XPost: news.announce.newgroups, news.groups.proposals, misc.writing.screenplays.moderated
3rd REQUEST FOR DISCUSSION (RFD)
moderated group misc.writing.screenplays.moderated (change moderator or remove)
This is a formal Request for Discussion (RFD) to change the moderator or
remove the moderated newsgroup misc.writing.screenplays.moderated.
NEWSGROUPS LINE:
misc.writing.screenplays.moderated Craft/business of screenwriting. (Moderated)
RATIONALE:
Over the past few years many of the posters to misc.writing.screenplays.moderated have moved to a FaceBook group. The moderator feels that there is no longer sufficient interest in the
newsgroup so it should be removed. This RFD is to determine whether
there is, in fact, enough interest to retain the group plus a qualified volunteer who wishes to take over the moderation.
To be qualified, the volunteer should be acceptable to the community
intending to use misc.writing.screenplays.moderated and have the
technical knowledge to be able to perform the moderation duties.
Note: The group is currently shows a great deal of Usenet and Email
spam. A candidate to take over the moderation should, in addition to
the moderation policy listed in the charter below, plan to use implement measures to reduce/eliminate the spam.
The current moderator, Alan Brooks, has abandoned moderation of the
newsgroup, and shut down the moderation account as of July of 2015.
Kathy Morgan <
kmorgan@spamcop.net>, in article <1m8t6es.zvcpvu5hcftdN%
kmorgan@spamcop.net>, volunteered to take over
the moderation of the newsgroup in August of 2015 in response to the 2nd
RFD. She pointed out that she was an experienced moderator of other newsgroups, and would use the existing Robomod platform by Brian
Edmonds, including Bayesian filters that would address the identified
spam problem on the newsgroup.
DISCUSSION SO FAR:
After the first RFD was posted last May, several individuals followed up
to news.groups.proposals in support of retention of the newsgroup, and
passing of the moderation to a new team. Individuals in support, and
article message ID's, are as follows:
Jeff Newman <
jeffreylnewman@gmail.com> <
670937f2-6729-4e79-be56-d338350e0e09@googlegroups.com> <
ee516c7a-e174-4d89-b030-8ddd0eda2fdd@googlegroups.com> <
a809cae8-aa98-4824-8d84-85ea92996188@googlegroups.com>
RonB <
ronb02NOSPAM@gmail.com>
<lkm97l$e7f$
2@dont-email.me>
<lknkra$qfc$
4@dont-email.me>
<lkv3an$asd$
1@dont-email.me>
Paulo Joe Jingy <
dblizz@gmail.com> <
e58fcdc5-5a0c-4ac3-a647-cdd9509207f5@googlegroups.com> <
077a9716-6163-4d97-b77c-0c6dfc9c934f@googlegroups.com> <
7b37a34a-c663-40de-87c9-50aa900cc944@googlegroups.com>
"Bert Coules" <
mail@bertcoules.co.uk> <
mKKdnbrvf47Bx_LOnZ2dnUVZ8q2dnZ2d@brightview.co.uk>
"Nicole Massey" <
nyyki@gypsyheir.com>
<lknq9f$8l1$
1@news.albasani.net>
<lkqgj2$d2e$
1@news.albasani.net>
"Paul W. Schleck" <
pschleck@novia.net>
<536fad00$0$18007$
740e82cd@novia.net>
<536fda80$0$19551$
740e82cd@novia.net>
<53720a56$0$7942$
740e82cd@novia.net>
David Bostwick <
david.bostwick@chemistry.gatech.edu> <
XnsA32B672063A21davidbostwickchemist@216.168.3.70>
c28f62@TheWorld.com (Mark Kramer)
<lkqptp$4os$
1@flea.killfile.org>
The following individual expressed skepticism about the continuation and viability of the newsgroup in the following article message ID:
Steve Bonine <
spb@pobox.com>
<
bt72bfF6ilsU1@mid.individual.net>
The following individual offered constructive criticism and suggestions
about plans to retain the newsgroup and pass it to a new moderation
team in the following article message ID:
c28f62@TheWorld.com (Mark Kramer)
<lks886$ot6$
1@flea.killfile.org>
The (then) Big 8 Management Board Chair, Kathy Morgan
<
kmorgan@spamcop.net>, gave advice about the RFD in the following
article message ID's:
<1lldys6.1f1gd8c10wn8pvN%
kmorgan@spamcop.net> <1llgc4t.wfohomhq1unoN%
kmorgan@spamcop.net>
No concrete plans emerged, and the moderator, Alan Brooks, posted to news.groups in article message ID <lnn0l3$caj$
1@reader1.panix.com>
announcing that he was withdrawing his removal RFD, and will work on transitioning to a new team internally, and in an indefinite timeframe.
This proposal, therefore, had been dormant since June 2014, with any
decision to either remove the newsgroup, or pass moderation on to a new
team, deferred to the indefinite future.
Alan Brooks recently (July 2015) contacted the Big 8 Management Board
again via e-mail with the following replies:
"It's been a while, but I wanted to let you know that I'm going to
cancel the moderation account that runs
misc.writing.screenplays.moderated. It's been a good run, but the few
hundred of us who were still active have now moved entirely to a closed
Facebook group. MWSM is now the home to a few strays, but nothing of
value to the nominal group topic. The moderation account will probably
disappear within the month unless somebody wants to take over - and I
see no evidence that that's the case."
and:
"Yes, of course you may quote me. The members of the group miss having
easy access via usenet, but might could also quote as a reason the lack
of good usenet new readers that have pushed at least the younger
members toward an easier, web-based platform. Just as some people
always though AOL was the internet, some younger people think Google's
interface to usenet is all that exists, and it's so awful, nobody wants
to go there."
In response to the 2nd RFD, posted this August, and after Kathy Morgan's
offer to take over moderation, there was one poster opposed to the
continuation of the newsgroup and one with concerns about replacing the
current moderator.
Lois Kirkpatrick <
lk1rkp@gmail.com> in article <
1227d0c5-65a8-4920-9a92-d27453a826a8@googlegroups.com> objected to the continuation of the newsgroup. She pointed out the existence of the unmoderated misc.writing.screenplays newsgroup, that there was strong
consensus among the readership to abandon the newsgroup from three years
of discussion, that continuing an unviable newsgroup unlikely to
generate new discussion traffic was not productive, and that the
constituents of the newsgroup, including its past moderator and
subscribers, should be able to decide its fate.
Paul W. Schleck <
pschleck@novia.net> in article <mq86o6$arh$
1@reader1.panix.com> expressed concern about transferring moderatorship of a Usenet newsgroup unless one or both of the following conditions were met:
- The former moderator gave his consent to the transfer of
moderatorship.
- The readership strongly wanted to continue the newsgroup and had
concrete plans to do so, including one or more replacement
moderators.
Kathy Morgan in article <1m8wsry.wsnyy01qr6qv3N%
kmorgan@spamcop.net>,
disagreed with the first condition since, in her opinion, the moderator
has abandoned the newsgroup with little recent public discussion or
warning. She agreed with the second condition, and asked for
endorsements for her as the new moderator. She also asked for more time
to allow supporters to notice this RFD and express their support.
DISTRIBUTION:
news.announce.newgroups
news.groups.proposals
misc.writing.screenplays.moderated
misc.writing.screenplays
CHARTER: misc.writing.screenplays.moderated
The misc.writing.screenplays.moderated newsgroup is open to discussion
of the art and business aspects of writing screenplays for feature
films, documentaries and television. Specific topics may include but are
not limited to:
Finding an Agent
Querying Production Companies
Latest formatting trends
Creative screenplay writing
Screenwriting software
Screenwriting books
Screenwriters, their skills and styles
Tools available to the screenwriter
Collaboration issues
Tips from the pros
Moderation policies:
The purpose of the proposed moderation is not to escape from the
meandering and conversational tone of misc.writing.screenplays, but to eliminate the excessive abuse of the newsgroup by cross-posters from
unrelated groups. The intention is to implement robo-moderation,
eliminating all cross-posts except the few that are appropriate.
Cross-posts to groups such as news.groups, news.announce.newgroups and news.announce.newusers will be allowed unless these groups become the
vehicle for serial-cross-posting by trolls.
The moderators reserve the right to filter posts from individuals who
already have a history of off-topic cross-posting, and who simply alter
their techniques to single-posting off-topic articles, or who attempt to
flood the group, or who alter their posting headers to simulate approved status.
PROCEDURE:
Those who wish to comment on this request to change the moderator or
remove this newsgroup should subscribe to news.groups.proposals and
participate in the relevant threads in that newsgroup. To this end, the followup header of this RFD has been set to news.groups.proposals.
The Last Call for Comments should be published on August 30, 2015. A
week later the Big 8 Management Board will vote on the issue.
Available options for misc.writing.screenplays.moderated are:
- leave the newsgroup as it is
- remove the newsgroup
- appoint Kathy Morgan as new moderator
For more information on the newsgroup removal process, please see
http://www.big-8.org/articles/p/r/o/Procedure_to_remove_newsgroups.html
All discussion of active proposals should be posted to
news.groups.proposals.
CHANGE HISTORY:
3 May 2014: 1st RFD (remove)
1 August 2015: 2nd RFD (remove)
15 August 2015: 3rd RFD (change moderator or remove)
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