Many of the recent posts regarding topics such as PBS funding and the interpretation of music videos have strayed from SCREEN-L's guidelines. I've been holding to the principle that the best moderating is the least moderating, but there've been a couple of posts I let through only after my finger hovered over the DELETE key for a several seconds. Please, folks, let's keep things civil... SCREEN-L'S FOUNDING PRINCIPLE SCREEN-L is designed for persons teaching, researching, and making film and television--whether they are film/TV educators, students, professionals, media librarians, or self-schooled fans. Discussion, therefore, is invited regarding film/TV criticism, theory, history, production issues, and teaching. In other words, SCREEN-L messages should somehow relate to the *study* of film and TV, not just the casual enjoyment of these media. This is interpreted rather broadly. Postings to SCREEN-L need not be dry, didactic treatises from which all joy has been crushed. But also, they should not noodle on about, say, the poster's penchant for full-lipped actors. CINEMA-L, a lively list also devoted to film, provides an entertaining forum for folks wanting to chat more informally about the movies. Its address is [log in to unmask] There are other film and TV lists available as well. Contact Jeremy Butler for more details. SCREEN-L GUIDELINES 1. SCREEN-L messages should maintain a sense of collegial respect for SCREEN-L's subscribers, even when disagreeing with the opinions of others. Personal attacks on subscribers will not be tolerated. 2. Identities are not always clear from the headers sent with e- mail messages. It's always a good idea to sign your message with something more human sounding than your e-mail address (e.g., Jeremy Butler rather than [log in to unmask]). 3. Each SCREEN-L message should include a descriptive "subject" heading. SCREEN-L's "digest" (see below) and most e-mail systems use subject lines in their listing of messages. Descriptive subject lines greatly facilitate subscribers' use of SCREEN-L. 4. SCREEN-L messages are sent to hundreds of subscribers. Users should avoid sending personal messages to a single person through SCREEN-L. ---------- The first thing the communists will do when they take over a country is to outlaw cockfighting. --John Monks, Oklahoma state senator, while defending cockfighting (1994) ---------- | Jeremy Butler - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [log in to unmask] | | SCREEN-L Coordinator | | Telecommunication & Film Dept * The University of Alabama * Tuscaloosa |