This diary describes a recent attempt at community moderation. I leave it to readers to form their own opinions about its success and what lessons should be drawn from it.
In a diary published on April 5th, Costa Print, who joined on December 23, 2010, and has published one diary and two comments, quoted the authors of a "2005 essay, 'Assassination and Preventative Killing'” (no link by Costa Print), as having written:
“In the war on terror the Geneva Conventions are outmoded and no longer suit a state’s efforts in combatting terror . . ."
(Ellipses and italics by Costa Print.)
Via Project MUSE, I found the article in SAIS Review, Vol. 25, Winter-Spring 2005, pp. 41-57. But on reading the article, I could not find these and other words Costa Print purported to have quoted. (Details below the fold.) That evening, I posted a comment, I don't think you actually read the article. The next day, I sent Costa Print a DKos message asking whether s/he had read the article s/he claimed to be quoting. Costa Print has not replied to either my comment or my message.
I then sent individual DKos messages to each person who tipped or recced the diary, informing them of my discovery and asking them to withdraw their tip or rec. Kudos to those who did so:
Terra Mystica Ace Nelson Statusquomustgo poco Eiron elliott PSzymeczek marina
One wrote me: "After checking up on your comment and finding the actual article through Project MUSE, I made the only logical decision I could and removed my recommendation."
But nineteen tips remain, as do thirteen recs. (There's considerable overlap.) No one, however, has contradicted my finding that Costa Print "quoted" the article as making statements it does not make.
Should I be pleased, I wonder, that some people took the time to consider my communication and remove their tip or rec? Or, should I be distressed that the majority refused to remove their tip and/or rec of a diary premised on a false, or at least mistaken (and then uncorrected after notice) quotation? Perhaps both reactions are appropriate.
More to the point, if this is all that community moderation can accomplish, is it sufficient? If not, how might it be improved?
Details below.
Read More