18954: Schuller appeals to list members for inclusion (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Mark Schuller <marky@umail.ucsb.edu>

Citizens of Corbettland,

I am writing to add my perspective to Charles Arthur's call to list members to
avoid duplication of news stories.  I know that with the foreign journalists
proliferating in Haiti, and foreign governments taking a much more active role
than in the past, there is more news to report.

Please, be aware that most of us who are in Haiti do not have 24/7 access to
electricity, much less internet service.  Before sending the basic carbon copy
of the AP story that CBS or CNN ran, or the news article from Tulsa or India
about that mentions Haiti, please consider that the net effect of this
information overload is exclusion.  Most NGO professionals and professors in
Haiti i know - Lavalas, opposition, or uncommitted - have even less access to
e-mail than i do.

Case in point: last week i was off line for 2 or 3 days and when i came back,
there were over 240 posts from the Corbett list.  I spent two hours in a
Potoprens cyber cafe and still could not even copy them off my internet account
and onto a disk so i could read them later.

Please, consider your fellow citizens of Corbettland who have yahoo accounts
(which by now are undoubtedly full) or who are in Haiti with spotty access to
e-mail.  Specifically, please consider the common good before sending the news
article in your hometown or that supports your political conviction (or lack
thereof).  Yes, it is interesting to note where Haiti is popping up.  It is
also interesting to compare tertiary accounts with each other to compare bias
in editorial policy between, say, the Miami Herald and the South Florida Sun
Sentinel.

However, those of us who depend on this list for foreign news coverage do not
need to sift through literally a dozen recitations of the same story.

If, after considering those on the other end of the digital divide, you deem it
worthy to send an item, please mention the source, be it AP, AFP, AHP or
whatever combination, so that those of us with limited access can prioritize
what we choose to open and read right now.  Bob Corbett is doing us all a good
service by dutifully going through and posting these messages.  Please make his
job easier by putting the news source in the subject line.

Mesi, mil fwa.

Peace,

--

Mark  :0

L'UNION FAIT LA FORCE
Be the change you want in this world