[Foundation-l] Wikinews - not so much a state of the wiki

Tue Dec 4 22:20:09 UTC 2007

> I don't think I signed away my right to express humor or irony when I
> signed up with this outfit.

Not at all, but it would be helpful if you then went on to explain
more seriously.

> I'm not sure what you mean by "rhetoric" here

Rhetoric is something said more for effect than for its informational
value - humour and irony are forms of rhetoric. (They can still have
informational value, but it's generally of secondary importance to the
effect of the statement.)

> I suppose you want me to use smileys when I say something wry or smile
> in resigned bemusement. ;)

I've been online long enough that I can usually correctly interpret
what people are saying. It also helps to English - we're generally
much more used to sarcasm and similar forms of rhetoric than, say,
Americans.

> Anyone familiar with my career knows I've explained difficult and
> complex issues in the past, but I think a critical judge would be
> impatient with glib distinctions between categories of Wikinews.  Make
> that doubly impatient if the judge is, say, French.

Thank you for the clarification, that's what I was after. A little
explanation of *why* you think that would be nice, but I understand it
may be difficult to explain properly without getting into more detail
(particularly technical detail) than is appropriate for a general
mailing list.