The DU rules for starting threads in the LBN forum have been updated

[Skinner]

We have just updated the rules for starting threads in the Latest Breaking News forum. Please note that these updated rules don't actually represent any significant change in the way which we moderate this forum. Instead, this update is mainly intended to bring the rules in line with the way we have already been running the forum, and to make the rules more clear to our members.

Thank you for your understanding.

The DU Administrators


Rules for Starting Threads in the LBN Forum (updated 1/25/05)

Thousands of people use the DU Latest Breaking News forum as their primary source for news. Please do not "dilute" the forum by starting threads that are not news.

Please be aware of the following restrictions when posting in Latest Breaking News:

1. Do not post opinion pieces, editorials, or other stories that are not news.

2. Do not post news that is more than 12 hours old.

3. Do not post duplicate topics about news events that have already been posted. Please note that we are very strict about duplicates in the Latest Breaking News forum. Multiple discussion threads about the same topic are not permitted. If you would like to share a new article about a news item that is already being discussed, please add it to the thread that is already open on that topic.

4. When posting articles, always use the published title of the article as the title of the discussion thread. Additional information may be included in a thread title (in parentheses) if it helps to make the title more clear.

5. Whenever possible, post excerpts and links from reputable mainstream news sources that are available online. Do not link to blogs, vanity sites, or blatantly biased sources, except in cases where reputable mainstream sources are not available. Please make an effort to link directly to the original source of an article, instead of linking to sites that have re-published someone else's content, or re-packaged someone else's content as their own. The moderators have the authority to decide which websites are appropriate for posting in the Latest Breaking News forum and which are not.

6. Do not post links to polls, petitions, or other action items.

7. Discussion of Israeli/Palestinian issues is not permitted in the Latest Breaking News forum, and instead must be posted in the Israeli/Palestinian Affairs forum. If, however, the news item is primarily about U.S. policy in Israeli/Palestinian affairs, you may post it in the Latest Breaking News forum.

8. Do not post frivolous or off-topic news stories. The moderators of the Latest Breaking News forum have the authority to act as news editors, and may remove news stories that they do not consider appropriate for this forum.

9. All of our other rules for posting apply as well, including copyright rules.

If your message is not appropriate for the Latest Breaking News forum, you should post it in the General Discussion Forum or in one of the other forums.

Be aware that we delete, lock, or move discussion threads from the Latest Breaking News Forum that do not fulfill these requirements. We will not send you a message explaining where your post went. Thank you for your understanding.

Updated January 25, 2005

[fob]

1. Item #9 - Does that mean that the 4 paragraph rule extends to

posts as well? I mean if the original thread has 4 paragraphs chosen from the selected LBN topic, does that mean no more snippets can be taken from the LBN story?

I know I've seen (and done) that very thing, posted what is essentially a 5th or 6th paragraph from the story, but now it sounds like that is not allowed.

Clarification please?

[Skinner]

2. The four paragraph rule has always been in effect for all posts.

Whether it is the first post in a thread, or a reply, you are expected to adhere to the four-paragraph rule.

We understand that occasionally members will have a reason pull out an additional excerpt in order to comment on it. When a member seems to have a clear purpose in doing so, we will usually permit it.

[RobertSeattle]

3. Would be cool if posts to LBN could be pre-checked via software

Identify similar URL's or topics and advise the poster that this might a dupe after the click the submit button?

[Skinner]

5. I don't think this would actually be very helpful.

Most of the duplicates are not from the identical link, nor do they have the idential title, so I am doubtful that automating the process would be very helpful. It might even make the problem worse because people might take this as an excuse to not even bother looking for duplicates.

[RobertSeattle]

6. OK - how about new search criteria of less than 24 hours?

Say something LBN comes out about "Rice" if you do a Search, even if you cull it to last 24 hours, you'll probably get lots of hits. Perhaps if Search could have a criteria of <12 and <3 it would help reduce dupes. Just a thought - I know I'm just volunteering you for more work! :)

[Skinner]

10. If you limit the search to thread title only...

...you can significantly narrow the results.

[sniffa]

4. Link?

this isn't LBN.

i 2nd the first response on cLarification.
edit: you aLready did. :D

[jswordy]

7. Duplicate posts are a tough one for me...

...as is the 12-hour rule.

I don't always have the time to scroll back 2-3 pages and make sure my news post are not dupes, especially when some of the subject lines can be misleading at times.

:shrug:

Is there another way to check?

On the 12-hour thing, what is 13 hours old on the Net at 7 a.m. is really brand-new fresh for that day's morning paper news cycle. So 12 hours old means different things to different people. I'm in the news biz, and I usually check my raw wires before I go to the Net to find a link to a story of interest to post here.

I have been putting an asterisk in the subject, and the attaching a note in the text saying the story is fresh for the morning news cycle, even if the Net version is dated older.

In some cases, news stories broken by a newspaper won't cycle into the wire services for a day or even two for general distribution. Then, you will see an "old" date on the paper's Web site, but the story will be fresh nationally that day. I use the asterisk and note for those cases, as well.

It flags them for the moderators if they want to remove them.

[Barrett808]

8. I always search on salient terms in the headline

I search over the last 24 hours or three days. Usually, I can catch a dupe before I post it, but sometimes this doesn't work.

[Skinner]

9. You can search for duplicates.

We've decided that we are going to give non-donors access to the simple search function in the Latest Breaking News forum. You should have access to that function shortly.

12 hours means published in the last 12 hours, based on the date and time listed on the article itself. That rule is unchanged from the old LBN rules. Our experience has been that the LBN forum is very busy, and most of the time if an important story has been available for 12 hours, someone has already posted it here.

[lovuian]

27. I really appreciate this Search Service Thank you so very much

This will help me. I truly love DU!!!

[Lone_Star_Dem]

11. Is it permitted to post information about a blog/editorial in a reply?

I will sometimes quote an editorial or blog piece in my reply and if I have a link to the article include it. I've never been sure if this is appropriate or not.

[Skinner]

13. You are permitted to do so in a reply.

Also, please note that our treatment of blogs is now slightly more liberal than before:

5. Whenever possible, post excerpts and links from reputable mainstream news sources that are available online. Do not link to blogs, vanity sites, or blatantly biased sources, except in cases where reputable mainstream sources are not available. Please make an effort to link directly to the original source of an article, instead of linking to sites that have re-published someone else's content, or re-packaged someone else's content as their own. The moderators have the authority to decide which websites are appropriate for posting in the Latest Breaking News forum and which are not.

In other words: If a blog breaks a story, and it's the only news source that carries the story, you are permitted to use it as the source.

[TahitiNut]

12. Those are the rules (and practices) we've pretty much followed all along.

I appreciate the clarification, though. Thanks. :hi:

[Skinner]

14. That's the whole point.

We're just updating the rules to fit what we've already been doing.

[mahina]

15. Thanks. LBN used to be an news site but is now largely irrelevant.

It was the reason I checked in with DU several times a day, to find out what was really going on. Now the same stale threads stay up for days. We need a news site to bring progressives together, that's the purpose of it right?
Hope this helps.

[bunkerbuster1]

16. I caught some flack for referring to the AJC as the

Atlanta Urinal-Constipation, when I posted a recent news item in LBN.

And ya know, they were probably right; I shouldn't be editorializing in the subject header.

Perhaps you could add a rule about simply IDing the source of the LBN in the subject header, and to keep any cute nicknames to yourself?

I say this because a) I recognize the sinfulness of my earlier ways and have repented, and b) it would make us just that much more classy than the Freepers.

Something to consider, is all.

[OKNancy]

17. Kick

:kick:

[Karenina]

18. And annuda

:kick:

[maddezmom]

19. one more

:kick:

[leftchick]

20. stupid question here...

are quotes in a snippet considered a paragraph?

example of one I just posted....

~snip~

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Despite concern over the ballooning US budget deficit, lawmakers in Congress said it was all but certain they will grant President George W. Bush (news - web sites)'s full request for an additional 80 billion dollars for military operations in Iraq (news - web sites) and Afghanistan (news - web sites).


"We've got to watch every dollar that we spend ... but I don't want to nickle and dime this effort," Republican Senator Jeff Sessions told AFP Tuesday.


"We want to complement the success in Afghanistan with another great success in Iraq. I think the president will get what he asked for," the Alabama lawmaker said.


Moderate Republican Senator Susan Collins said that spiraling costs in Iraq take a backseat to providing adequate equipment and supplies to US forces.


"I am concerned about the cost, but on the other hand we want to and need to provide our troops with everything they require," she said.


Democrats said the funds would likely be approved, but not before a long and loud congressional debate.


"I think there will be a lot of questions and challenges about what is the plan, where is this money going, how is it being spent?" Senator Hillary Clinton (news - web sites).


.... I have seen this done a lot and have started doing it myself. I hope it is not wrong.

[Skinner]

22. Quotes are considered paragraphs.

If it's a paragraph, then we consider it a paragraph for the purposes of copyright enforcement.

[paineinthearse]

21. Question: What if the source is first hand?

What if there is no MSM source, rather a member witnesses the news him/herself? I suspect details of the date/time/place would be required.

[Eloriel]

23. I hope "frivolous" and "off-topic" can now be applied to

CELEBRITY garbage news. And perhaps some of these local news stories that are just sick, grotesque and barbaric.

But at least get rid of the celebrity news.

[Skinner]

24. We've always removed celebrity news from LBN.

Unless it is really, really big news. Otherwise, it gets moved.

So, yes, "frivolous" and "off-topic" are going to be applied to celibrity news.

[mulethree]

25. kick n/t

[Tinoire]

26. The duplicate rule is slowly killing LBN imo

I agree with Mahina in post #15 and am glad she brought it up.

Too much good important news is getting lost buried in the middle of old threads simply because it's related or a development of an old story. I think it's detrimental to have people wade through a bunch of opinions and discussions to find new developments in a week-old story.

I understand the pros of consolidating everything and appreciate the intent behind it but imo it's killing LBN & we're losing out on a lot of details. If it's good enough for a new, a different news story, then I feel it should be good enough for it's own thread.

Also it's a real help to be able to see the different titles and quickly skim the story to stay on top of things. This is especially handy for working DUers who surreptiously check the site during *cough* breaks.

Would you please reconsider that rule?

Btw, I think your LBN mods rock.

[Skinner]

28. If there have been important new developments in the news story

then it can get its own thread.

But if there is an AP story already open, and someone posts the Washington Post story about the exact same thing, then that is a duplicate. This doesn't kill the LBN forum. This makes it a much better organized, more useful forum. We don't need a dozen different threads on the exact same thing.

[Tinoire]

29. I do see the pros & agree if it's the same story

but not if it's extended to "same topic". Like I said though, your LBN mods rock. I can easily live with same story, totally agree for that- just please not "same topic" because that could get too broad.

Thanks