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SoylentNews
The observant reader will notice that we have reduced the number of stories we post on weekdays from about 15 stories per day to about 13 stories per day. We would certainly like to continue with the higher rate, but we have been struggling to do so with current staff.
We try to post enough stories each day so that there is "something for everyone". Ultimately this site is for the community. It is also by the community; it does not run all by itself.
We Need Your Help
People's lives change. They move, get married, have health issues, change jobs, etc. All of these place additional demands on their spare time. SoylentNews is not immune to this; in fact we have experienced all of these. With less free time available, more work falls upon the other staff members — whose lives are already quite full.
What would help?
Volunteer! Have you ever thought about being an editor at SoylentNews?
You'll get to learn a super-sekret handshake, the passcode to enter our volcano-lair, and the admiration of your fellow Soylentils!
Right from the start, let me point out that we — SoylentNews — aim to be impartial. If you have an agenda that you would like to push or advocate (or denigrate) then skip to the next story.
On the other hand, not a great deal of time is needed. Even if you have only an hour or two per week that you could contribute, that would be greatly appreciated!
An earlier request for help summarized things nicely (slightly updated here):
Well we are all volunteers, so we contribute what we can, when we can, no one is expected to edit X stories/day (make your own hours). I would say a strong recommendation (maybe not requirement) is signing onto IRC once in a while (especially when editing) so one can communicate with the other editors. Editing a few stories a day, or even a few a week would be welcome. A typical submission takes me about 15-30 minutes to edit, usually on the longer side if I'm expanding or adding a balanced point of view without trying to put words into the mouth of the submitter. The rest is pretty much what you'd expect:
- Opening up a story
- Checking links
- Checking basic grammar and spelling
- Correcting wording
- Expanding a weak submission (sometimes it's just a few links and a sentence or quote)
- etc.
One also needs to:
- Learn the editing interface (not particularly hard but it has its quirks like UTC 24 hour time and the interface could use a little polish)
- Learn the SN Style Guidelines
How else could I help?
Nominate someone. Have you noticed someone who tends to compose well-written comments or journal entries? Think they might be a good fit? Please let us know!
How else could I help?
Submit a story! A well-written story that needs little editing takes a huge load off of the editorial staff. If just a few Soylentils submitted a story each day it would make a world of difference. Ideally, a story submission would be grammatically correct, have no spelling errors, be balanced and impartial, and be "publication ready". But even if your writing skills are not up to (or are even far from) that level, we are experienced at "cleaning things up", so do not let that keep you from making a story submission! If you see something tech-related that you think would be of interest to the community? Send it in!
How can you reach us?
Send an email to editors (at) soylentnews (dot) org. Or drop a message on our IRC (Internet Relay Chat) channel. Just issue the command "/join #editorial" and leave a message expressing your interest, along with your SoylentNews nickname, and someone will get back to you.
What's in it for me?
That is a good question. Speaking for myself, it started with my getting onto IRC and occasionally pointing out an error I'd seen in a story. Sometimes it would take a while before I could get the attention of an editor who could make the correction. I got frustrated. Finally, I suggested that if I were made an editor, I could fix things myself without having to track people down. Over the 5 ½ years since then, I have made mistakes... and learned how to own them, in writing, in front of all of you. I've developed a thicker "skin". I've made great friendships with people all around the world. The technical expertise on staff here is amazing; they've taught me so much. And, I hope, I've been able to teach them a thing or two, too.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday January 14 2020, @09:16PM (3 children)
No. But the candidate is posting in this thread.
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Thursday January 16 2020, @01:51PM (2 children)
So it remains an unsubstantiated accusation. Guess we can all ignore that contribution to the discussion then.
I could claim that someone posting on this site is a mass murderer - it wouldn't make it true, but it is statistically possible I suppose.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 17 2020, @09:09AM (1 child)
I know, and you know, and many, many Soylentils know, which is why this call for volunteers sucks. Stop the hypocrisy, janrinok!
(Score: 2) by janrinok on Friday January 17 2020, @06:47PM
It is a shame that your writing style compromises your attempt to mask your ID. Nevermind - we can all work it out.
It is empty barrels that make the most noise. You have made accusations and claims that you cannot substantiate in an effort to convince others that you have discovered some right-wing plot behind this site. Please take your politics somewhere else. However, I can explain exactly why your stories are stopped and it has nothing to do with a right-wing bias. Stories on themes such as politics are often contentious. We stress in our submission advice that submissions should be unbiased and balanced. Please point out which of your political submissions demonstrate a balance between the political parties in the US. Show me where your bias is not evident. I contend that you cannot. By all means live in your dream world but you (and others) were forecasting only a year or two back that the site was about to fail because of the 'bias' that we show - and yet we are still here.
Nevertheless, both in the comments and on IRC people are free to express their own views. It is only in the published stories that we have to demonstrate a level of editorial control. As you well know, if we face litigation of any sort then the site will die - we cannot afford the the legal costs even if we are the innocent party. That is an important role carried out by the editors and every member of the team helping to run this site.
You have quoted an exchange that took place on IRC in 2017. You had to go that far back to 'prove' a specific point. But you should have read it more carefully. TMB didn't tell the editorial staff to remove the story that you mention. He has no such power over the editorial process. And if you continue to read on (i.e. the part that you conveniently omitted to quote) you will notice that the editors defended their selection of the story. We have a procedure when such differences of opinion arise - as they are bound to do from time to time. We discussed the matter and eventually referred the story up for a decision. NCommander agreed in part that TMB had made a valid point (so it wasn't just his bias) but that the story raised additional interesting points that did justify it being published. However, to protect ourselves from any adverse action he suggested that the summary should be rewritten to clearly indicate that it was an Op-Ed piece that we were quoting under fair use rules. This in no way proves the site is biased to the right wing - that is nothing more than your own paranoia.
TMB is the same as everyone else on this site and he is free to state his views and opinions. That his views do not accord with your own is irrelevant. And if you do not like what he is saying it can be corrected by you discussing in the comments or on IRC, as appropriate, why you disagree with him. Suppressing free speech or making accusations against individuals is not what we are about.
You seem to strenuously dislike what this site stands for and the topics it was established to discuss. Please, feel free to move to another site that meets your own personal needs. Personally I hope you stay, but you really should get some control over your views that we are all part of a right wing establishment. I can assure you that my politics are to the left of either of the US political parties, but that doesn't pose any problems for me when I carry out my editorial role.
Also personally, I think that Trump is doing significant long-term harm to the US' image around the world - I am most certainly NOT a right-wing supporter.