It is extremely easy to start a magazine for only uspolitics, but I won't be taking that on. Maybe another mod here may be interested. Or even you (hint, hint). 😄
Thanks for the kind words, but honestly - just the fact that so many users felt confident enough here to voice their views is already proof that we're headed in the right direction.
I agree with what you've said here, but I have my concerns about the microblogging feature of these ActivityPub instances. I'm going to be honest and say that I'm not super clear about the interplay of threads and microblogs in the magazines. When a user boosts an item, it appears on their timeline feed in their microblog, if I'm understanding this platform correctly. My reservations about using tags is that they could put the spotlight on our magazine across the entire Fediverse at once, which may end up a nightmare. I am confident we can influence events between kbin and Lemmy. But I think it will feel like drinking from a fire hose if we get all of Mastadon jumping down our throats, too.
For what it's worth, I wish we could move more quickly on some of these magazine rules, but two of us mods had real life stuff planned prior to taking on the magazine that's made the timing weird. When I asked Ernest to hand off the reigns, I assumed he would be too busy to do anything for a few days. He replied within an hour, so I became a mod for a topic I deeply care about knowing full well that I was supposed to get on a plane and fly across the country for a weeklong work event in not even 9 hours! I've been doing all this in spare time from the hotel. Guess I must have been pretty convincing to Ernest lol
Anyhow, I have appreciated your engagement! Thanks for being a member here.
I can admit I'm getting outnumbered on this. I appreciate you adding your voice to this perspective so that I can re-evaluate my stance on it in an effort to provide this community what it wants.
The only reason why I'm still leaning towards the litmus test being on the news sites versus the author is because the legal teams at NYT are not going to permit "freedom of the press" to be the fig leaf covering a very poor piece of writing, even from opinion pieces.
I'm willing to see the counterexamples, but this is based on my experience as a journalist back in the day.
Having said that, I do think that a poor writer could communicate a lot of bad takes and still get printed. The issue really only comes up when a writer makes baseless claims - it now opens the door for lawsuits against the publisher.
No, usually this is only the first 50 words or first 2 sentences. I have noticed a few posts like this, now that you mentioned it. I thought the users were doing it - didn't know that was a functionality of pulling in an article for submission.
Yes, we are triangulating around this. Others have signaled a similar take, and I'm on board with it. We may add "badges" which are similar to post flair from reddit.
I didn't think you were asking for an echo chamber. I added that information to add some transparency so that members of this community may understand more on my perspective and get to know my philosophy a bit more. I wasn't reacting directly to you by saying that.
I want to be sensitive to outside perspectives (not yours) who may be seeing this dialogue as a witch hunt for them because of my own personal foibles and emotive reactions to their positions on politics, hence all this - what is apparently coming across as - softer language.
Please know, in my heart, I'm more Malcolm X than MLK.
Within reason, given my personal values, I too am willing to be a bit more lenient if that's what the community wants. Taking on mod responsibilities shouldn't become my entire life (nor any of the other mods on the team now) and part of that is letting the userbase self-regulate up until a user's presence becomes disruptive.
I have seen enough users actively combat alt-right content here that I'm happy to swing the ban hammer on neo-Nazi and pro-white supremacy content.
What I don't want to create is an echo chamber that only permits the views of people I agree with.
I say this with all sincerity: as a progressive, we need genuine and legitimate leadership to step up and start governing again in the GOP. We don't need people who were once too awful to embrace getting a redemption arc (a la Mitt Romney and Liz Cheney style), but real and serious political leaders. I would like this magazine to be a place to stay informed about the moves and leadership on the right that are worth building bridges with.
And as much as I hate the entire MAGA crowd, we still need to be informed of their movements and goings on. So I'm not willing to draw the line at no right wing content from right wing sources ever. But I happily draw the line at no neo-Nazi or white supremacy sympathizing.
