by Paul Cutler III
Folks,
Since I was the one to post the last time about this (and recently got unjustly flamed for it on the New England Railfan forum), I thought it would be interesting to post the new editorial from the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts newsletter, "The Callboy". From the December 2004 issue, page 6 (which just arrived yesterday):
A small victory for railfan free speech
In the October Callboy, we commented via our "Editor's Laptop" on "railfans vs. railfans" - mentioning a recent dispute in which the moderator of the "MBTA Operations" forum on railroad.net had killed two discussion threads last summer. One was a request for information about any T commuter-rail track maps, immediately blasted by self-proclaimed "national security" pseudo-experts. The second had opened with a critical posting about the T police department's proposed stop-and-search policy for T riders. Callboy reader Paul Cutler kindly posted our "Laptop" thoughts on "MBTA Operations" in mid-October. But when we looked in there Oct. 28 to check for any pro-or-con replies, his posting had also disappeared!
We were all set to unleash another editorial blast at the two censorious moderators, when they announced their "new rules" for the forum effective Nov. 1.
General Rule 1, to our pleased surprise, had become:
These are the standards expected of all posters at the MBTA forum:
The moderator's will never censor anyone's opinion on any topic
We forgive both moderators that misplaced apostrophe - and celebrate their newfound willingness to keep their hands off the delete button when a forum member becomes controversial. Now we're waiting to see what happens when one "MBTA Operations" type decides he's going to police what another may write, perhaps again in the name of national security!
- JWR
Now for my comments:
1) Contact info for the MassBay RRE is as follows (from 12/04 issue):
Mass Bay RRE
P.O. Box 2742
Woburn, MA 01888-1342
[email protected]
www.MassBayRRE.org
2) Contact info for "The Callboy's" Editor:
John Reading
102 Dean Road
Brookline, MA 02445-4212
(617) 734-0209
[email protected]
3) I'm not trying to start a "flame war" by posting this editorial or the last one. I only have done this because if I ran a website, I know I'd like to hear what others are saying about it (especially one of the oldest railfan org's in the USA). Also, as a member of this forum, I, too, like to see what others in our hobby have to say about us. I'm not saying that it's the most important thing in the world, but sometimes one needs an outsiders' view to take a step back and look at one is doing.
4) I don't "hate" the moderators. Sure, I disagree sometimes with their actions, but that's to be expected. Like referees, they can't please everyone.
5) I don't know John Reading, I've never met him, and I have not forwarded any info to him or anyone associated with MassBayRRE. How he found out about this, I do not know, okay? I got "The Callboy", I read it, and then I posted here. That's it.
6) If the moderator of this forum or the site admins have any problems with what I'm doing, (ie, posting what "The Callboy" is saying about the MBTA forum) a simple e-mail from them and it will stop, permanently. I'll let John Reading fight his own battles...
Paul A. Cutler III
*************
Weather Or No Go New Haven
*************
Since I was the one to post the last time about this (and recently got unjustly flamed for it on the New England Railfan forum), I thought it would be interesting to post the new editorial from the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Enthusiasts newsletter, "The Callboy". From the December 2004 issue, page 6 (which just arrived yesterday):
A small victory for railfan free speech
In the October Callboy, we commented via our "Editor's Laptop" on "railfans vs. railfans" - mentioning a recent dispute in which the moderator of the "MBTA Operations" forum on railroad.net had killed two discussion threads last summer. One was a request for information about any T commuter-rail track maps, immediately blasted by self-proclaimed "national security" pseudo-experts. The second had opened with a critical posting about the T police department's proposed stop-and-search policy for T riders. Callboy reader Paul Cutler kindly posted our "Laptop" thoughts on "MBTA Operations" in mid-October. But when we looked in there Oct. 28 to check for any pro-or-con replies, his posting had also disappeared!
We were all set to unleash another editorial blast at the two censorious moderators, when they announced their "new rules" for the forum effective Nov. 1.
General Rule 1, to our pleased surprise, had become:
These are the standards expected of all posters at the MBTA forum:
The moderator's will never censor anyone's opinion on any topic
We forgive both moderators that misplaced apostrophe - and celebrate their newfound willingness to keep their hands off the delete button when a forum member becomes controversial. Now we're waiting to see what happens when one "MBTA Operations" type decides he's going to police what another may write, perhaps again in the name of national security!
- JWR
Now for my comments:
1) Contact info for the MassBay RRE is as follows (from 12/04 issue):
Mass Bay RRE
P.O. Box 2742
Woburn, MA 01888-1342
[email protected]
www.MassBayRRE.org
2) Contact info for "The Callboy's" Editor:
John Reading
102 Dean Road
Brookline, MA 02445-4212
(617) 734-0209
[email protected]
3) I'm not trying to start a "flame war" by posting this editorial or the last one. I only have done this because if I ran a website, I know I'd like to hear what others are saying about it (especially one of the oldest railfan org's in the USA). Also, as a member of this forum, I, too, like to see what others in our hobby have to say about us. I'm not saying that it's the most important thing in the world, but sometimes one needs an outsiders' view to take a step back and look at one is doing.
4) I don't "hate" the moderators. Sure, I disagree sometimes with their actions, but that's to be expected. Like referees, they can't please everyone.
5) I don't know John Reading, I've never met him, and I have not forwarded any info to him or anyone associated with MassBayRRE. How he found out about this, I do not know, okay? I got "The Callboy", I read it, and then I posted here. That's it.
6) If the moderator of this forum or the site admins have any problems with what I'm doing, (ie, posting what "The Callboy" is saying about the MBTA forum) a simple e-mail from them and it will stop, permanently. I'll let John Reading fight his own battles...
Paul A. Cutler III
*************
Weather Or No Go New Haven
*************
