Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!bonnie.concordia.ca!thunder.mcrcim.mcgill.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!apple!limbo!taylor
From: thom@dewey.soe.Berkeley.EDU (Thom Gillespie)
Newsgroups: comp.society
Subject: Re: Questions about censorship in comp.society
Message-ID: <1802@limbo.Intuitive.Com>
Date: 25 Feb 91 22:02:17 GMT
Sender: taylor@limbo.Intuitive.Com
Organization: School of Education, UC-Berkeley
Lines: 24
Approved: taylor@Limbo.Intuitive.Com

Bradley Richards writes:

> I have to agree with the analogy of a magazine editor for the moderator.
> The whole reason that all articles are sent through the moderator rather
> than posted directly to the group is to allow the moderator to select
> and post only those articles deemed most relevant and interesting to the
> group.  This keeps the bandwidth down and the newsgroup on track.

Traditionally a new medium makes the older medium the content of the new
medium,e.g.  Photography took painting as it's content, film took
theater, radio took print, TV took radio, etc The old content of
computer assisted communication is tv -- the moderator.  I've never
heard of a newspaper editor being called a moderator -- it is a TV term.
I felt that Dave was seriously mixing his metaphors by skipping back to
editor as the metaphor for what happens on the net.  Dave has mentioned
on a number of occasions that he is a journalist, so it would be natural
for him to think in terms of editor.  I was suggesting that if you
accept the term moderator then you accept the function of a moderator --
a guider of discussion.  And again the net is 'self-correcting', when
discussion become out of line either folks stop replying or they suggest
that discussion go elsewhere -- follow up responses are often
cross-posted.

Thom


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