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

[g. crabtree]

Dan, Thanks for putting up the LMT article. I had no idea of the risks and 
problems First Step might potentially encounter. Mr. Moore, if you are 
"lurking" out there, thanks.

On a related note Dave quotes one of my posts and identifies it as grouchy. 
This is the second time this sobriquet has been used in conjunction with my 
online blather. I am very sorry for coming across this way and will endeavor 
to correct the matter. I have always thought of myself as the Katie 
Couric/Mary Sunshine of the V.  Imagine how my perky self image and delicate 
ego are drooping. I am going to have to go back and reread some Tom Hansen 
musings to bolster my flagging spirits.

gc
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "AreaMan" <areaman at moscow.com>
To: "'Moscow Vision 2020'" <vision2020 at moscow.com>
Sent: Sunday, February 19, 2006 8:06 AM
Subject: [Vision2020] LMT Feb 19 -- Cyber soapbox stirs debate


> 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 Vision 2020,
> as is Susan Palmer, now a sociology professor at Walla Walla Community
> College.
>
> London remains linked to Vision 2020, in that he works with Moore to
> ensure the future of the electronic soapbox. And like Moore, London says
> Vision 2020 morphed from being a group of concerned citizens to a
> vehicle for discourse between concerned citizens.
>
> Greg Brown, who worked in computer services at UI, is credited with
> building the original vehicle. "I have taken the liberty of setting up a
> Vision 2020 listserv group," reads an e-mail he wrote in late 1994 and
> remains in the Vision 2020 archives. "This service will allow you to
> conveniently mail to everyone in the Vision 2020 list without
> maintaining a list of your own."
>
> Bird, according to the archives, was first to post.
>
> "Greetings," wrote Bird. "I'm so excited about our listserver I couldn't
> wait to try it out!"
>
> Bird, Palmer and Brown were the only ones to post messages during the
> first month Vision 2020 was up and running. The number of posts jumped
> to around 10 the next month, followed by more than 80 the month after
> and today the posts number between 30 and 60 per day, depending on how
> heated the issues might be.
>
> Once the electronic soapbox became an entity unto itself, say London,
> Bird and Palmer, it continued to morph into what has become a raspy
> exercise of First Amendment rights and unencumbered free speech.
>
> "I think it really exists on its own. It's like an amoebae scrounging
> around out there," says London, adding that a scrounging amoebae isn't
> always a pretty sight.
>
> "We were hoping that it would become a way for the public to educate
> themselves, and strengthen civic dialogue," London says of how he and
> others viewed Vision 2020 once it took on a life of its own. "Of course,
> to a great degree, it's a great failure because of the pettiness and
> name-calling."
>
> Bird and Palmer agree. Both say they rarely, if ever, post.
>
> "I haven't looked at Vision 2020 probably since the fall of 2004, the
> presidential election," Bird says. "It wasn't so much the tone of the
> discourse as much as the shear volume that drove me off." Bird says his
> e-mail account is flooded enough without having it overflow with Vision
> 2020 posts. His colleagues, however, continue to lurk and keep him
> posted about the dialogue.
>
> Palmer says she doesn't even lurk. "I'm a little disillusioned," she
> says. "For awhile it had a great public service aspect. For example, my
> cat got lost."
>
> Palmer says she posted news of the lost cat and it was found a few hours
> later.
>
> That sort of thing continues to happen on Vision 2020. Lost dogs and
> cats are found. People exchange recipes. Agendas for public meetings are
> posted. And even the debates, more often than not, end with good things
> happening, London says.
>
> The failures, contends London, pale in comparison to the unique service
> Vision 2020 continues to provide and the potential for its participants
> to police themselves and actually raise the level of discourse.
>
> All that comes against assessments offered by the likes of Doug Wilson,
> pastor of Moscow's Christ Church and a perpetual target (some say by his
> own making) on Vision 2020. Credited and blamed for coining the idiom
> "Venom 2020," Wilson sums up the e-mail list by saying, "I think it's an
> embarrassment to the community."
>
> ****
>
> At the request of the Lewiston Tribune, London came up with 12 of the
> more active posters on Vision 2020 and posted a request for them to
> contact the newspaper if they wanted to offer their assessment of the
> e-mail list.
>
> "My experience with things like this is that no good can possibly come
> of it," groused one person. "I would be happy to defer my position to
> someone else."
>
> Several people, however, jumped at the opportunity and offered their
> views via e-mail.
>
> "I believe that the most beneficial attribute of Moscow Vision 2020 is
> its openness," writes Tom Hansen, one of the more prolific contributors.
> "It is like a community social club with the proverbial soap box and an
> open mic 24/7. The biggest complaint that I have is when a topic
> degenerates to name calling. I have been guilty of it myself on
> occasion, although with less and less frequency."
>
> Writes Phil Nisbet, a relatively recent arrival to the list who posts
> regularly, "What's good about V 2020? It's a good early warning system
> for plans germinated by the left in Moscow. What's bad about it? Knowing
> what they plan requires you to respond, which in turn makes you a
> target."
>
> Joan Opyr, known locally as Auntie Establishment, sums up her regular
> participation as a means "to entertain, to inform, and to be part of the
> larger community conversation. I'm naturally gregarious. I'm also an
> incorrigible smart-ass. Vision 2020 helps me get in touch with my inner
> Groucho Marx."
>
> "Another bad thing about V 2020 is that some people think it adequately
> reflects the Moscow community at large," writes Dan Carscallen, another
> regular on the list. "Hogwash. While it is somewhat pervasive, there are
> still people in Moscow who don't even know what Vision 2020 is."
>
> ****
>
> After all is never said and never done, because that is the nature of an
> unmoderated listserv, Vision 2020's future is as tenuous as its history
> is rancorous. London and Moore concede they don't like to even broach
> the idea Vision 2020 disappearing, but it's pretty obvious to anyone who
> really contemplates how and why Vision 2020 works.
>
> It works because it exists on its own -- unmoderated and unencumbered by
> the legal constraints of other media like television, radio and
> newspapers. Even the blogs on the Internet are usually sponsored,
> written or edited by a person who controls the site and therefore
> assumes some legal responsibility.
>
> Vision 2020 works differently because of First Step Internet's hands-off
> support. As Moore explains, his company is willing to maintain the
> soapbox, but has nothing to do with what those who climb aboard say
> about anything.
>
> "The idea is we do it for a public service," Moore says. So when people
> on both sides of issues and the political spectrum get upset with Vision
> 2020, they howl to Moore.
>
> "We are walking that tightrope. Sometimes the right-wingers hate our
> guts, same with the left-wingers. We take this responsibility
> seriously."
>
> And therein lies the threat to Vision 2020's future.
>
> Because no one moderates the site, no one edits what's written. And when
> all that is written becomes part of the public discourse, Vision 2020
> becomes vulnerable to sabotage.
>
> Despite all the self-policing the participants attempt, the risk is
> always present that someone will push the free-speech envelop too far
> and First Step Internet might opt to dismantle the soapbox.
>
> "It's a little scary, so we're always watching and monitoring," Moore
> says.
>
> The Internet address for Vision 2020 is www.vision2020.moscow.com.
> Subscriptions are free.
> -----------------------
> It ain't easy bein' free,
>
> DC
>
> _____________________________________________________
> List services made available by First Step Internet,
> serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994.
>               http://www.fsr.net
>          mailto:Vision2020 at moscow.com
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