Re: [gentoo-nfp] Re: Daniel Robbins Controversy Unfairly Reported in GMN

[Square Bottle]

[Responding to two different people in one posting to keep the number
of emails down.]

On Jan 20, 2008 8:56 PM, Mike Frysinger <vapier@g.o> wrote:
> a few things:
>  - fix your top posting (in other words, stop doing it)

It was an entirely new topic actually.

>  - dont hijack existing threads

Again, it was an entirely new topic. You surely noticed that it had a
brand new subject and everything. I accidentally left a different
quote at the bottom because I used a different email to quickly set it
up to send to the list, but this should have been the very last thing
for you to see anyway.

> no attempt was made to summarize anything at all.  the article merely linked
> to all existing posts made by Gentoo developers.

They chose to use some opinion posts from developers to summarize the
debate, but only ended up giving one side of the story. I don't really
know how you can say there was no attempt to summarize it, because
clearly something was meant to be reported, or else it would not have
made it into GMN which is itself supposed to summarize what's going on
in the big world of Gentoo.

> if no Gentoo developer made
> a post that supported Daniel's proposal, then it isnt exactly possible to
> link to it now is it ?

Then the editor probably should have reconsidered how to deliver the
information. Also, I sort of doubt that there aren't any gentoo
developers at all on the other side. In any case, like I originally
said, it's entirely possibly that it was just an unintentional
mistake. But it still happened.

> at any rate, the general opinion was reflected in the
> aforementioned blog posts.

Actually, no, the general opinion not only wasn't reflected, but it
wasn't even talked about, which is a big part of why I was upset. The
general opinion is that Daniel coming back would be a good thing, as
evidenced by the overwhelming majority of people that voted in favor
of him coming back. Perhaps among developers the percentage is
different (it sure seems like the developers have the opposite opinion
of the community at large), but we don't know for sure exactly how it
breaks down. The fact of the matter is that there are two sides, and
one side has a very clear majority of support from the general
community, and this side was not at all represented. If you are going
to post opinion pieces from one side, you must post opinion pieces
from the other side. Part of being a reporter is going out and getting
quotes to represent all sides when trying to tell the news.

> taking a yes/no poll is garbage as the options
> are garbage.  you cant approach the issue that way.
> -mike

No, but it's loads better than leaving the other side out completely
at least. The poll at least showed the feelings of the general
community, and proved that there were two sides. I think that the poll
would be good if it was used in a supplementary manner to other
information, but I agree that it should not be used by itself. But I
would not call it complete garbage at all. It says quite a bit about a
lot of things, and I'd be worried if it was completely ignored.

On Jan 20, 2008 10:50 PM, Christian Faulhammer <opfer@g.o> wrote:
> Hi,

Why hello! :D

>  As I wrote the Planet round-up, I will do the statement: I just
> collected reactions of developers, it is only about Planet Gentoo.
> Exactly one opinion is left out, because there was nothing substantial
> in it, and that was the one of Fernando Pereda
> <URL:http://planet.gentoo.org/developers/ferdy/2008/01/15/on_tool_boxes>,
> which was not positive either.
>  If you point me to blog posts on Planet Gentoo that are in favour of
> the offer, I gladly write a correction for the next issue.

I think that sometimes, creating a balanced article requires the
reporter to go out and talk to people. Clearly there is a lot of
support for Daniel Robbins' return out there, as was evidenced by this
very list.

>  The intention was NOT to write a balanced summary, but to sum-up
> reactions, nothing more, nothing left.

If the intention was to sum up reactions, then I don't think it
succeeded. Again, it completely left out the opinion and reaction of
the majority of the Gentoo community. There were plenty of voices
supporting Daniel Robbins. If the piece had made an attempt to show
the other side, then it would have summed up the reactions much, much
better. And as an informative news publication, I think there would be
an obligation to represent both sides in a balanced way. I don't think
it was good for Gentoo to only show one side, and I'd be just as
concerned if the tables were turned since these developers definitely
deserve to be heard.

Sincerely,
Square Bottle
www.visualflavor.org
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