FAQ
Since the official launch of point ● e we encountered a few common questions that were not addressed elsewhere on the site.
This FAQ is to cover most of the recurring questions about point ● e - the aims and methods of the site, as well as the natural worries that easily interrupt the creative process of writing a text even before the first word is brought onto paper.
Overview
- I would like to write an article. What should I write about? And what things other than the formal requirements, as outlined in the guidelines, should I keep in mind?
- Why don’t you use a Creative Commons license?
- Is point ● e a citizen journalism project?
- What is RSS and how can I use it?
- Why English as lingua franca? Isn’t Europe more than that?
1. I would like to write an article. What should I write about? And what things other than the formal requirements should I keep in mind?
We are looking for articles that tell our readers something about what it means to be European today. We seek articles that will challenge our readers, that will make them think. How to do this? Well, it’s always appealing if the article is written with a “voice”: the author’s unique perspective. This can be done through personal experience – the story that can’t be told through traditional journalism, because it comes from an individual view. Or it can be based upon research. Or it might come from an exploration of ideas that exist in the culture today: political movements, European identity, the environment, language, war, the media, human rights, etc. But of course, we seek articles that take a fresh view of their subjects, that don’t merely tell readers what they already know.
Here are some ideas for topics: (a) Where do you see the role of European media in the future? (b) Will podcasts revive the radio star? (c) How can the planet be saved (from CO2, the clash of civilizations, stress or ringtone-advertisement?) (d) How important is alcohol for intercultural communication? (e) How sexy is a huge bureaucracy? (f) How you manage to know who you are if you speak five languages, have a double citizenship, friends all over the world, three different cell-phone sim-card-nationalities and spend more time in the train than in your university library? (g) Auberge Internationale. Why is it so hard for Erasmus-students to get to know locals?
2. Why don’t you use a Creative Commons license?
We do feel that we can handle the rights of our authors more adequately with the classical copyright. This does not mean that it is not possible to reproduce articles, it simply means that one has to ask us beforehand and we can then pass along the request to the respective author. But this allows us to keep better track of which article is used where and in what form.
In an online environment, with the type of content that we are publishing, linking is a far better method for referring to an article than reproducing it.
3. Is point ● e a citizen journalism project?
Not exactly. We definitely have the participatory element that defines citizen journalism, encouraging submissions from anyone and everyone in order to amass a sort of ground-level view of Europe today. However, our objective differs from that of citizen journalism, which has been defined as citizens “playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information” (We Media: How Audiences are Shaping the Future of News and Information, by Shayne Bowman and Chris Willis), because our content relies less upon “news and information” and more upon subjective viewpoints: perspectives, opinions, personal experiences, advocacy, contrarianism. In this way, while we strive to be participatory, we can not be defined as “participatory journalism” or “citizen journalism”.
Furthermore, our brand of participation is less direct. All articles that are published by point ● e are first evaluated and edited. We attempt to work with the author during this process to ensure that the material meets the highest editorial standard while also fulfilling the author’s expectations. In short, we would like to combine the aspects of citizen journalism with the traditional editorial approach and the blogging method.
4. What is RSS and how can I use it?
Since version 2.0, “RSS” is short for “Really Simple Syndication”. Sites maintaining an RSS feed make their content available for so called aggregators, applications by means of which you can subscribe to content on the web you would otherwise check manually with your web-browser. Subscribing to an RSS feed allows you to keep an eye on various sources of online content without having to navigate through index-pages, pop-ups, etc each time you go online. Your RSS aggregator regularly reads in all feeds you subscribed to, highlights changes and announces new publications. Our RSS feed can be found here: http://www.point-e.com/feed/
For those who do not have a RSS aggregator yet, we collected some in the list below. In case you feel reluctant to install a separate application, you can nonetheless benefit from the ease of the RSS mechanism since some web browsers (e.g. Safari and Firefox) have in-build features for managing RSS feeds.
Windows: RSSOwl, Alertbear
Mac OSX: NetNewsWire Lite, Vienna
Linux: Liferea, Akregator
5. Why English as lingua franca? Isn’t Europe more than that?
We truly believe in multilingualism. This is what makes it possible for many contemporary Europeans to retain our own languages while also communicating outside national boundaries. While not everyone speaks English, it has become the most widespread language of interaction throughout the world, and we have taken this into account. English functions as an efficient neutral language. We hope that this website can operate as a kind of middle ground, a common point for Europe, despite differences in nationality or language.
