Zeno's Paradox: Le Sigh

Zeno's Paradox

October 07, 2003 - Le Sigh

I had such hopes for Watchblog. It's supposed to be a site for political news and commentary, but the site has devolved to such an extent that reasonable rational discourse between both sides is impossible. I'm starting to wonder whether it's possible to have an unmoderated online forum for political discussion without any moderation. I'm starting to think that it is impossible. Why are people so petty and stupid? This could have been a great thing, but now is little more than a laughingstock now. I'm curious to see how much longer I stick around.

I posted the following letter

Hey all, I apologize if the following message offends anyone, but here are a few observations and ideas before leave Watchblog for good.

First of all, I admire Cameron greatly for the experiment that he has started and I think all editors should be commended for taking the time to take part in this experiment. I think that this has been an honest effort at grassroots political publishing that is desperately needed in this day and age of relentless spin. I'm happy to have been a part of it.

However, I think that Watchblog in its current incarnation is not the best possible vehicle for getting news and commentary out there. I think that the largest problem is structural. MovableType is a great publishing platform, but it lacks the necessary tools for community publishing where members of the community are (by nature of the site) opposed to each other. I think that the software as used allows people to give in to the urge to publish quick reactionary stories where it is easy to skimp on the research and reasoning that make political commentary valuable. I also think that the system has been abused by some members and that there is not sufficient controls to deal with the abuse. I'm also dismayed at the ease in which the comments attached to the stories can be abused.

With these things in mind, I'm interested in setting up a parallel to Watchblog that uses a different infrastructure to address these problems. I have Scoop in mind, given how well it has handled contentious sites like Kuro5hin in the past. I think that it brings a lot to the table with respect to peer-review before publishing, a comment system that handles abuse better, and additional features such as polling. I think that given the nature of our commentary, this is a much better constructed vehicle for generating compelling and insightful commentary and getting that content out to the users. Also, political commentary is something that I enjoy, so I'm fully prepared to finance the hosting and site myself.

I think that there are a lot of great editors on Watchblog who would be a great fit for this kind of site. My hope is that I can create a site where well-reasoned and informed articles may be posted without the usual knee-jerk reactions that tend to pollute and distract readers. I'm looking for editors who can put their personal opinions aside when necessary to write a good news article and can also put them out front and center with compelling facts and rationales to support those opinions. I imagine that the site will have three overarching categories -- News, Analysis, and Op-Ed. News would be matter of fact reporting like 9th Wave's Bob Graham article (though probably with a bit more meat to it), analysis would be articles like Stephen VanDyke's Featured Novak article, and Op-Ed would consist of articles such as David Remer's Featured "Politicians, Exploitation, and War" article. I think that the ideal target length of these articles would be 500 to 750 words (though this is merely a suggestion). Furthermore, the focus of the site is not on breaking the news first -- CNN and Fox will win every time -- rather it's intended to provide the deliberate and thoughtful commentary on these issues.

If I can solicit the interest of 10 editors, I'll do what needs to be done to make this a reality. Please note that I'm looking for editors of all political persuasions. I'd like all shades of the political spectrum represented. If you're interested, please send me an e-mail at br284@aetherial.nu.

As for me and Watchblog, I don't imagine that I'll be participating here anymore. I'm glad that I have gone through this experience, and now I'm looking to build on that. If this means that my editor privileges should be revoked and my list membership removed, that's fine. If not, I'd still be happy to lurk.

If anyone else reading this would like to be a part of this, please let me know.

Posted by br284 at 09:29 AM

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Sorry you're moving on from Watchblog. Just sent you an email with my particulars, and I look forward to checking out this new blog when it gets going.

Posted by Frederick T. Courtright on October 8, 2003 11:29 PM