[KS] Re: A disturbing trend

[k u s h i b o]

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Yuh Ji-Yeon wrote:
> many academic lists, not only H-Asia, are moderated. and as frank hoffman
> pointed out, such lists often receive funding precisely because they adhere to
> basic standards of civil, learned discussion. the moderated academic lists of
> which i have been a member do not seem to suffer from any stifling effect.
> people on these lists have honest disagreements and discussions about these
> disagreements, sometimes vehement ones, but rarely ones that degenerate into
> personal attacks or are offensive. the attacks, such as they are, are kept
> professional or else put off-line and done in private.
> 
> this list, however, does seem to have a different character. members often
> seem comfortable making offhand remarks that are not quite courteous and
> sometimes are quite rude. some commentary can easily be construed as
> prejudiced, narrowminded and insensitive, if not outright racist. and there
> have been times when i have wondered, as one or two others have publicly done,
> whether this is the korea studies list or the moogoonghwa list. this thought
> occurred to me today as i read some of the posts, one in particular comes to
> mind, regarding the nobel peace prize.
> 
> let me clarify here that i do not think that academic topics need be boring
> ones. i do not think that any of the topics we have discussed have been
> "non-academic" or "mere chitchat" and i am in favor of a broad understanding
> of what is academic or relevant to academics. but i am also in favor of
> courtesy, holding one's tongue (or hesitating over the send key) and thinking
> a little more before speaking, and generally making contributions to
> discussion rather than simply saying whatever comes to mind. declining to
> simply say whatever comes to mind and thinking through one's public comments
> can be a very good thing. indeed, some would call this maturity. my own
> opinion is that this list can use more of this sort of maturity, but that list
> moderation is not really going to do much to foster it. the issue is not
> moderation, but one of the culture, if you will, of this list and its members.

I have to admit that I don't read every post from this list. I felt so
inundated with Nobel-related discussion (on this list and off) that I
started passing up some of the posts in that thread. Consequently, I may
have missed some of the offense.

But from the posts I've read, I can honestly say I haven't seen an
example
of the offensiveness mentioned here. Every disagreement I've seen hashed
out
on the list appears to have been handled in a civil manner.

In order keep people civil, some form of moderation is necessary, but I
must
say with frankness and respect, as a newcomer to this list, that I think
the
current moderation style goes beyond keeping the list civil and
academic,
and goes toward sculpting the postings into the style of a handful of
the
list members.

I have been told I post too much (I have posted twenty times in the two
months since I joined this list -- an average of once every three days).
One
of the moderators told me that some of my posts are too long

The types of comments attached to the posts by the moderators speak to
this.
I have sent a list of ideas to one of the moderators as to how I think
this
list would be better served if certain parameters are laid down, and
then
deal with those who commit offenses when (and if) they occur, rather
than
screening each post. I'd be happy to forward a copy of my suggestions to
anyone, as I would appreciate feedback (I'm hoping to start a moderated
list
-- unrelated to this one -- in the near future).

It seems to me that the moderators are hoping for things that run
against
the grain of a list (moderated or unmoderated, academic or
non-academic).
For example, I am of the impression that they want wide participation,
yet
low volume. The only way to reconcile these two opposing forces is by
telling some members to keep quiet -- a clear impediment to lively
exchange
and discussion.

If the primary impetus to moderating this list is to make it more civil,
there are better ways than the current one to do so. If there is some
other
goal in mind, I believe it should be presented and openly discussed so
as to
reach a consensus, if at all possible.

> and finally, i fail to see the connection between korean faculty and students
> desiring freedom from censorship and list moderation. have the moderators or
> members of this list forbidden certain topics? is there a politically correct
> line that members must toe? no one has made any such pronouncements -- there
> has merely been a call for more courtesy and for keeping discussions to korea
> studies-related topics. while there may be some dispute over what constitutes
> courtesy and relevance to korea studies, this call can hardly be said to be
> censorship.

Yes, some have had their posts returned with comments as to how to
change
them to make them appropriate. I'm not sure, though, that such should
automatically be labeled censorship.

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