Xref: utzoo news.groups:16069 rec.arts.movies:28001
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!cbnewsj!ecl
From: ecl@cbnewsj.ATT.COM (Evelyn C. Leeper)
Newsgroups: news.groups,rec.arts.movies
Subject: Re: Volunteer for rec.arts.movies.serious moderator/editor
Summary: editing
Message-ID: <3124@cbnewsj.ATT.COM>
Date: 3 Jan 90 01:20:43 GMT
References: <2477@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov>
Reply-To: ecl@cbnewsj.ATT.COM (Evelyn C. Leeper)
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 34

In article <2477@jato.Jpl.Nasa.Gov> reiher@onyx.Jpl.Nasa.Gov (Peter Reiher) writes:
>                                                                    ...  Does 
> anyone actually know of a case where a newsgroup had serious problems with its
> moderator?  I've never heard of one.

I believe one of the religion or politics group had a bit of a fuss at one
point, but I doubt that sort of problem would arise here.  We can burn that
bridge when we come to it (as my nephew would say).

> I don't think that the moderator should serve as an editor, beyond possibly 
> pointing out the reasons that an article was rejected.  ...
>        ... People will decide not to post an article, as they know that the
> moderator will only return it to fix some spelling errors and unsplit an
> infinitive.

As the moderator of a group that has some connection with the discussion at
hand (all right, rec.arts.movies.reviews, if you must know :-) ), I never send
an article back to have spelling or minor grammatical errors fixed--I just fix
them.  Only if I think there is some question what the writer meant, or it I
want to change major parts (sometimes the case if I'm taking something from
rec.arts.movies that's stuck in the middle of a discussion thread and want it
to stand alone) would I send it back to the author with questions.  Of course I
do only one or two a day, whereas the traffic for rec.arts.movies.serious
would presumably be higher.  However, I know that Saul Jaffe, moderator of
SF-LOVERS DIGEST, also corrects spelling errors and he processes several dozen
articles a day.

I'm all in favor of this new group.  Especially since someone else will be
moderating it. :-)

Evelyn C. Leeper  |  +1 201-957-2070  |  att!mtgzy!ecl or  ecl@mtgzy.att.com
--
If I am not for myself, who is for me?  If I am only for myself what am I?
And if not now, when?  --Hillel