Most Popular Choices
Share on Facebook 63 Printer Friendly Page More Sharing
OpEdNews Op Eds   

Banning some words HERE on This Website

By       (Page 1 of 3 pages)   250 comments
Follow Me on Twitter     Message Rob Kall
Become a Fan
  (295 fans)
Sept. 3: After hundreds of comments, we've decided NOT to ban any words on OpEdNEws, and will more aggressively deal with trolls and bigots using comment flagging and article editing software we are developing which will help our limited editorial staff.
1-after over 250 comments on the announcement to ban some words, while allowing full discussion of issues, we backed off and will not institute, and never did institute the policy. OpEdNews is run with a Web 2.0 bottom up philosophy of management.

2- The fact is, the Israel Palestine conflict is one of the most inflammatory discussions to be found. Many sites, perhaps most sites do not allow full discussion of it, meaning discussion by supporters of Palestine and supporters of Israel and AIPAC. Most Democratic and Republican sites ban support of Palestine and many liberal sites ban support of Israel.

OpEdNews is one of the very few that allow civil discussion by both sides. We believe if there is going to be any hope for peace that both sides must talk to each other and we struggle to create a forum for that, as conflict-full as it can sometimes be.

Matter of fact, when our readers (400,000 unique visitors a month) were asked to list any high traffic sites (under 6000 alea ranking among US sites) which allow as wide a range of discussion of issues as OpEdNews, they did not come up with a single one. That would suggesst that rather than being a restrictive site, we're the MOST OPEN SITE on the web.

3-Over the past five or six days since this discussion began, we have had about 25-30 subscribers unsubscribe because of their dissatisfaction with our original take on the issue (out of over 7200 members and 10,000+ subscribers) . We have had more than that many people sign up as either subscribers or members in that time, so we have a net gain, relative to this issue. On any day we see about 5-30 people unsubscribe, usually because they are cutting their bandwidth, so the five or six a day who unsubscribed due to this discussion did not in any way cause so much as a bump in the unsubscribing pattern.

4-Bottom line is we listened to our members. No word banning will take place. We'll be instituting several software solutions:
-member ranking comments on several parameters
-member burying of comments, like digg.com does.
-allowing more members to hide or delete troll rated comments, including bigoted ones.
-word recognition software to cue writers with suggestions, if they use language that tends to be abused.

5-The fact is that the words we chose really are used by bigots to hide behind to express hate. There are legitimate uses for them and there are abuses. Anyone who denies this is naive, disingenuous or fool. We'll be having community discussions on what constitutes reasonable usage and unreasonable usage and then creating FAQs based on member conclusions of the discussions. Those will be used as both non-mandatory guidelines for writers and commenters as well as for editors and trusted authors who will be deciding on troll ratings.

6- The Middle east conflict is one of the hardest problems in the world.We're proud to have the site with one of if not the widest tolerances for discussion of issues. Routine and ordinary ways to solve the Middle East conflict have failed. New ways to approach it, talk about it, explore the issues must be considered and we're trying to do that with integrity and openness. We're not going to get it right every time, but we are going to take risks, as we experiment with different ways to make our open forum work.

7- I encourage readers to check out our site directory for articles on Israel, Palestinian Homeland, Middle East, Lebanon and you will find hundreds of articles covering all ranges. Before you judge us, from one attack article, and a sour grapes rejected writer, see for yourself.

 

For many, discussion of middle east issues is a very hot, passionate topic that can easily lead to anger, accusations and recriminations. .

I don't know if there is another site on the web, with commenting, that allows strong opinions ranging as widely, from both sides of this issue, as OpEdNews allows. Most take one side or another or ban discussion on it altogether.

added at 6;45 PM EST: A Challenge. Mention any high traffic progressive sites on the web that allow as wide a discussion, including postings of articles and blogs on the middle east as OpEdNews. I believe that most block all discussion or only allow or encouragearticles and blogs on one side or the other-- Pro-palestinian and anti-Israel, Anti- zionist or Pro-Israel. I'll check with that site or sites on how they handle this challenge of hate. But if you can't think of one, take a moment before raising the accusation of censorship. Meanwhile, the response to this ban has been huge, with some excelleent observations and suggestions. Consider it temporary, while we work out solutions that are not as draconian. So... make suggestions. It is intolerable to allow the continued use of hate dripping words used dishonestly.

After consultation with our team of editors, we're banning the use of the words: Zionism, Zionist, Islamicism, Islamicist. These words are too often used too loosely as a veiled way to express racist, hate messages.

We do not, in any way, intend to restrict or censor criticism of Israeli or Palestinian actions, policies or behaviors. But we do believe that this approach will prevent people from abusing our community and members with hate talk and force all writers to use more nuanced, descriptive, precise language.


The only rare exception to this rule, will be the use of the terms to discuss how others are using them. For example, if a writer on another site, or a politician refers to the term, then discussion of that person or media site's use of the term will probably acceptable. This does not mean that quoting others is acceptable. It is not. For example, if Senator Hatch describes the world Islamicist plot to force sharia to be observed planet-wide, then it would be appropriate to discuss his use of the word.

This is discussion of the USE of the word. On the other hand, we really don't want to see articles on Islamicist or Zionist plots or conspiracies. And we will not tolerate quotation of other people talking about zionist or islamicist plots or conspiracies.

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).

Rate It | View Ratings

Rob Kall Social Media Pages: Facebook Page       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Rob Kall is an award winning journalist, inventor, software architect, connector and visionary. His work and his writing have been featured in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, ABC, the HuffingtonPost, Success, Discover and other media.

Check out his platform at RobKall.com

He is the author of The Bottom-up Revolution; Mastering the Emerging World of Connectivity

He's given talks and workshops to Fortune 500 execs and national medical and psychological organizations, and pioneered first-of-their-kind conferences in Positive Psychology, Brain Science and Story. He hosts some of the world's smartest, most interesting and powerful people on his Bottom Up Radio Show, and founded and publishes one of the top Google- ranked progressive news and opinion sites, OpEdNews.com

more detailed bio:

Rob Kall has spent his adult life as an awakener and empowerer-- first in the field of biofeedback, inventing products, developing software and a music recording label, MuPsych, within the company he founded in 1978-- Futurehealth, and founding, organizing and running 3 conferences: Winter Brain, on Neurofeedback and consciousness, Optimal Functioning and Positive Psychology (a pioneer in the field of Positive Psychology, first presenting workshops on it in 1985) and Storycon Summit Meeting on the Art Science and Application of Story-- each the first of their kind. Then, when he found the process of raising people's consciousness and empowering them to take more control of their lives one person at a time was too slow, he founded Opednews.com-- which has been the top search result on Google for the terms liberal news and progressive opinion for several years. Rob began his Bottom-up Radio show, broadcast on WNJC 1360 AM to Metro Philly, also available on iTunes, covering the transition of our culture, business and world from predominantly Top-down (hierarchical, centralized, authoritarian, patriarchal, big) to bottom-up (egalitarian, local, interdependent, grassroots, archetypal feminine and small.) Recent long-term projects include a book, Bottom-up-- The Connection Revolution, (more...)
 

Go To Commenting
The views expressed herein are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Follow Me on Twitter     Writers Guidelines

 
Contact AuthorContact Author Contact EditorContact Editor Author PageView Authors' Articles
Support OpEdNews

OpEdNews depends upon can't survive without your help.

If you value this article and the work of OpEdNews, please either Donate or Purchase a premium membership.

STAY IN THE KNOW
If you've enjoyed this, sign up for our daily or weekly newsletter to get lots of great progressive content.
Daily Weekly     OpEd News Newsletter
Name
Email
   (Opens new browser window)
 

Most Popular Articles by this Author:     (View All Most Popular Articles by this Author)

A Conspiracy Conspiracy Theory

Debunking Hillary's Specious Winning the Popular Vote Claim

Terrifying Video: "I Don't Need a Warrant, Ma'am, Under Federal Law"

Ray McGovern Discusses Brutal Arrest at Secretary Clinton's Internet Freedom Speech

Hillary's Disingenuous Claim That She's Won 2.5 Million More Votes is Bogus. Here's why

Cindy Sheehan Bugged in Denver

To View Comments or Join the Conversation:

Tell A Friend