We often pick up emails from the Park Slope Parents list (sometimes to the extreme chagrin of the people that run the group). We have noticed this particular post twice that discusses a policy of not posting any politically-related emails. (The first time it came up was during our brief hiatus in September.) Clearly the group’s focused on parenting issues, but it often veers into neighborhood issues and even national political issues can have deep impact on both parents and children. What’s interesting is that the Slope is such a political neighborhood that there are probably a lot of emails being rejected. Here’s a bit from their policy statement, called “Park Slope Parents and the Up-Coming Election,” which we think is newsworthy in a neighborhood context:
PSP has a policy of only allowing discussion of issues that pertain specifically to parenting and neighborhood issues. While we realize that many of the issues at stake in the upcoming election are ultimately relevant to parents, there are many other and more appropriate outlets for these discussions…Park Slope Parents works because it focuses specifically on parenting issues. This does not mean confining discussion only to the minutia family life. Park Slope Parents is an appropriate forum for discussing such broader issues as education, family leave, nanny pay and benefits, local safety concerns, etc.However, Park Slope Parents is not an appropriate forum for campaigning. We are a non partisan forum committed to supporting parents no matter what their political preferences. We applaud members’ engagement in party politics and independent campaigns. By all means, reach out to friends and neighbors but please don’t do it via the list.
ISN’T THE UPCOMING ELECTION OF PARTICULAR IMPORTANCE TO PARENTS AND PARK
SLOPE?Of course it is, and if our experience of the last election is anything to go by, between now and November most people will have plenty of opportunities for political discussion and debate. We don’t want the listserve to be dominated by political pitches, campaigning and arguments, when there are so many other outlets for that activity, both on and off the Internet. We think it’s great for members to pursue political activism in those other fora, but the bottom line is that PSP cannot be all things to all people, and we don’t want to overwhelm the list by trying to do so.
NO POLITICAL POSTINGS
Earlier this month party political messages slipped through for the Democratic candidates so we allowed a post for the Republicans. From now through the election we will reject any posts attempting to campaign for the candidates or including party political references. We hope this helps to clarify our policy. If someone wanted to start another local listserv dedicated to discussing politics, we would certainly support that effort.
We’ll probably catch some grief from them for posting this, as we have in the past, being told to ask permission before quoting newsworthy material. The filtering of emails doesn’t surprise us in this sense. Censorship is a slippery slope (no pun intended) and one does wonder if any other discussions are being filtered out in an attempt to keep them away from being circulated by members and possibly seen by those who would report on them because they’re newsworthy.
3 responses so far ↓
1 Best View in Brooklyn // Oct 18, 2008 at 8:45 pm
I don’t see this as censorship. The writer makes it clear that the focus of the listserve is and should continue to be parenting issues. Posts that have little to do with parenting (like many political issues – parents are full-fledged people, too!) will only further clutter the huge amount of postings further.
I don’t accept postings or requests for mentions that occur well outside of Sunset Park (as “South Park Slope” grows, it gets more difficult.) Is that censorship? And I’d hope GL doesn’t start posting items about Westchester or Midtown just to fill space or to avoid the flag of censorship from waving its accusatory fringes.
2 wisco // Oct 19, 2008 at 8:19 pm
not censorship. williamsburgs’ “brooklynbabyhui” group is the same – stay related to parenting, etc.. sometimes there is a neighborhood related article, and the posters are supposed to preference the post with an “OT” – off topic designation. politics tho is very counter-productive.
3 gowanus neighbor // Oct 20, 2008 at 11:59 am
Important thing to remember about PSP is that it is a for-profit operation. It does lots and lots of good for the neighborhood paretning community, absolutely, and a lot of its positive energy comes from the volunteers who act as moderators and event organizers on its behalf. But about a year ago or so, it was incorporated as a way to professionalize its production, and compensate its leaders for all the time they’d poured into it. And its a small living — for sure no one is getting rich. But if it is ever sold to an internet venture, which it easily could be, its parenting focus will be a key component of its value proposition.