# Why do we avoid some national news topics?



## cuchuflete

*Why do we avoid some national/international news topics?

* 

Is it due to courtesy or fear of offending fellow foreros, or something else?

I was away from the forums during the time of the riots in France. When I returned, I expected to see lots of interesting threads about the topic. After all, it's not every day that a leading European and world nation goes through something so dramatic.

I found no threads about it.  Later, in other threads about immigration and Islam, some comments appeared.

This week the Brazilian city of São Paulo is suffering violent, coordinated attacks against the police and public order in general. I haven't seen any threads on this either. That's strange, given the dimension of the events, and that they are occuring in the largest city in the largest country in that part of the world.

This thread is not an invitation to discuss the French and Brazilian events--you can open threads to do that if you wish.

Instead, please give your thoughts on why this entire WR community has avoided these topics.
​


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## Residente Calle 13

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> Is it due to courtesy or fear of offending fellow foreros, or something else?
> 
> ​


I hope it's either one of the first two above or both.

I think we like to discuss things, here at WR, that affect us all and those, by definition, are things that mostly affect some. I think the number of "local" issues discussed here is comparatively high. I saw a great deal of discussion about the CPE, ETA, and even the Star Spangled Banner, a few weeks back. I would say those are pretty "national."


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## GenJen54

It seems that the majority of topics that do make it to these pages are US-centric.  This is perhaps because people are so ired by decisions made by the current administration. There may be other reasons. 

I, for one, have been wishing to open a thread on the situation in Darfur for many weeks now, but know for me to make an intelligent post on the topic, some research would be necessary, and at present I simply don't have that much time.  (If someone wishes to open that thread, please be my guest.)

Sometimes, too, I believe forer@s may think that what *they* may find interesting, others may not. This could create a hesitation to post - or to post things that might seem too controversial.


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## Papalote

For me, it´s been all of the above (GenJen, Cuchu, Residente). I find that most of the news outside of the USA and Canada are given very little airtime, here in Quebec. I also do not have enough time right now to do extensive reading on what is happening outside my walls. Actually, I´ve been waiting for other forer@s to write about events happening now.  Shame on me!

I was going to write about the Census in Canada, but thought it was too local and would appear to some that it was, once agian, American bashing. And the, I had a big job, so....

Perhaps next time...  
P


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## maxiogee

GenJen54 said:
			
		

> I, for one, have been wishing to open a thread on the situation in Darfur for many weeks now, but know for me to make an intelligent post on the topic, some research would be necessary, and at present I simply don't have that much time.  (If someone wishes to open that thread, please be my guest.)



Why not do what seems to be common practice on the web at large, if not among our fellow foreros here - post something off the top of your head and then, if challenged, seek evidence.  

But seriously,
Why not start your thread and say you would be interested in other's opinions to help you formulate your own attitude and to give you the potted details that you may lack?


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## vince

Papalote said:
			
		

> I was going to write about the Census in Canada, but thought it was too local and would appear to some that it was, once agian, American bashing. And the, I had a big job, so....
> 
> Perhaps next time...
> P



Why would a post about the census be anti-American?


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## Vanda

I know I am - avoiding participating. Reasons? Some. 
Some threads ask for ONLY this and that nationality to answer - not mine - so, if I meddle I am not welcome. Some, if we are speaking on behalf of our place or our country, some foreros spring on us as if we were stating things for everyone else. Some threads I'd like to open I either am not sure the topic is appropriate for this forum or I don't know how to address it. 
Sometimes, just sometimes, I feel like we are building walls segregating nations/people instead of getting to know us for a better understanding. That's a pity because this would be the perfect place to do that, gathering people from all over the world...


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## maxiogee

I would, Vanda, resolutely ignore any post which asked my nationality not to reply. In fact I'd probably go so far as to post to a topic I had no interest in. Asking for certain nations only is akin to censorship —> what topic could possibly be validly raised here to which any of us would not be qualified, by our very membership here, to respond to?

If I ask "Why do ZYX happen?" I want all comments - even from those who might only say "I don't know", as that can be illuminating in itself.

As to being unsure about opening certain threads, don't worry about that, that's why the corridors here are patrolled by mods - they would quickly tell you if something was unfitting. I'd sooner you posted a question and got deleted four times if it meant that the fifth got through and you had your topic raised.


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## GenJen54

Forer@s are also always welcome to PM mods in advance to inquire as to whether thread topics are appropriate or not.  We're also happy to help members forumulate questions about particular issues, if they are uncertain as to how to address them.


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## cuchuflete

To Tony's comment about the hallway monitors...GenJen recently posted a sticky thread.  The exclusions are damned few-- List of favorite anything, research help requests, personal romance, advice solicitations.  If you look at the archives of this forum, you will find quite a huge variety of topics. 

GenJen, Zebedee and I recently helped a forero phrase a question so that a very sensitive--for some--topic could see the light of day without offense.  It's a pretty wide-open forum, so long as the questions lead to discussions, rather than lists.


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## maxiogee

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> GenJen, Zebedee and I recently helped a forero phrase a question so that a very sensitive--for some--topic could see the light of day without offense.  It's a pretty wide-open forum, so long as the questions lead to discussions, rather than lists.



If we beging *listing*, we run the danger of capsizing!

This is off-topic but I'm not prepared to let a good pun go unposted! 
Read it now while it's fresh!


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## danielfranco

I think many of us feel that in order to post something in these forums it should relate somehow to laguage usage, or about how regional or cultural idiosyncrasies alter the perception of the topic. Sometimes even big, huge internationally relevant news seem a bit off the reservation... I for one, have very little trust in my ability to come up with topics that would either fall within the scope of the forum, or that would seem interesting, or that would not be outright insulting... 
But that's just me, the quasi-misanthrope.


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## timpeac

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> *Why do we avoid some national/international news topics?*​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Is it due to courtesy or fear of offending fellow foreros, or something else?​
> 
> 
> I was away from the forums during the time of the riots in France. When I returned, I expected to see lots of interesting threads about the topic. After all, it's not every day that a leading European and world nation goes through something so dramatic.​
> 
> 
> I found no threads about it. Later, in other threads about immigration and Islam, some comments appeared.​
> 
> 
> This week the Brazilian city of São Paulo is suffering violent, coordinated attacks against the police and public order in general. I haven't seen any threads on this either. That's strange, given the dimension of the events, and that they are occuring in the largest city in the largest country in that part of the world.​
> 
> 
> 
> This thread is not an invitation to discuss the French and Brazilian events--you can open threads to do that if you wish.​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Instead, please give your thoughts on why this entire WR community has avoided these topics.​


Hi. I find that a political slant is very much avoided in favour of cultural and linguistic slants in this cultural forum and as such the events you mention would not really come up. I've just reviewed the last 4 pages of culture forum topics and don't see anything like this. The most political we seem to get is the schooling system.

I like it this way too - I would be interested to see a thread, say, on why the French demonstrate more than the average European country (for example) thus comparing cultures but a thread about the events solely within one country - hmmm, certainly wouldn't interest me (there are tonnes of political forums where we could read about it).

So anyway, in summary, I think people avoid talking about national or even international news stories unless they can find a comparative cultural slant to put on it.


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## maxiogee

danielfranco said:
			
		

> I think many of us feel that in order to post something in these forums it should relate somehow to laguage usage, or about how regional or cultural idiosyncrasies alter the perception of the topic.



But the forum's sub-heading is…

http://forum.wordreference.com/forumdisplay.php?f=12 For cultural questions, comments and observations.
Multilingual.

…so surely all is grist to the mill? Everything is "cultural", and "observations" is a very broad word.


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## Residente Calle 13

maxiogee said:
			
		

> Everything is "cultural", and "observations" is a very broad word.



I agree but still think WR's use of those terms are more narrow than that.


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## danielfranco

Perhaps I should have qualified my statements a bit more:



> Many of us "incorrectly" or "mistakenly" feel that blah, blah, blah...



But maybe I'm just unfairly generalizing... Instead, I should have said:



> "I" incorrectly and mistakenly feel that blah, bladippy, blap...


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## geve

maxiogee said:
			
		

> If we beging *listing*, we run the danger of capsizing!
> 
> This is off-topic but I'm not prepared to let a good pun go unposted!
> Read it now while it's fresh!


I know the feeling...  I wish I understood the pun, too  


I have the feeling that there are many international and national (US-related or not) topics that are discussed here... Two specific threads come to mind for the moment: one about the Mohammed caricatures (17 pages - closed), one on the Français de papier (9 pages - closed). Oh, and the dear departed CPE/Contrat Première Embauche (2 pages - nothing more to discuss now!)
I also have the feeling that the French riots were discussed, but maybe it was just in the French-English forums, where the words "racaille" and "karcher" have been asked upon once or twice at that time...

So why is it that there are threads on some topics and not on others? Well for one thing, there cannot be threads on everything... There is just too many hot topics on an international level!!
And I suspect that indeed, sometimes, people would rather not start a discussion, for fear of what it could turn into.


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## timpeac

geve said:
			
		

> I know the feeling...  I wish I understood the pun, too


http://www.wordreference.com/definition/list

To list can mean to lean to the side or to create a list.


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## cuchuflete

timpeac said:
			
		

> http://www.wordreference.com/definition/list
> 
> To list can mean to lean to the side or to create a list.



Thanks Tim and Maxiogee,
I was harboring the illusion that it was a badly spelled version of a Hungarian pianist's name,

he said, playing arpeggios very quickly....


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## luis masci

Actually I was just to open a thread about São Pablo riot. Even I wrote a post…but I couldn’t make my mind up and I finished posting it in a group for political discussion. 
It was because I’m not sure this kind of topic could be appropriate in a language forum.
I know we sometimes touch political topics; but I think it’s rather tangentially and not as a main subject.  Besides I was afraid this matter could turn into some notable countries differences that could hurt some sensibilities; especially for our Brazilian friends.  At least I didn’t want to be the one who open a thread about it. I was rather expecting someone else could.


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## coconutpalm

On my part, I am very cautious when posting any post that concerns any political issue----I don't want to offend anyone, especially when we come from completely different (sometimes even contradicting)cultures.
I also notice that whenever I state my own political views that would possibly offend someone, the Mod would delete or edit my post. BUT they never send me a message and tell me that "Don't ever do it again". I guess they are not sure about whether it's right or wrong to "correct my mistakes", either


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## cuchuflete

I'm bewildered that the events in France and Brazil have been--inaccurately in my view--classified as "political". And yet we, as a community, have no trouble discussing immigration policies in Spain, France, and the US.

Of course the resulting--and preceding--government actions may be called political, but that's just a piece of the story.

Most of what is in this Cultural Discussions forum is not about languages.  In recent months, much of it has been about religion, migration, customs--from eating to funerals, economics and other non-linguistic topics.


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## Residente Calle 13

I wonder if it's cultural.


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## timpeac

cuchuflete said:
			
		

> I'm bewildered that the events in France and Brazil have been--inaccurately in my view--classified as "political". And yet we, as a community, have no trouble discussing immigration policies in Spain, France, and the US.
> 
> Of course the resulting--and preceding--government actions may be called political, but that's just a piece of the story.
> 
> Most of what is in this Cultural Discussions forum is not about languages. In recent months, much of it has been about religion, migration, customs--from eating to funerals, economics and other non-linguistic topics.


I think the difference is that with these other topics it is easy to compare attitudes firstly and legislation secondly in a range of countries. People therefore find it easier to view these as events from a "cultural" standpoint. We've seen above that people are shy to start talking about topics they view as political (and rightly so in my non-moderator personal opinion) and I think the distinction they are drawing is the element of comparison. 

For example, I take your point that the political is only part of the story of the France and Brazil situations you cite but they are also quite specific to those countries. People living in those countries are probably unlikely to want to talk about these events in WR, and people in other countries might be curious as to what's going on but unsure of exactly what question to ask that would be acceptable to a "cultural" rather than "political" forum. "What the hell are you up to when other countries manage to avoid such a rigmarole?" is probably felt too culturally insensitive. Oops.


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## Vanda

> especially for our Brazilian friends. At least I didn’t want to be the one who open a thread about it. I was rather expecting someone else could


Ah Luis , that could be a great opportunity for us to vent all of our indignation about what is happening here. I myself was expecting someone else to say something about it.  



> People living in those countries are probably unlikely to want to talk about these events in WR, a


On the contrary, I think we all - in my country, of course- are so frustrated and so helpless having nowhere to turn around that being able to discuss about it, could be a .... catharsis_. _


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## maxiogee

All this reticence is bewildering, and very becoming, but not conducive to a few good rows!


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## cuchuflete

There are "polite" ways into a topic, for the courteous, timid, and even the politically kerrect. Example: Open a thread about 'gangs in your country'. A great many countries, mine included, have street gangs, organized crime, etc. 
This would avoid shining a spotlight on any one situation.

Tony has captured the precise intent of the thread starter...which was far too delicate, because I didn't want to scare people away from posting:



			
				MaxiOhMY! said:
			
		

> All this reticence is bewildering, and very becoming, but not conducive to a few good rows!


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## timpeac

maxiogee said:
			
		

> All this reticence is bewildering, and very becoming, but not conducive to a few good rows!


Oh yes they are!

Vanda - yes, I should have written "unlikely to start a thread here on the events in their own country". Perhaps they would be pleased to contribute once one was open.


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## geve

Does this thread really belong to Cultural discussions?
Shouldn't it rather be in Comments&Suggestions?
Sometimes it's hard to judge if a thread topic really fits...

Perhaps also there are some topics that leave people speechless... though I doubt this is the case here - it's hard to imagine certain members of this forum being "speechless"


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## zebedee

geve said:
			
		

> Does this thread really belong to Cultural discussions?
> Shouldn't it rather be in Comments&Suggestions?
> Sometimes it's hard to judge if a thread topic really fits...
> 
> Perhaps also there are some topics that leave people speechless... though I doubt this is the case here - it's hard to imagine certain members of this forum being "speechless"


 
Well, Comments & Suggestions is more for any questions, queries and suggestions about the set-up and technical aspects of the forum. 

I think this thread's in the right place and is also proving to be rather enlightening. Thanks to it, a thread's just been opened about Brazil.


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## geve

Well there have been some threads about the spirit and relevant content of threads in C&S... (such as the thread on plagiat/schoolwork requests, for instance)

But I agree, my point was to show that indeed, people might have different views on what's a topic for cultural discussions or not.


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## Joelline

What a coincidence.  I came to this forum this afternoon to see what foreros had to say about the recent votes in the US Senate on making English our national language.  I was, honestly, quite suprised that there was no discussion on the topic.  So, following the advice most of you have given, I have just opened a thread on the topic, being careful, however, to broaden it to cover the necessity (or lack thereof) of legislation declaring a national language in any country.


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