[Nfb-editors] Why S & S shouldn't be distributed outside the membership

Sat Nov 26 04:43:37 UTC 2011

Bridgit and for all others, too;

Bridgit, you get my vote on this one! Posting "Slate & Style" here is
exactly what we, the Writers' Division should be doing. Thank you for your
good work, Miss Bridgit.

-----Original Message-----
From: nfb-editors-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:nfb-editors-bounces at nfbnet.org]
On Behalf Of Bridgit Pollpeter
Sent: Friday, November 25, 2011 3:05 PM
To: nfb-editors at nfbnet.org
Subject: [Nfb-editors] Why S & S shouldn't be distributed outside the
membership

We do distribute only to specific email and print mail lists with paying
members. The only listserve I've posted it to is this one. If Robert, and
the division board, wish I no longer post it to the editors listserve, I
will no longer do so. The only reason I've posted it here is because it's a
Federation publication, and though it's not a newsletter, I thought I would
share it with fellow editors. Otherwise, it's only sent to those who are
paying members.

Also, I understand that by posting anything, without proper coding, online,
it now is technically available to anyone in the world, but, in my opinion,
and based on my limited knowledge, I'm not too worried that massive amounts
of people outside the Federation will access current S & S issues since
whether you search Google, Bing or the NFB website, , one would still have
to traverse the archives, which could be tedious in terms of stumbling
across specific information posted, such as S & S, online. A person is much
more likely to find S & S after searching some blind topic on the Writers'
Division's website, at least directly, than a listserve, and even then, they
would have to access an archived file.
So many blind topics are searched for, bringing up so many resources and
various information, it's not as though hundreds of people will access S & S
simply by running across it on a listserve. And if a person finds this
specific listserve but is not, or has no interest, an editor, the odds they
will search through its archives is not as likely either. To find this
specific thread, people are more likely to come across it when searching my
name or the name of S & S itself, and those odds aren't as high either.

As we are all, presumably, editors on this listserve, and many share their
publications, I thought it appropriate to share the publication I edit. As a
writer by trade, I'm very aware that material posted online has the
potential to be accessed by hundreds, millions, but I also am not overly
concerned that non-Federationist will read S & S above and beyond those who
pay for current issues, which is distributed via email, print mail and
Braille, sent only to those listed on our files. I don't even post S & S to
Stylist, the division's listserve.

The thinking, I assume as I was not a part of the decision which happened
long before my time, is that unlike all other NFB publications, S & S is
literary in nature and therefore not limited to blind-related topics. We're
not necessarily seeking to educate and inform others about blindness, but to
share the talent of some individuals who happen to be blind. Because its not
educational in nature, the board decided that if people wanted to have a
current issue, they should have to pay, which is how most  literary
magazines work. If it were like other NFB material which is suppose to
educate and inform, it would make more sense to make it available free of
charge. On a side note, I've also seen a few affiliate newsletters, which
are also posted here, along with the Braille Monitor state that if you're
not a due-paying member, to please pay for current copies. This is exactly
how S & S operates.

So in a nutshell, I want to share my work with my fellow editors, but as
decided by the division, we don't want Slate & Style to be widely
distributed to non-members, and though being online it has the potential to
be found by others, I, personally, don't think such a great number of people
will be reading current issues tipping the scale in favor of non-members.
And as Robert said, once a new issue publishes, the one prior to that is
placed on the division website, free of charge for anyone to read.

Sincerely,
Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Read my blog at:
http://blogs.livewellnebraska.com/author/bpollpeter/

"History is not what happened; history is what was written down."
The Expected One- Kathleen McGowan

Message: 3
Date: Thu, 24 Nov 2011 20:54:27 -0800
From: "Mike Freeman" <k7uij at panix.com>
To: <newmanrl at cox.net>,	"'Correspondence Committee Mailing List'"
	<nfb-editors at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [Nfb-editors] Why S & S shouldn't be distributed	outside
	the	membership
Message-ID: <001701ccab2e$4feb5590$efc200b0$@panix.com>
Content-Type: text/plain;	charset="us-ascii"

In light of present Internet practice, I'll bet you this custom will go away
in a year. If you're going to insist that immediate first access to a Slate
and Style issue be predicated upon payment of dues, you should probably
distribute via individual email or a list of email addresses rather than via
listserv. AS Dave says, these lists are archived and may be read anywhere in
the world.

I personally consider this a self-defeating effort but then I'm not a member
of the Writers' division so my view doesn't count.

Mike

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