Likewise, I support Priscilla's refusal to put any responsibility on the
steering committee for message censorship. For what it's worth . . . Kathleen
At 06:29 PM 5/30/98 -0700, Priscilla Salant wrote:
>Tom's recent post requesting that the 2020 steering committee disallow
>gossip on the listserve made me shudder. I had just returned from a
>marathon work trip to find 20 messages on multiple subjects in my
>mailbox and I was bleary eyed with fatigue. Well-meaning, to be sure, Tom
>was
>asking me as a member of the steering committee to be responsible for
>something way outside my control. The majority of people who have voiced
>an
>opinion on the subject have indicated they don't want the list moderated
>(in the way Sam's described with his horse example). And as long as the
>list is unmoderated, no one can "disallow" anything.
>
>Throw me head first off the steering committee if you want, but I do not
>want to be responsible for deciding what is gossip and what is truth on
>this list. I don't even want to READ every post, let alone judge it.
>People who don't find this listserve informative anymore have two choices
>-- unsubscribe or don't read what's written by people who offend you. I'm
>not going to filter the list for you.
>
>I couldn't be more delighted that people are discussing how the listserve
>should be operated. It isn't and can't be under the control of Bill,
>Susan, and myself. I know it's scary, but there aren't any rules other
>than those the group decides. And, don't say it, I already understand that
>we
>don't even know who the group is or what "decide" means. It's a new
>medium, every day's postings bring new surprises. Sometimes things come
>so fast and furious I shut my eyes and wish it would all go away, but it
>doesn't, and I'm still on the steering committee using the listserve and
>community retreat to encourage informed thinking about Moscow's future.
>
>Now another issue has come up which needs "deciding" by the "group." The
>steering committee has recently been asked by two individuals to delete
>selected postings from the archives. Both requests were fair and I
>sympathized with the reasoning, but they are also a little hard to
>accomodate. As a solution, Bill proposed that we delete the entire
>archives.
>
>So, assorted folks, what do you think of that idea?
>
>--Priscilla Salant
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>