Thanks for writing this up! I’m excited about the project and agree with most of what you’ve written.
One point of uncertainty that you’ve touched on but would be good to clarify: do you see The Altruist as news for the EA community where well-founded criticism is published, or do you see it as a place for improving the community’s public reputation?
As an extreme example, would you publicly report if you found out someone was embezzling money from an EA organisation, even if the organisation wanted to handle it quietly to save its reputation?
Thanks! I can see that there’s potential for cross-purposes between improving the community and supporting good critique. Ideally, something like The Altruist would be a place for both on the basis that good critique builds a healthier community and highlights EA as a place of open discussion.
For the example, I’d lean on the side of reporting the embezzling though I think it would obviously depend on the specifics of the case. I think the risks and consequences of a perception that the community works to bury bad news like that are high and likely outweigh the costs of reporting.
Thanks for writing this up! I’m excited about the project and agree with most of what you’ve written.
One point of uncertainty that you’ve touched on but would be good to clarify: do you see The Altruist as news for the EA community where well-founded criticism is published, or do you see it as a place for improving the community’s public reputation?
As an extreme example, would you publicly report if you found out someone was embezzling money from an EA organisation, even if the organisation wanted to handle it quietly to save its reputation?
Thanks! I can see that there’s potential for cross-purposes between improving the community and supporting good critique. Ideally, something like The Altruist would be a place for both on the basis that good critique builds a healthier community and highlights EA as a place of open discussion.
For the example, I’d lean on the side of reporting the embezzling though I think it would obviously depend on the specifics of the case. I think the risks and consequences of a perception that the community works to bury bad news like that are high and likely outweigh the costs of reporting.