Bad newsfilter post.

April 8, 2006 8:09 AM

This is why single link newsfilter posts are bad.
posted by TedW to Etiquette/Policy at 8:09 AM (31 comments total)

It seems like a lot of people are getting worked up over this link to an unsubstantiated news story on a blog. Presumably the original poster has more information on the story and could have given us some background or corroboration. If the story is indeed true, that would have kept us skeptics from cluttering up the thread. If the story is not true, then there are a bunch of people sitting around discussing a hypothetical situation, which is not what I thought the blue was for. I am not totally anti-newsfilter; the recent thread on 9/11 here in MeTa reminded a lot of us that news threads can be good. An obscure story should be better sourced, though.
posted by TedW at 8:10 AM on April 8, 2006

So what? Can't individual readers judge the merits of the source as they wish? It's not like people don't realize it's just someone's blog.
posted by thirteenkiller at 8:20 AM on April 8, 2006

Posting something as if it's a real news story when it's barely got any corroborating info anyplace on the Internet is a little weak. The discussion winds up being fractured with a bunch of people saying "This can't possibly be true" and other people saying "Haters!" If the story has enough legs that there is good information available, that should be posted links and all. There's not really any reason to "break" news on MeFi that has appeared almost no place else unless there is some sort of national disaster/emergency. This story was the subject of a 400-comment Kos post which, if it had been posted, would probably have been deleted.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 8:24 AM on April 8, 2006

someone needs a good shushing, eh?
posted by quonsar at 8:28 AM on April 8, 2006

The post sucked, all news posts suck, but the comments in that thread nearly redeem the whole damn genre!
posted by LarryC at 8:31 AM on April 8, 2006

This story was the subject of a 400-comment Kos post which, if it had been posted, would probably have been deleted.

It was a round-about way of getting a kos story on mefi without it being deleted.
posted by justgary at 8:33 AM on April 8, 2006

I think this is worth discussing, just maybe should be hibernated til the press conference, perhaps. Then there will be more to go on.
posted by beth at 8:34 AM on April 8, 2006

I'm not convinced that this is evidence that single-link Newsfilter post are bad. I think it's evidence that any post that relies on tenuous sources filled with stupid logic and lots of finger-pointing are bad, no matter how many links they have and no matter whether they're Newsfilter or anything else. The story is just stupid, and I can't believe amberglow thought it was worthy of posting.
posted by jdroth at 8:40 AM on April 8, 2006

Can't individual readers judge the merits of the source as they wish?

Absolutely; its just that their comments on those merits detract from the thread if the story is indeed true.
posted by TedW at 8:58 AM on April 8, 2006

is TedW not an individual too? or are individuals only allowed to act autonomously when they agree with thirteenkiller?
posted by andrew cooke at 9:02 AM on April 8, 2006

It appears that gator has taken the initiative to confirm the story. I have never been so sad to be proven wrong. But this thread has run its course and the discussion in the main thread can now perhaps center on the story.
posted by TedW at 9:36 AM on April 8, 2006

andrew, I meant that the thread was a good place for that. No need for a MeTa.
posted by thirteenkiller at 9:51 AM on April 8, 2006

If the only link is to a blog, it's not newsfilter.
posted by mischief at 10:14 AM on April 8, 2006

blogfilter?
posted by exlotuseater at 10:37 AM on April 8, 2006

Crappy post.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 11:02 AM on April 8, 2006

Posting something as if it's a real news story when it's barely got any corroborating info anyplace on the Internet is a little weak.

But I thought this was a weblog.
posted by gsb at 11:04 AM on April 8, 2006

I bet some people exhibit a persecution complex pretty quickly.
posted by trey at 11:26 AM on April 8, 2006

Outrage, people! I'm not feeling it!
posted by puke & cry at 11:42 AM on April 8, 2006

*feels puke & cry's outrage inappropriately*
posted by cortex at 12:04 PM on April 8, 2006

*Fondles the outrage of the room.*
posted by Balisong at 1:04 PM on April 8, 2006

Excellent post, amber.

I'll take a million posts expressing righteous outrage, over the lukewarm-politically-correct-don't-rock-the-Bush FPPablum the MilqueToastFilter cabal here craves.
posted by fold_and_mutilate at 5:17 PM on April 8, 2006

fold_and_mutilate : "I'll take a million posts expressing righteous outrage, over the lukewarm-politically-correct-don't-rock-the-Bush FPPablum the MilqueToastFilter cabal here craves."

I'll take two million "sane people disagreeing rationally" posts over the overcooked-politically-correct-put-your-righteous-indignation-on-display FPPablum the AxeFilter cabal here craves.
posted by Bugbread at 5:31 PM on April 8, 2006

[there is no cabal]
posted by exlotuseater at 5:44 PM on April 8, 2006

Oh, come on, fold. It was a classic Premature Blurt bad example post, with almost no information in it. amberglow should have waited for at least a fact or two.
posted by mediareport at 6:12 PM on April 8, 2006

Facts don't make for good truthiness.
posted by Astro Zombie at 7:04 PM on April 8, 2006

"I'll take a million posts expressing righteous outrage, over the lukewarm-politically-correct-don't-rock-the-Bush FPPablum the MilqueToastFilter cabal here craves."

I'll take two million "sane people disagreeing rationally" posts over the overcooked-politically-correct-put-your-righteous-indignation-on-display FPPablum the AxeFilter cabal here craves.

Take the marriage problem. Take the foreign problem. Take Abyssinia. Say, you take Abyssinia and I'll take a hot fudge sundae on rye bread.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 9:25 PM on April 8, 2006

I'll take three million posts that

1. Most people haven't seen before
2. Have something interesting in the content of the linked page and
3. Warrant discussion

But I'm a purist that way.
posted by tkolar at 1:10 AM on April 9, 2006

I'll take 4 million tkolars, then.
posted by Bugbread at 3:01 AM on April 9, 2006

Cloning is the sincerest form of flattery.
posted by tkolar at 8:37 AM on April 9, 2006

But I'm a purist that way.

Only fascists want that kind of post, fascist.
posted by darukaru at 5:32 PM on April 9, 2006

I think it's a fantastic discussion
posted by poppo at 8:14 AM on April 10, 2006