Hello everyone! If you have not yet seen it, @ernest has handed over moderation to @Drusas @Entropywins @ Frog-Brawler (the tag system consistently messes up the link to FB’s username lol) and myself here in !politics.
First order of business is for you all to weigh in on the community guidelines that you would like to see here. As the mod team, we will weigh all suggestions and then add them to the side bar as magazine/community rules. I’m going to give about 48 hours for users to see this thread and add a comment or discuss.
Please know that the goal is not to create an echo chamber here in !politics, but we want to ensure that there is not an encroachment of rage bait and toxicity. It brings down the quality of the magazine and it discourages community engagement.
For the time being, the mod tools are pretty sparse, so I want to manage expectations about the scope of moderation we’re able to do right now. For now, our touch will be light. Expect increased functionality as time progresses, though. We have 3 weeks of reports on file, so please know we see them. Give us some time to establish how to handle those before you start to see any movement.
I would probably focus on the lede instead of the nut graf. At least the first paragraph that answers who, what, how, where, why is of importance. Getting into the nut graf might be somewhat complex in some articles, as with many (I’m currently looking at a Forbes article) the nut graf is bullet-point summarized after the lede.
Or maybe either one will do. Although I’d believe that contributors will probably post the lede over the nut graf of an article due to ease or confusion.
Not trying to split hairs with you, but we are talking about the same paragraph with different terms.
Lede: A clash at city hall today resulted in a rushed vote called during a late night session today, drawing criticisms from civil rights advocates.
Nut graf: Proposition HB (number) had been backed by state legislators from almost exclusively one political party. The bill would impact certain people in this specific way. About 150 protestors packed the gallery and spilled out into the foyer as the leader of the bill’s opposition in the state house, state rep So-and-so from the name of county district, lead a 15 hour filibuster that was interrupted prematurely by the lieutenant governor calling a vote on the bill just before the special session ended.
Usually the first paragraph is the lede, while the nut graf is the next paragraph or set of paragraphs.
For instance (the article I was referencing): here
The lede:
Twitter’s revenue from U.S. advertising in April was down 59% from the previous year, the New York Times reported Monday, after major advertisers left the social media platform following billionaire Elon Musk’s takeover—though Musk claimed two months ago the site was “breaking even.”
Nut graf:
Twitter made $88 million in U.S.-based advertising sales during a five week period starting April 1, down 59% from April 2022, the Times reported, citing an internal presentation and seven Twitter employees.
The social media company estimates its U.S. ad revenue will be down at least 56% each week in May, compared to last year, per the Times.
Twitter’s global ad revenue this year is estimated to be 28% lower than it was in 2022, at around $3 billion, according to research firm Insider Intelligence, as Twitter’s top 50 advertisers are spending markedly less since Musk took over the company in October.
I think either or would be acceptable in the body of the post, however I do believe that most users will post the lede over the nut graf just because it’s the first paragraph and the most convenient.
EDIT
At least that’s my interpretation of the difference between the two. You might be correct in that we’re describing the same things, however I see a lot of articles structured like the linked article in Forbes. Seemingly where a lede and a nut graf are both present.
Yes. We are on the same page. Are you also a former/current journalist? I copy edited for a regional paper for a few years.
I think to avoid confusion in the future, perhaps the rule should be quite expansive on this front to accept either. Best practices and whatnot.