

I don't doubt for a second that you're comfortable in your ignorance.