[Vision2020] LMT Feb 19 -- Cyber soapbox stirs debate

[Janesta Carcich]

Thanks for posting this, Area Man.

Janesta

--- AreaMan <areaman at moscow.com> wrote:

> Part 3 -- The Big One:
> ------------------------
> 
> Cyber soapbox stirs debate; Is unique forum a wild
> ride on free-speech
> express or a vicious circle for Moscow mud-slingers
> to spew their brand
> of venom? That depends on who you ask 
> 
> By DAVID JOHNSON of the Tribune
> 
> MOSCOW -- The original soapbox in Hyde Park was made
> of wood and became
> a universal symbol of free speech. 
> 
> Orators from the dimwitted to the rhetorically
> superior still gather at
> the corner of London's Park Lane and Cumberland Gate
> to publicly spout
> their opinions. 
> 
> A contemporary Hyde Park variant can be found in
> this Latah County
> college town. But instead of wood, the soapbox is
> made of cyberspace
> technology. And after 12 years, say those who speak
> through their
> computer keyboards, the Vision 2020 e-mail list has
> become both a
> vehicle for, and a target of fiery debate. 
> 
> Some call the Vision 2020 experience a
> quintessential online exercise in
> First Amendment rights, brimming with smart talk and
> generating valuable
> public discourse. 
> 
> Others brand it "Venom 2020" and mock the local
> Internet medium as a
> bane to civil dialogue, laced with pettiness and
> dominated by
> self-important windbags. 
> 
> One thing for sure -- Vision 2020, in all its
> unfettered unruliness, has
> defined itself as the kind of soapbox that continues
> to push the
> boundaries of free speech, perhaps, some fear, to
> the point of eventual
> self-inflicted silence. 
> 
> ***** 
> 
> The disclaimer that appears on the Vision 2020 Web
> site is laced with
> lawyer talk such as, "This list is only the vehicle
> that facilitates
> this public discourse, and no person or hosting ISP
> is responsible for
> the content." 
> 
> The site is offered and maintained by First Step
> Internet, a
> Moscow-based Internet service provider. 
> Bill Moore, director of technology for First Step
> Internet, calls the
> company's sponsorship of Vision 2020 a "scary,"
> money-losing proposition
> rooted in public service and vulnerable to the kind
> of verbal wars that
> would render most television censors, newspaper
> editors and libel
> attorneys speechless. 
> 
> "It really gets to be a free-for-all," Moore says.
> "We refuse to enforce
> any rules." 
> 
> In fact, virtually everything that's been written on
> Vision 2020 since
> 1994 -- every vitriolic attack, all words of wisdom,
> every cuss word,
> all political insights, every partisan cheap shot,
> all public service
> announcements, every unfounded allegation, all the
> eloquent rhetorical
> essays, and every dumb sentence -- has been
> preserved. It exists in the
> Vision 2020 archives and is available to anyone who
> logs on to the Web
> site. 
> 
> What's more, subscribers can pound out any message
> they want, or they
> don't have to write a lick. They can simply lurk
> behind the scenes. 
> 
> "Most of our subscribers are lurkers," confirms
> Moore. Of the nearly 500
> people currently subscribing to Vision 2020, he
> estimates only about 10
> percent are active contributors. 
> "The heart and soul of this thing is only a dozen,
> maybe up to 50, who
> keep it going." 
> 
> The existence of a so-called "Dirty Dozen," says
> Moore, is bantered
> about. And indeed, there is a handful of people who
> post just about
> every day. Subject matter ranges these days from the
> war in Iraq and
> Wal-Mart super centers to local politics and
> religion. 
> 
> Of the public officials who subscribe, most use the
> site to make public
> service announcements. Some admit to lurking. A few
> match wits with
> other posters. 
> 
> "I utilize it to post my legislative letter each
> week along with special
> legislative news," says State Rep. Tom Trail,
> R-Moscow. "I do not engage
> in the day-to-day Vision 2020 exchanges." 
> 
> Keely Emerine Mix, a member of the Moscow School
> Board, opts to mix it
> up. "I post," she says, "because there's a point of
> view that I hold
> that isn't well represented, and that's of a
> biblically conservative,
> albeit politically somewhat liberal, evangelical." 
> 
> Moscow Mayor Nancy Chaney champions Vision 2020 as a
> vehicle for
> legitimate public debate and sometimes a means to
> set the record
> straight. During November's election, for example, a
> Vision 2020 post
> from an anonymous "Jane Doe" resurrected old,
> unsubstantiated rumors
> about Chaney's opponent, Peg Hamlett. 
> 
> "This is at least the third time people supporting
> Nancy Chaney for
> Mayor have resorted to this garbage and distortion
> of facts," retorted
> regular Vision 2020 poster Donovan Arnold of Moscow.
> 
> 
> Chaney promptly mounted her keyboard with a
> response: "You know that I
> am an honest, fair, civil, intelligent person,"
> Chaney wrote.
> "Presumably, you will also surmise that I would have
> none of the tactics
> posted by the likes of Jane Doe. Please do not
> confuse my opinions,
> practices, or personal integrity with the likes of
> those who get their
> satisfaction from slinging mud." 
> 
> Other posters pounced on Jane Doe and the anonymous
> person went away.
> But some say the damage was complete. Hamlett lost
> the election. 
> 
> Moore winces when he ponders such exchanges. He
> concedes part of him
> wants to muzzle much of what shows up on Vision
> 2020, if not for the
> distortions and factual failings, then for the
> meanness and potentially
> libelous attacks. 
> 
> "Sometimes I think, 'you know what, this is getting
> out of control. We
> need someone to moderate it.' " But tampering with
> the posted messages,
> says Moore, could put the legal onus on First Step
> Internet. So he
> maintains the e-mail list, but keeps his hands off
> the content. 
> 
> "You can't hold the soapbox responsible," he
> reasons. 
> 
> **** 
> 
> Bill London, a local writer and civic activist, is
> one of the founders
> of Vision 2020. He's quick to point out that Vision
> 2020 started as a
> "face-to-face" group of people concerned about
> growth in Moscow. 
> 
> Kenton Bird, now director of the University of Idaho
> School of
> Journalism and Mass Media, is also credited with
> starting 
=== message truncated ===


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