So who wants to cover some NEWS in ATSNN?

one question...

after i post the required 25 on ATSNN, what happins then???

can i post stories without the voting process???

and how much points do i get for doing this???

Good question...I was wondering who these darn News Veterans with over 25 posts were when I got something like 20 U2U's requesting I revise my story (which I did with each one) and eventually found the error was something like a doube comma (like this in a sentence,,)

Originally posted by they see ALL
one question...

after i post the required 25 on ATSNN, what happins then???

can i post stories without the voting process???

and how much points do i get for doing this??

These are questions the one and only SkepticOverlord can answer.

But don't let that hold you or anyone reading this back.. You can post news NOW!!!

That is all that really counted to me in the beginning.. And the same is true for you today.

Things change.. But ATSNN is after all part of ATS.. is it not?

Our community... YOUR community.. ATSNN is belongs to all of us.. submit some news.. Reply in existing ATSNN threads.. and most of all VOTE on the submissions!!!

Come on.. Lets have some fun!!

[edit on 25-3-2005 by UM_Gazz]

can you u2u SO for me...

i dont think he likes me

just u2u me with an answer if you get one...

Um_Gazz,
you have inspired me to try to submit some more news!! I was scared off by the increase in votes an article needed (why no increase in negative votes?). I have noticed that the usual news guys have not been posting lately (news, anyway). I have also noticed A LOT of news submissions that have been downgraded lately. They seem to be downgraded quickly (about TWICE as fast as usual...hmmmm). And now a plea to the members to submit more news.

What's going on?

It seems that members are trying to submit news, but those articles are getting A LOT of negative votes. Even the good ones! Smells like internal ATS politics to me. Personally, I'm going to vote for every submission (unless it's completely irrelevent e.g. Michael Jackson and Martha Stewart, but then again...) and if the submission needs some "cleaning up," I'll post the said corrections in the submission thread. I appreciate all the work people put into this site. That includes everyone from mods to regular members to new members to established reporters to ATS fictional writers. I especially appreciate members attempting to get involved and trying their best to contribute to ATS by submitting a new story. ATS rules!

So, I ask again, what's going on?

Never give up.. and remember a downgrade is not that bad. You still have your post in ATS and members can reply.. and you'll earn points there as well.

You keep trying.. improve where you can.. it will happen.

Don't ever give up.

After all it is about enjoying your time here at ATS that counts.

Have fun with your time always.

I really do not like the new ATSNN voting system.

Too many times in the last few weeks have I seen really well-written news articles which are 100% correct being voted down. Why? It really winds me up when someone has obviously put effort into finding the imformation etc for a few people to come along and vote no.

I plead to the Mods to do something about this, if you vote no you must give a reason why, if the reason is invalid the vote doesn't count.

Or even you need a certain amout of points (over 4000 for example) to be able to vote.

A lot of times people just throw news on to ATSNN, news that doesn't belong there. They may be well written, and news, but not ATSNN worthy. That's why we have the Other Current Events Forum where a lot of ATSNN threads get moved.

I have submitted several stories to ATSNN, only to recieve a U2U saying that my submission needed to be revised or that my sources are biased (according to whom?), but the U2U never discloses exactly what needs to be revised or which source they are refering to. Honestly it's a pain in the neck, and that is why I haven't been more active in ATSNN.

What is defined as ATSNN Worthy? Who makes these decisions? I made several posts recently only to have them moved to that section and since nooone ever (hardly ever goes there) they are in essence dead posts now. That is what I believe the purpose of moving the posts from ATSNN is really. If a mod disagrees with the topic and they don't like it they decide to move it to a place where it will be lost to the view of the pulic.

Some of the posts I have made recently that got moved.

This one is particular is about as non bias as you can get with both sides being equally represented.
Both Sides Agree Patriot Act Need Rewording

This one is a little one sided I'll agree, and the moving of this one I wasn't really too surprised to see. But again there wasn't even enough time provided to make it any less biased.
al-Qaida Commander Claims Bin Laden Eluded Forces in Tora Bora

What is the purpose of posting News if it doesn't make a person think? If it simply states everything is fine, The world is great, America is No. 1, Nothing to see here people keep moving. That would be boring news.

And it looks like certain mods have this agenda in mind.

Thats just my humble opinion.

Phae

Once again, Phae, the mods are NOT the ones killing your threads. Everyone can vote on them as they please.

Reading those two you posted, I'll tell ya this. Both of them seem pretty skin and bones to me, and I would have voted them down right away. Good articles, but your summary is a brief overview that doesn't much, and then you quote a large portion of the article, followed by two sentences saying a broad statement that isn't, IMO, very original.

Check out Banshee's Thread on Getting Stories Approved and this time actually read it.

TheySeeAll I've just checked out that No1 America page, are all of those facts true!?

"Twenty percent of Americans think the sun orbits the earth. Seventeen percent believe the earth revolves around the sun once a day (The Week, Jan. 7, 2005)."

Now that is shocking! I've always thought the US had the largest amout of 'under educated' people but never thought they'd be that under educated!

Originally posted by phixion
TheySeeAll I've just checked out that No1 America page, are all of those facts true!?

"Twenty percent of Americans think the sun orbits the earth. Seventeen percent believe the earth revolves around the sun once a day (The Week, Jan. 7, 2005)."

Now that is shocking! I've always thought the US had the largest amout of 'under educated' people but never thought they'd be that under educated!

Those are great facts to read, but are often misleading. My favorite was a video I saw of graduates at Ivy league schools being asked questions. Most couldn't explain the seasons. A kid at MIT who majored in engineering couldn't create a simple circuit (source, load, conductor). And so on.

Originally posted by UM_Gazz
Since no one is really submitting news.. and some of the ATSNN staff have elected to stand back... Who among you will step forward?

Gaz did you read this post by SO?

Originally posted by SkepticOverlord
There has been some discussion related to what seems to be a significant decrease in story quality. We know there is no way we can compete with "the big guns" of other news sites on pure quality of writing/stories... that's a given. But we can certainly compete on the merits of our unique take on important news.

It seems that nearly anything is submitted and quickly upgraded. For example these ATSNN stories possibly should not be on ATSNN:

Ending the Dark Days

NEWS: 5 Year Old Girl Arrested, Handcuffed Following Outburst
Bush Pushes to Limit Class-Action Suits
Doctors Remove Terry Schiavo's Feeding Tube
Registered Sex Offender Admits Killing Fla. Girl
Zimbabwe Upholds Diaspora Vote Ban
British soldier awarded the Victoria Cross

Some examples of topics that perhaps would be better off in a forum.

Please remember, ATS is a news portal by the members of a conspiracy-theory website! Let's focus on the news that matters to the type of members we attract.

Many stories have achieved 10 votes pretty fast (5 minutes in some cases). That's great, but I think maybe we can focus a little more on the kind of stories that make sense for us... and perhaps 20 votes will help the best of the best.

The changes to ATSNN are a work in progress. We'll see how this goes, and make additional adjustments as needed.

As you can see SO wants quality not quantity in posts. He also implies he only wants posts that are conspiracy related. That puts a huge restriction on which types of stories one can post.

Note that two of the stories were major headline news in the media yet he felt perhaps those stories should not even have been posted.

This past week there have been very few stories that fit what he wants, and the new votiing system is also dragging ATS down in case you have not noticed. Up until the new 20 points for an upgrade was put in place there were a lot of news stories. Now all one sees when they post a story is a rash of minus votes rather then plus which is also a bad sign.

I guess my point is what is the point in writting a story when the administrator has placed a pair of invisible handcuffs on writers?

Well I would love to submit some news!!!

Also I certainly would apprecite such a generous offer of help too. The only problem is I dont have any stories yet! There are one or two things I may look into in the near future however... I would be interested in knowing some methods whereby other successful reporters have found and reported their news items.

If some of these people could comment on the tchniques that worked for them then this would be extremely helpful.

Originally posted by phixion
TheySeeAll I've just checked out that No1 America page, are all of those facts true!?

"Twenty percent of Americans think the sun orbits the earth. Seventeen percent believe the earth revolves around the sun once a day (The Week, Jan. 7, 2005)."

Now that is shocking! I've always thought the US had the largest amout of 'under educated' people but never thought they'd be that under educated!

yes...

they are TRUE...

i was laughing so much when i read these...

UM_Gazz-

Thanks, you've lit a fire under my butt - and as a result i've just had my first atsnn submission upgraded!

*happy dance*

Originally posted by negativenihil
UM_Gazz-

Thanks, you've lit a fire under my butt - and as a result i've just had my first atsnn submission upgraded!

www.abovetopsecret.com...

Good job negativenihil

To everyone.. Please remember to contribute to existing ATSNN discussions and VOTE on all sumbissions!!!

Now find some news and get your submissions in!!

If I can be of any help.. Please send me a U2U and I will get back to you as soon as possible.

Gazz

[edit on 25-3-2005 by UM_Gazz]

I submitted my story today. Have you.

(This propaganda post brought to you by ATSNN.com)

[img]http://pro.corbis.com/images/NT4780113.jpg?size=67&uid=[7dafa828-e42e-4b4d-833c-8d379b1a9d4b][/img]

Originally posted by dbates
I submitted my story today. Have you.

(This propaganda post brought to you by ATSNN.com)

LMFAO! Nice one db.

Nothing against you Gazz, you being one of my favorite mods, but something's a little fishy here...

UM_Gazz said
Since no one is really submitting news.. and some of the ATSNN staff have elected to stand back... Who among you will step forward?

UM_Gazz said
No it [submission stats] has not dropped.. I would just like to see more contributions from all of YOU.

So which is it?

I think that SO's comments on story suitability;

the questions surrounding (perceived by some) agendas in negative voting;

the partisan bickering in ATSNN article follow-on discussions;

the sarcastic nature of one or two moderators that constantly prowl ATSNN looking for the slightest thing to nitpick at without bothering to contribute anything themselves;

disatisfaction with the unspecific nature of U2Us requesting edits;

the issues raised over acceptability of sources;

the fairness issues raised with the "grandfather" system;

and the simple fact that the buzz has died off a little;

...have all combined to confuse and discourage the more hesitant members from submitting stories.

Also the Schiavo and Weise cases have (undeservedly, IMO) drawn some attention away from ATSNN.

Not complaining, just making some observations. Been taking a break from the seriousness of ATSNN to relax and cruise ATS myself a bit lately, but I'll be back in there soon. Good luck and have fun to all members who decide to have a go but haven't tried yet.