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SAJA MAILING LISTS > SAJA DISCUSSION LIST – POSTING GUIDELINES
Updated: February 19, 2005
The Worldwide Web is full of chat rooms and internet groups and lists. Each has its own rules and character. This SAJA Discussion List has a set of rules and guidelines which participants are expected to follow. This is a free service for journalists and others who wish to be informed and to inform one another about news, facts, research, sources and viewpoints relating to South Asia, South Asians and journalism in general. The List is not intended to be debating forum on issues that have only a peripheral connection to journalism, such as the politics of south Asia, the United States, or any other place. Issues like journalistic ethics, professional conduct, news media biases may be debated.
The List welcomes a wide range of viewpoints, comments, criticism and counter criticism because this List is dedicated to journalism and journalists benefit by listening to a range of viewpoints on the topics they cover and their methodology.
It is understandable that topics like politics and religion stir up our passions, especially those of us who are intimately interested or involved
in them. But, this List asks participants to conduct even passionate debates with civility and courtesy.
This List is an informational service SAJA runs; the views expressed in this List are not reflective of SAJA, the organization, nor do the views expressed by individuals on the list representative of their organizations.
List participants must be aware that messages posted to the List do not constitute private communication. Often, messages and information posted to the List are disseminated to outside parties or quoted in the media, sometimes with proper attribution and context but sometimes not. List participants are, therefore, encouraged to exercise judgment and restraint on what is transmitted to the List. In some cases, a direct communication to another List participant is more efficient and safer than a public response to the whole List.
When posting a message, stick to the topic. Do not indiscriminately post unrelated comments or advertisements. A common problem in public discussion groups is one angry or unpleasant email leading to a spate of back and forth messages leading to a flame war. To avoid this, the best response usually is no response at all.
Messages sent to the List may be rejected and are subject to edit by SAJA’s moderator if, in the judgment and discretion of the moderator, the message is inappropriate or not relevant to the List. Most messages are approved and posted to the List without any edits. In the seven+ years that this List has been running, posts sent by only a small number of participants (less than 10 out of nearly 250 participants) have been subject to edits or rejection.
SIGNATURE LINE:
Because it is impossible to tell from an e-mail address the background of someone who posts a message, it is important that every message contain a signature line that includes the writer's full name, affiliation and city. Any message that doesn't fulfill this requirement is subject to being rejected from the list.
SUBJECT LINE:
Please be mindful of how you word the subject line for your posts. General guidelines handed down from the List's inception have been:
(1) TOPIC: Include short description of topic, such as BOLLYWOOD or
OUTSOURCING or BIZ (for business) or RELIGION.
MEDIA
BREAKING NEWS = use with only MAJOR news breaking within two hours
DITN = Desis In The News
JITN = Journalists In The News
INDO-PAK AFFS
US-SA AFFS
ETHICS
NUKES = items about nuclear weapons
AWARDS
REQUEST
OFFER
NY EVENT
DESIAM = items about Desi America
ADMIN = items about this list
STORY IDEA
OUTSOURCING
US BIZ = US business
INDIA BIZ
BOOKS
TV = upcoming TV event
RADIO = upcoming radio event
TRANSCRIPTS = transcripts of important TV/radio items
INDIA
PAK
B'DESH
LANKA
NEPAL
BHUTAN
RELIGION
(2) PUBLICATION: Please include the name of the publication, such as NYT,
WP, etc. to indicate where the article was published (Remember, in the body of
your email, you should include the URL and date of publication and the name
of the reporter / columnist, etc.)
(3) Title of the article, abbreviated or paraphrased if necessary to fit
into a single line.
(4) Please do NOT send articles DIRECTLY from the websites of online
publications because each publication introduces its own unique wording in
the subject line, such as "Sujata sent this" or "Hi, Monica, thought you might like
this." Please take a moment to copy and paste the text of the article
into the body of the email and type an appropriate subject line.
(5) If the Discussion List diverges from the original topic, please indicate
by a new subject line, such as: Stringer Policy at NYT [Was: Sri Lanka
coverage by WP].
WHAT IS APPROPRIATE TO POST OR NOT APPROPRIATE TO POST:
(1) Articles and columns and news items in the NORTH AMERICAN media
concerning South Asia, South Asians and journalism in general. These are
then followed by comments on the articles, columns and news items. Except in rare cases where the NORTH AMERICAN media is NOT covering some news (as happened in the case of the arrest of Sanakaracharya), we try not to include items from
South Asian media (not because they are not important but because the List would
be overwhelmed by such a drastic expansion of its scope.) Occasionally, articles and columns from the UK, Australia and other countries are also posted to the list, although there is no systematic effort to monitor these as we do with the North American media.
(2) Story ideas for journalists in North America concerning South Asia,
South Asians and journalism in general.
(3) Controversies in journalism (not other fields) concerning South Asia or
South Asians. For example, the flawed reporting about astranaut Kalpana
Chawla was covered in the List but a controversy regarding a South Asian doctor's
alleged medical malpractice is not covered (unless the manner in which it is
reported becomes a matter for journalists to study or discuss.)
(4) Queries from journalists looking for contacts or research data in
covering South Asia or South Asians and responses to such queries.
(5) Information of value to journalists, such as job opportunities,
educational and training programs, scholarships, etc.
(6) Announcements about journalists or journalism organizations, such as
individual achievements, promotions, mergers, layoffs, etc.
(7) New developments in journalism, such as the way Blogs play a role in
reportage of news.
(8) Personal comments and abusive language are not permitted. For example,
referring to Pakistanis as 'Pakis' or African Americans using the N-word or
making jokes with references to ethnic or racial groups, gender or sexual orientation are all becoming common in many chat rooms but, in this List, these are considered inappropriate, rude, offensive
and tasteless.
(9) The List is not a debating forum to PROVE one or the other Lister right
or wrong, certainly not on matters like religion which have confounded
humanity all through the Ages.
ARCHIVES:
Messages posted to the List can be archived from
http://lists.jrn.columbia.edu/read/?forum=saja-disc&max=10&orderby=CreatStamp_+DESC&
Only messages posted within the past two years are available at this time.
A “search” function is available at this site to locate posts on specific
topics or containing specified words.
TO SUBSCRIBE / UNSUBSCRIBE:
To subscribe to or unsubscribe from the SAJA Discussion List, please send a
note, with a brief description of your job, interests and indicating your
location, to: saja@columbia.edu
*Subject to revision from time to time. If you have comments, suggestions, please write to: Sree Sreenivasan at ss221@columbia.edu
To learn more about SAJA:
http://www.saja.org
saja@columbia.edu
212-854-5979
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