FORUM CHARTER: Read before posting

flogen

This forum is designed to cover the following:
Discussing News topics and events, their relevance/importance, and the knock on effects they will have. Also up for discussion is media ethics/good practices, and issues related to PR, Advertising, Journalism and other general media.
There will also be a Media Resourse page for links to news agencies, research agencies, publishing agencies, advertising agencies and other companies and bodies that are a part of the media.


Ok, the news/media forum charter is as follows:

1. The general boards.ie rules apply. No spamming, no trolling, no pointless thread bumping, no flaming, no advertising. No posting or linking offensive material (such as pornography). Personal abuse is not tolerated under and circumstances; if you have a point to make you can do so without resorting to petty insults. Anyone who fails to follow these rules will be banned.

2. No posting off topic. This site covers news and media... quite simple. Please remember that Politics, Television, Sport and Radio are all catered for elsewhere (see point 5 also). If a Mod, CMod, SMod or an Admin tells you get back on topic, do so or you will be banned.

2.1. Criticising grammar and/or spelling. Unless a poster's message is so incomprehensible that it cannot be understood or their post is on the topic of spelling/grammar itself, any reference to the poster's poor grasp of grammar and/or spelling will be considered off-topic.

3. Avoid Libelous or Baseless Statements. As this is a news forum, it is important the liable comments are not made. All reported news stories must contain a link to a reputable source. Sweeping statements about ethnic groups, religions, countries, media outlets, political parties and other groups will be considered libelous.
Also when stating facts it is important to back them up with evidence. Do not expect your statements to be taken as fact if you are unwilling to back them up, and do not expect to be engaged in debate if you refute other peoples sources without reason. A thread started which features libelous statements or is centred around contentious comments with absolutely no evidence to back them up is likely to be locked. Which brings me to point 4.

4. Posting Threads. When creating a thread detailing a news story do not copy and paste the entire article; simply provide a link and a brief synopsis of the story (ie the first paragraph or two).
All thread starters, like anyone involved in a discussion, is expected to give an opinion on the matter they are raising at all times.
Any new threads that fail to follow these simple rules can and will be locked without warning.

5. Discussing News. This forum does cater for discussing news, however, as I mentioned in point 2, there are a number of other forums (mainly Politics, Humanities and possibly Sport) that may be more suited to certain discussions.
When discussing a news item, please stay within that subject, and do not go off topic. If you wish to discuss politics in general, go to Politics.

6. Researching. As is policy across the site, non-profit research (eg academic) is allowed, however research which is for-profit (eg an article for publication) is not allowed under any circumstances.
If you wish to start a research thread, contact a forum mod first with details (who you are, what you're researching, what it's for etc.), and do not begin a thread without their OK.
Research threads started without prior mod approval, without the relevant details or which are being conducted on a for-profit basis will be locked without warning. Repeated abuse will result in a ban.


Hopefully that covers everything, and will make things clearer..

Enjoy

flogen


Updated 17/Sept/05 to ammend point 4.
Updated 15/July/05 to include CMods and SMods in point 2
Updated 20/Feb/06 to amend point 4
Update 3/Nov/06 to ammend point 4
Update 2/Dec/06 to ammend point 1
Update 14/Jan/07 to add point 6
Updated 15/Jul/08 to add point 2.1