# "Freedom of the Press... **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [March 14, 2001, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-of-the-press/57956 "2001-03-14T15:23:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-of-the-press/57956/1 "2001-03-14T15:23:11Z")
…belongs to the man who owns one." – H.R. Mencken, IIRC I’m putting this here, because it is clearly About This Message Board, and is not a complaint _directed at anyone in particular_, which would go to the Pit. But if you mod./admin. guys feel it should be moved, do so with my blessings. What I’m posting this on and you’re reading it on is an online bulletin board, operating on a moderately expensive piece of software, on a server which I think is dedicated to preserving and making available the deathless pieces of prose we all generate and choose to share with the world, or at least the SD community. It is physically located and the property of the Chicago Reader, Inc., a for-profit business which publishes an alternative newspaper in the Chicago area. It’s here as an adjunct to the promotion of the Straight Dope column, a syndicated column produced by one Cecil Adams, whoever or whatever he may be in real life. It is staffed by (a) a couple of technicians who provide IT services for the Chicago Reader, (b) Ed Zotti of the Reader staff, © three volunteer Administrators and something like a dozen volunteer Moderators. These people **take the time** to read through every bit of stuff put up on this board, be it your refinement of the Theory of Relativity that has potential for solving the energy crisis and taking us to the nearest stars in seconds or how you injured yourself in a humorous way while masturbating. Full disclosure: I function as a moderator on another, much smaller such service. I know a little of what goes on behind the scenes, the decisions on how to encourage a possible problem child to be a constructive poster who contributes to the community instead, all that fun stuff. The board I work for is owned and operated by a couple who felt it their Christian duty to make such a forum available and staffed by a group of volunteers. I have come to love the free-wheeling spirit of this board. But I guarantee that if I were in **David B** or **Gaudere** ’s shoes, and had to read all the stuff they have to read, I would convert to Christianity (they being atheists) just long enough to pray that everyone who posts to a drive-by witnessing/kill the fundy. thread catches leprosy and all their fingers fall off, and if I moderated either GD or the Pit in the period since last November 7, I would quickly join Citizens for a Benevolent Dictatorship in an effort to kill off the election-recrimination threads. And I think if I were in IMHO or MPSIMS, I’d take a vow of chastity. People, you may have _freedom of speech_. But this is their board, and they have a right to run it on their terms. To quote Lazarus Long, “Sure, we believe in free speech. But this hall is paid for. Go rent your own hall.” I don’t think Ed, Tubadiva, Lynn, Dex, or any of the moderators **owes** me an explanation for any decision they make. And I’m certain they’ve thought it through, in detail, before they make it. When they **do** give their reasons, or a portion thereof, and usually do it wittily, that is gravy. I know that I personally disagreed with two recent actions taken by the Administrators here. (And it’s nobody’s business but mine which two.) If I have anything other than that sentence to say about the issue, it will be in e-mail to them, privately. If I have a question about how the board is being handled, or whether something is appropriate, it will be in a post in this forum, so the question and answer are available for others who may be interested. And I’ve done that when I felt it worhtwhile. BTW, as a sort of mini-hijack of my own thread, may I suggest as an appropriate codicil to the “no direct insults” rule that putdowns of banned posters should be prohibited, especially as they are not in a position to respond (obviously). A casual reference to them, particularly in a warning to someone you as a poster see coming close to the line, is in order – casting aspersions on them for their real or supposed misdeeds is not. In summary, we’re playing in **their** park, by **their** rules. In general, I think they’re good rules. If you don’t like them, buy a server and software and start your own board. Or send e-mail. I’ve dealt with about half the moderators and two of the four administrators here regarding issues I felt deserved their time, and gotten very positive feedback, even when they disagreed with me. They’re **people** , folks, not the Evil Establishment. And they’re doing a very tough job, on the whole, remarkably well. ---
**Author:** ![vanilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f19dbf/32.png) [@vanilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vanilla)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-of-the-press/57956/2 "2001-03-14T15:27:14Z")
Poly is right. What a job. Each day theres someone taking a mod to the pit. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-of-the-press/57956/3 "2001-03-14T16:19:20Z")
Thanks, Polycarp. It’s good to know our work is appreciated. You’ve worded it better than any other poster probably could. Stick around, we like having you too. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Fatwater\_Fewl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4491bb/32.png) [@Fatwater\_Fewl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fatwater_Fewl)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-of-the-press/57956/4 "2001-03-14T17:10:58Z")
Well said, Polycarp. You know, you’re the kind of person who makes it difficult for a man to cling to cynicism. Thank you. jm ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-of-the-press/57956/5 "2001-03-14T18:43:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by vanilla \* > \*\*Each day theres someone taking a mod to the pit. > \*\* Well, at least they’re getting taken SOMEWHERE. I’d hate to think of **John Corrado** or **Czarcasm** or **Eutychus55** sitting lonesome by the telephone in the dark dark night. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-of-the-press/57956/6 "2001-03-14T19:40:41Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Polycarp \* > \*\* > People, you may have _freedom of speech_. But this is their board, and they have a right to run it on their terms. To quote Lazarus Long, “Sure, we believe in free speech. But this hall is paid for. Go rent your own hall.” > > \*\* Arrgh! THANK YOU! I’m constantly having to point that out on multiple boards I frequent. (Of course, anyone coming to a recipe message board to spew bile about the Clinton administration doesn’t have all the wheels turning to begin with, I suppose.) ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2001, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-of-the-press/57956/7 "2001-03-14T22:52:05Z")
Hey, wait, you mean this place doesn’t exist as my own personal soapbox? Hmmm… that explains a few things. ---
**Author:** ![Jodi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7feea3/32.png) [@Jodi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jodi)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-of-the-press/57956/8 "2001-03-15T00:50:10Z")
Applause, applause, POLY! I’ve always thought of this as sort of an on-line cocktail party or mixer (though more fun than 99% of real ones), in that you can drift from group to group, conversing about any number of things. If you don’t like the host’s rules, go throw your own party. Some people have, and seem to be perfectly happy, and more power to them. Maybe you guys should amend the rules to clarify that while “Don’t be a jerk” still applies, “Excessive whininess about how the Board is run” is itself a form of jerk-dom. And let me also say, since we’re on the subject: Excellent job, mods. If it’s still true that all you get is a coffee mug, that better be one damned fine mug. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-of-the-press/57956/9 "2001-03-15T01:46:53Z")
Liar! Liar! I can do whatever I want! This is America, I can murder ten people and defecate on their carcasses, then go hold up a McDonald’s and take all the hamburgers I want! What? I can’t? Oh, crap… I’d better haul-ass to Mexico… ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 9:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-of-the-press/57956/10 "2001-03-15T09:15:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jodi \* > **And let me also say, since we’re on the subject: Excellent job, mods. If it’s still true that all you get is a coffee mug, that better be one damned fine mug. 🙂** It’s a great mug! [sub]Or so I’m told.[/sub] What’s the normal delivery time for US to Europe air mail? About 14 months, right? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-of-the-press/57956/11 "2001-03-15T14:03:54Z")
Coldfire, the READER probably sent it by boat rather than by air, you can expect it sometime in the next six, maybe seven years. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-of-the-press/57956/12 "2001-03-15T14:43:33Z")
Based on a Pit thread, I think it’s safe to conclude that the Reader sent it by Western Union – which means Coldie will get a certificate good for one SD Moderator Mug – which he can redeem at the issuing office, in Chicago. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-of-the-press/57956/13 "2001-03-15T14:59:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Polycarp \* > \*\*Based on a Pit thread, I think it’s safe to conclude that the Reader sent it by Western Union – which means Coldie will get a certificate good for one SD Moderator Mug – which he can redeem at the issuing office, in Chicago. 🙂 \*\* \*\*[sub]offer valid only during a hailstorm on every fourth of July that falls on Thursday between 4:45pm and 4:48 pm.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![ageless6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9de053/32.png) [@ageless6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ageless6)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2001, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/freedom-of-the-press/57956/14 "2001-03-15T15:26:47Z")
I usually don’t stick my nose into this sort of thing, but I agree with POLY all the way, here. I’m tired of members second guessing the Mods and Admins over and over again. Get over it and get on with it. Thanks POLY, and thanks upper management. Rick