Changes in responsibility for forum management

[ian neal]

Changes in responsibility for forum management

Following Andrew Johnson’s resignation, I made a proposal for the future of the forum. This has lead to further discussions and emails around possible alternatives which culminated in Tony Gosling making an alternative proposal. After further discussion Tony and I have agreed on a way forward.

I propose that responsibility for the website and forum moderation be handed to Tony. This is not to say Tony will work alone, just that responsibility and accountability will rest with him. Tony will be responsible for building a team to support him. In time Tony may wish to propose an alternative management arrangement.

Tony will bring undoubted commitment and conviction to the forum. And as one prominent campaigner says, ‘there is no doubt in my mind that Tony did bring a very considerable degree of structure and consistency to the forum. We may not all agree with every call he makes but that's the way it will be whoever is holding the reigns’. And this brings me to acknowledging the contentious part of this decision.

We won’t agree with every call he makes. It goes with the territory. I know there have been quite a few people who have been unhappy with Tony’s moderation and Andrew has set out in detail his concerns. As I stated in the discussions / emails leading up to this decision, I believe Tony has made mistakes in the past and I share some of these concerns. However I have discussed these with Tony and he assures me that he has taken these on board and will seek to moderate the forum fairly and to the best of his ability. The proof of this will be in the doing.

I know there will be some who will be unhappy with this decision. In response Tony and I are agreed that I will retain the authority to reverse this decision. I would only do so if a significant number of forum users or British campaigners request me to do so and if I’m convinced by their arguments. However it is my hope that the forum will flourish under Tony’s stewardship and it will remain true to its origins of welcoming all swathes of belief amongst 9/11 campaigners and promoting respectful discussion. I will be available to Tony to offer any advice and support that is helpful including acting as a conduit for peoples’ concerns.

For people with concerns over the forum’s stewardship, I would ask you contact myself or Tony by PM and if necessary by phone to discuss these rather than playing them out on the public forum. One idea Tony and I have discussed is using a private section of the forum for such discussions. I ask all users to support Tony in taking this responsibility on despite any past differences and wish him all the best in taking the site forward.

Yours sincerely

Ian Neal

To which Tony adds.............

I intend to bring on several named users as forum editors with the permission to:

1. move any thread to what they deem to be its appropriate section
2. edit topic headlines wherever necessary
3. merge topics which are about the same subject
4. split topics where comments constitute a seperate subject
5. flag up topics to moderators for moderator intervention
6. make decisions of the layout of the front page

All actions we take will be followed immediately by a polite PM to the user informing them of what we've done (moving, splitting etc) and informing them that they can change the headline back if they wish.

As well as an editorial team I will institute a formal forum management team.

I will work closely with Ian Neal, Mick Meaney and Jim Robinson to manage the forum and liase with out ISP on all forum management issues such as non-functionality and design, as well as site security (of passwords etc) and instituting a six monthly password renewal system. We will also look at the overall design of the forum and renew it as seems appropriate, for example giving local groups their own sections moderated by named campaigners in that geographical area.

I will also recruit a team of exclusively KNOWN people who will each give their real names on the forum as co-editors with the express proviso that only insulting or defamatory comments will be removed and that in each case these posts will not be deleted but split and moved into the moderator topics section of the private forum to be kept as a record of material hidden. This team will be contactable by email PM and telephone in emergencies and make themselves available for face-to face meetings with users approximately every six months.

I will continue to give Ian Neal a personal veto on all our editorial team's decisions to suspend for two months or to permenantly ban users as he has built up valuable experience in this area.

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Finally for me this is a significant day in as much as I have given more time than is probably good for me and is certainly good for my family to this site. I wouldn't have done so if I didn't believe it was important. I will still be around but I look forward to not playing the role of moderator. I know this will be controversial but I honestly believe Tony and team can do a good job. And whether it is the right decision only time will tell, but I assure all users that it is my own free will.

Ultimately any forum is only as good as its users. There are loads of great posters here and a few who are slightly less great. Such is the nature of a public forum. It would really help whoever moderates if they get practical support from users. The most practical way users can help is by moderating their own behaviour and seek to influence that of others especially when discussing contentious issues.

If you see stuff you believe breaks the rules please challenge it or PM the moderators and ask them to intervene. If you believe untruthful information is posted here, please say so but do so in a respectful manner. If you have concerns over forum's moderation please contact myself or Tony. If you want to help Tony, well you know where he is. Volunteer.

Good luck Tony (you fool)

[Killtown]

We can only PRAY he'll do a better job at controlling the trolls/haters that are ruining this forum (if this forum's not a shill forum to begin with, but when they let trolls run rampant, it makes you wonder.)

[TonyGosling]

yeah like you killtown