From: Michael Roston <michaelroston@trueslant.com>
Date: 10/13/09, 16:43
To: coates@trueslant.com, Kashmir Hill <kashhill@trueslant.com>, katie@trueslant.com
Hi True/Slant contributors,
Happy Autumn from your homepage editor.
We designed the True/Slant platform to highlight reasoned debate and
discussion about news. To that end, we've recruited credible
contributors who we believe to be reasonable people. And we give
contributors the ability to call out the best comments they get from
users, and leave the noise buried and harder to find.
One of our expectations in setting the system up this way is that
the relationship between True/Slant contributors would be collegial.
While we like to think of ourselves as hosting 'the new newsroom,' we
also believe that some of the standards of the old newsroom apply. Just
as you would treat your co-employees at a newspaper, magazine, TV
station, or other outlet, with professional respect and courtesy, we
expect the same of your interaction with fellow True/Slant
contributors, even if you've never met one another.
That is also to say that as contributors, we hold you to a higher standard than users of the site.
So please, abide by a few standards going forward.
1. If you disagree with something someone else wrote on the site, express it without resorting to invective.
Before you publish a comment, ask if there is something in what
you're saying that could reasonably offend the author of the blog post
that it's on. If it could, back up, and find a way to respectfully
disagree without resorting to insults, name-calling, or other curt and
impolite remarks.
2. If you find that you have a dispute with another contributor about anything, come to us first.
Your
True/Slant sherpas, Coates, Kashmir, Katie, and me, love to play
peacemaker. If you have a problem with another contributor of any kind,
don't contact that person; write to us. We will investigate the
situation and work out a solution.
3. Please don't filter out the comments of contributors you don't like.
This really runs against the spirit of True/Slant. I understand
that you may face harassment from anonymous users of the site, but
discussion about content you post should be open to all contributors on
the site. If that discussion becomes problematic, that's where numbers
1 and 2 kick in.
If you have any questions about any of this, please drop me a line.