yes, this is a music site not msnbc

I think the political questions you guys bring up already raise a pretty decent level of discussion. Besides, if someone is coming here for presidential election coverage, there is a problem.

i think i'm to the point where i'm officially tired of hearing about the elections. which is not to say that i don't care or don't want to vote, but there's such an oversaturation of coverage already, mostly focusing on the most minor possible bullshit, that i would like to avoid as much of it as humanely possible. i'm pretty sure everyone is hearing about all that stuff elsewhere anyways. and if punknews.org is anyone's only source for presidential politics...god help us all.

i sort of have a problem with political coverage by this site. i am biased and i know others are, too. i don't think it would be wise to involve this site in politics anymore than the occasional posting of politics relating to the music world. it would be of great benefit for this site to remain a trusted source of music news rather than a mish-mash of world events.
-nic

Yes, and make all the comments anonymous. I believe that will make for the most insightful and mature discussion the internets has ever seen. I mean, nothing is more informative than 200 "Mcain is a fag lololo" comments.

As long as we don't have to talk about Canadian politics. BORING.

I think you have the right to do what you want, since it is your site. Personally, I think that of you wish to update us on when conventions are held or major speeches are being made I don't think that anyone could argue with that since it's pretty bipartisan. By providing down the middle stories, you allow us, the user to dictate the political discourse that will take place, is a positive aspect all on it's own.

Conversely, I am a pretty liberal person and I know that if this site turned into a hot bed of conservative politics that I'd probably frequent it a little bit less, and I am sure that conservative punks feel the same way if this place became unabashedly liberal.

I like Guttermouth.

Even though I am sure that most Punk fans agree on the same candidate anyway, I still feel that it would be inappropriate to cover the election.

I think yes- the comments sections on those stories are usually pretty good.

Punknews.org should run for president.

If you're only looking to inform users, you could simply post a "news alert" sort of thing - "hey, go to a news website, something major is happening" - without offering commentary. It's lame, but it will avoid firestorms of controversy, and the people who would check something out because you prompted them to will do so.

If you think that punk rock doesn't mix with politics, you're wrong.

words cannot express how much FUCK this homocock website. if you dont talk politics, i will fuckin never come back here again. PUNK=POLITICAL. if ure not political, then fuck u

so scandulus

I agree with "weffjebster".

This is, after all, PUNKnews.org... and as previously said punk and politics have very often gone hand in hand.

what if there was a special non biased section called 'election 2008' made on the site, like under 'features' over on the left that had political stories. that way it could be separate from the music and someone that's actually interested could check it out rather than be forced into it.

i think it would be nice to actually have a designated area to discuss politics considering it has a big role in punk music.

STAY OUT OF POLITICS PLEASE
thanks

Only cover things Propagandhi-approved.

talk policits for the sake of every asshole on this site who is too busy being "punx rawk avril lavine l0olz" to even pay attention to politics. like faggot dante and jonnyramone guy homo

Is there anyway to branch off another site, devoted to political news and free thought? I think it's a good to include this type of readership in open political forums.

I read my share of election news elsewhere every day. I come here for music news. I dont wanna read campaign stories when i come here to find album details and tour dates and the like.

That said, if one of the canidates says something about music, p2p or any other aspect that affects the music scenes then yah, id like to read about it here.

Don't take it personally but: Punknews.org should definitely stay out of presidential politics because they're impartial, just like every other source of information. My fucking opinion. Please disagree.

Good question, I think Punknews.org should stay "in" presidential politics.

PUNK IS POLITICS. before i was born, punk was founded because of social injustices. Anyone who thinks they should be seperate must not know what punk can be, and I'm NOT saying that punk MUST be this way (because of it's many growths and mutation over the past three decades). This site can be a great place for discussion from all sides ( left, right, green, socialist) and needs to keep some kind of board up somewhere for us to share opinions and discuss. PUNKNEWS can do this, be impartial, and keep its integrity.

Matt L.

i come to this site to get away from all the political news elsewhere. i come here for music news. the political news stories you post now are relevant to the music community, please stay away from the election coverage.

I'm going to weigh in even though I sort of work here, so I'm speaking as Adam: The Canadian Everyman With A Heart Of Gold, not Adam: The Punknews Editor...

...but the problem I see is that once we start covering the election where is the line drawn on the quantity of content? Sites that have politics as their primary focus have a wealth of stories to post, so how much of that content would need to be reproduced here? You'd either go 100% and end up drowning out the music news, or you keep it ratcheted back and end up doing a pretty poor job of covering politics. Since the former would ruin the site and the latter would just be half-assed, we might want to just leave the non-music related political coverage to others.

-adam

I think it would be a little weird at first but if any band is making an open statement to follow a candidate I think it would be fitting. And I do agree that punk rock is all about politics so in a weird way it might work.

I read Crooks and Liars to get my dirty liberal on, just like I read punknews to find out how many variations No Idea is making for the new TBIAPB. I wouldn't mind seeing poilitics on here, but I don't want it to dominate the site's mission.

Keep that shit out of here.

Also, get rid of those motherfucking American Apparel ads.

Question to everyone who saw "Death Proof" (Quentin Tarantino):

Did you guys notice that Stuntman Mike's full name is "Stuntman Mike McCain"?

Do you guys think it's just a coincidence?

As someone who is VERY into politics and follows even the smallest developments closely, I implore you with great urgency to stay the fuck away from it. Seriously. Don't even remotely try to touch it.

honestly, I know punk rock is political, but this is a punk rock MUSIC site, not a punk rock politics site. I go to other sites for politics, I come here for music. Let's keep it that way.

Gee. I wonder what canidate punknews would be supporting? Discussing politics on this site would be rather pointless. It's hard to have a discussion where everyone leans to one side.

I wouldn't mind if you guys covered it a bit. Give it a shot. If people don't like it they can skip to the next post. I don't see why people would get outraged if you did. There's a lot of like-minded people on here, there's nothing wrong with opening up a discussion on the state of affairs.

maybe just put up a banner that reminds people to register to vote. if you're going to cover politics, i'd make a separate section for it and not post it where you post traditional music articles.

That's what navel gazing is for, right?

It's your site and you should be able to do what you want. Getting into full political stories might not be a great idea but there's nothing wrong with making people aware of what's going on. I think there are a lot of kids out there with no clue as to what's going on in the U.S.A right now. I grew up in a time when punk/hardcore music was very political and today there's a small part of the scene that is truly aware of what's going on which is a real shame actually.

I have no qualm with covering the major stories, Ie like who "won", but there is no need to focus on every little story, this is punknews.org, not the new york times. So, it's ok to cover some of it, I just trust the editors to use restraint/judgment.

Write whatever you want, I still won't vote.

Punk without politics is televangelists with nothing to sell.

Mcain is a fag lololo

i doubt it, simply because there's no real premise for debate here. the news gets thrown buried within a day and there's no way people could have logical debates.

i also think that those interested in politics have a fair amount of political sites already bookmarked for news. and also deciding what gets covered and left out on punknews is a task the editorial staff shouldn't have to endure.

i do believe that punk rock and politics should go hand in hand and i think if 99.9% of the internet wasn't micro-obsessing over this stupid fucking presidential race, there'd be a lot of merit to the option. as it stands, though, there's too much out there already and i don't know if this site would be able to offer anything the rest wouldn't.

I think I'm going to agree with Adam and Dante3000 on this one. I'd have no problems with a new section or something to include more than just U.S. politics, but to add it to the music related stories would make it into an ordinary blog than a music site.

let it go, music is fine enough, if you do maybe have some interviews but get both sides not just one :) or even a few 3rd party canidates :)

Cover the politics when they are related to music. I don't want to read about the election on a music-related site. I could go elsewhere for that.

I don't think it's possible to report on political topics without presenting a bias one way or the other, and most people are likely to perceive a bias even where there is none.

I visit this site to find out what my favorite bands are up to and to discover new music. If I want to be slapped in the face with political opinions, I'll read Digg.

Fucking Croatia...25% of me was really excited...

It's pretty simple (and obviously, ultimately up to you editors). Just give equal coverage of all parties involved in the election, if you're giving any coverage at all.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6C_wzhcG758&feature=related

I think a lot of people in the punk world are really apathetic, they talk a big game about changes that need to be made but when it comes down to it they are just too lazy to do the simplest thing one can do to enact change. Voting is only meaningless if you make it so.

I think the bigger problem is this site covering shit like Fueled By Ramen bands, Katy Perry, Tegan and whomever, etc.

I think more people would agree punknews should stay out of this type of coverage.

Personally, I have my own avenues for getting election coverage, and I think a lot of other users do too. So having it on here would be a bit redundant. I certainly agree that punk and politics go hand-in-hand, but election coverage is already everywhere so it's ultimately not necessary to start coverage here (unless it's actually relevant as a music-related story, of course).

Being a non-us citizen, I'd pesonally llike to know more about US politics as after all, what happens in the states does effect us all. And what I do know of the US presidential election is usually what I have picked up whilst watching The Daily Show.

Personally I like the idea someone mentioned earlier, to have a separate section for it.

Do whatever you see fit. While this is a music site that doesn't mean that it can't have some poltical slant to it. Just remember Republican + Punk = Oxymoron.

I think you should cover politics. Covering these issues is what sets your site apart from the other sites that cover the more commercial bands and border on a gossip site. Covering politics keeps your site at the root of punks true past and not alot of the commercialization, gossip and immaturity of competing sites.

To repeat what it seems like everyone else said, the focus of the site is music and that should remain it's focus. It's OK is have a story about a Rock Against McCain comp, but anything that can't be obviously tied back to music is out of place.

It might be cool to have a section of navel gazing about what's going on in the larger world. That way political or any other significant stories could be there and opened for discussion. To many people, punk music is about the issues and the truth is this election will be impossible to completely ignore.

Whatever the decision the staff makes, I expect there to be a least one story about the election on Nov 4th telling everyone to go out and vote.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=109861&tit le=the-clash

id like to think that punk is about more than just the music. i like this idea.

Punk is about anarchy and nihilism. Who gives a fuck about politics?

fuck yes you should. politics have been a very important affiliate with punk rock. even if it was an anarchist site, you should still educate about what's going on in our country/world. as long as the music news comes first and foremost.

I welcome the opportunity to talk about politics more often on the org but lets not kid ourselves about what's on the table here. The staff already does way too much stealth editorializing about file-sharing, a trend that would likely carry over

And I'd rather not be innundated with heavy-handed overtures for Barack O'fuckingbama

Well, how about really reporting punk news. If politics relate to punk music, then report it. If not, then don't. Also, since you're probably going to read this, I'm going to say this: REPORT PUNK NEWS!!! Fall Out Boy, Panic at the Disco, and other crappy emo pop bands are not punk, so stop talking about them. Alright?

I think in this day and age politics have become very important, because people are tired of hearing and seeing the same thing over and over, they want change. The government has just become so old now, because when I think of politics or government issues all I ended up thinking about is a bunch of old men near death complaining about the same BS they have for years and even decades.

So I would say Punknews.org should not stay out presidential politics, because this is an issue that belongs on this site. Politics, especially presidential, are a big part of the music scene. It's what fueled so many musicians into starting their own bands and write the songs they did. And I think a site that reports and reviews about bands and music that are politically driven that the site it's self have a political voice of it's own.

i feel that you should cover political news. i trust you guys enough to put the important issues and both sides of arguments up there for us to see. But I also agree that they should have their own section aside from all the other news.

I'd say yes, but so far, all you've done is cover when Obama makes one of his idiot speeches. Cover the third party candidates, not the corporate jokes please.

If you can relate it to music, do it. I watch MSNBC and CNN for political news and come here for punk news. You've covered some political stuff in the past, but it was related to bands and artists. If let's say Michael Graves does a concert for McCain or Anti-Flag for Obama, post about it. A lot of punk music is political and as it gets closer to November I'll bet we'll see bands talking about it.

You should just report whatever Fat Mike says/does about the election. He's fair and balanced.

I say it's ok where it's at, no more, no less.

Cover the election if you want to, but do it in a weekly naval gazing type post. This way you can summarize the week's politics while appearing to avoid bias.

But if this site does start covering politics, I wouldn't expect any intellectual or objective discussion. It will just be a place for people to shout their conclusions and argue about grammer like every other public internet forum.

Either way, I can't see a reason not to do it.

the simple answer: NO

if people want to discuss politics, they can do it in Navel Gazing.
besides its a little American-centric to only cover American politics - what about the latest French election? or British elections?

just stay out of it completely

The answer "this is a site about music, not politics" is genuinely retarded. Punk exists because of politics. And while it may take a back seat in much of todays music, it still holds true that you comment on bands such as the clash and sex pistols, the first line of punk rock bands that mainly sang about political things. The top contest in your list is a politically charged film about a band from baghdad. If someone in politics were to die that punknews.org respected, would we have a discussion about you posting something, or would it go up? It would go up.

If I can see articles about Shoes that barely have any relevance to music, I can see politics on here. I think it's a great idea.

I think you should be involved. I think politics is VERY much within the scope of a site with "punk" in the title. My suggestion would to be to have weekly posts covering the elections with 2 or 3 Punknews.org staffers or contributors each adding to the post. One supporter each for Obama and McCain and possibly one independent staffer. I would make the comments on that thread be the only place where Punknews.org readers are to comment on politics and keep the rest of the comments on other posts to be politics free.

I don't think this site should provide opinions, only provide fact for the users to comment on.

Just wanted to thank everyone who participated in the thread. There is a lot of good opinion here and I'm really happy to see so many thoughtful responses.

my most hunble opinion: i really enjoy when you highlight political stories because they are usually the type that get very little mainstream coverage. however i get plenty of coverage of general political stories from the 24 hour news juggernauts. i think you should be careful to cover only what enriches awareness rather than what might add to the static. please continue (perhaps increase) your coverage of music-related political and social issues. leave the punditry for the pundits. thanks for asking.

Politics play a very important role in punk. It is of course a predominantly liberal genre of music and began as a spiteful response to conservative thought... Hopefully, the kids will be interested in it, but I know the dumb faggots won't.

should Punknews.org stay out of presidential politics? NO! get involved! i think punk is political. correct me if i'm wrong but i think a lot of the bands we love sing about making positive changes in themselves and the world around them. this is the main reason i listen to punk and hardcore in the first place. it inspires me to think, act, and make a difference. let's open this site up to something more thought provoking! i wanna know more than just who's got a new record out this week.

I love the open ended questions that slip into some of the more serious stories. It'd be awesome if there was more of those from an election standpoint, but I don't think on the main page. Maybe under a new tab?

I feel like this site's readership is so far to one side of the political spectrum, it would really be an exercise in futility. We all are going to believe what we want, punknews.org isn't really going to change it much.
I do like the idea, however, to tell us when something big is happening. Whoever had that idea, nice work. I think that would be really healthy. Educational, but completely unbiased.

I personally would rather that this site not cover the election. I can read about that shit 24 hours a day everywhere else.

the wawa close to my house just spent a lot of money and built a really nice, drive-in, sonic-esque car hop in its parking lot.

absolutely nobody uses it.

i say, dont do it. it makes me think of that car hop.

kill all of those hedge fun mother fuckers & tax the shit out of them... fuck them & their loop holes!

Don't blame me, I voted for DeLonge.

Most punk rock is influenced by politics and what is going on with one's country and the world. With that in mind I think it would be benificial to a lot of young kids, or even adults, who don't think politics are important to see and read information from people they can relate too.

this is more than just an election. the result will drastically affect the future of everyone in this country, regardless of the outcome. we are quickly approaching what might be one of the most important elections than any of us will ever witness, and to ignore it would be doing a great disservice to the many individuals whose attention this site holds.

also, man i hate warped tour.

I personally get my news from other sources and don't expect or really feel a desire to hear about it on this page. However, I think it could be positive if people who otherwise wouldn't care were exposed to the more important stories through this site.

Do what Dante said.

Stay out of it and let the commenters deal with in the threads or during Navel Gazing. Its nice to not have to worry about that stuff here where we're bombarded with it everywhere else. Usually I read the rest of the comments before posting to make sure I'm not repeating someone but I feel like I want to mention this. On this site I want to talk about music, the industry and aesthetics and joke about the ridiculous crap that happens. Its one of the highlights of my day when I just talk music with like minded people. I don't really get that in real life.

Actually I kinda backtrack on what I said earlier. I like it when Punknews highlights about various social groups and NGO's. While those political groups typically advocate a particular political cause it allows us to explore the group and decide for ourself. So I'd like if punknews would continue highlighting social causes rather than a particular candidate who has to advocate a multitude of issues that I have to pick and choose.

"Every vote for a governing office is an instrument for enslaving me." - Dr.M.E. Lazarus

While I like the political aspects that are relevant to the music, keep campaign/election coverage out.

First off, if you start spreading your news coverage out too wide you'll lose original focus. Perhaps the best thing internet news sources have added is that readres can find very niched coverage, hence punknews.org. Besides, it's just a click of my mouse over to a newspaper or political blog.

Second, where are you going to get your information? If it's not original reporting, I don't really see the need for second-hand information relayed through a punk music web site.

stay out.

go cowboys.

No, punknews is an organization with a group of people who obliviously vote. this country needs more groups that participate politically in the field and offer an opinion on the arena. We are not children and can choose for our selves how to vote, but what this country lacks most is interests groups who offer an opinion that we can accept or deny. Punknews has an opinion that it supports and as a service to its readers it should make that clear so that we can make our own decision. Punknews does not have the privilege of bieng a private citizens since they are a public news source

Punk = politics.

I win, what do I get?

If any music was connected to politics, it's punk rock.. this isnt some vapid MTV mongsite, there should absolutely be political coverage. if it wasn't for poltics, all the great punk rock/hardcore bands would have had nothing to rally/unite against. and thats not just the mohawked, class-war street punks, pop-punk, metallica hardcore, drunken party music.. everyone has something to say/takes influence from the political landscape. even shit like 'i cant drink outside/gas costs too much/i think my jobs heathcare plan sucks' - guess what dictates stuff like that?

anyone who says 'this is a punk site, not politics' should take a good long hard look in the mirror and sort their fucking life out. punk rock IS political.

less politics, more porn.

PORN!

Without reading through the other comments here, I reckon there should be no ´presidential election´ coverage on this site.

1. Not everyone here is American. Was Australia´s 2007 election covered? No.

2. Isn´t punknews based in Canada anyway? Once again, I don´t remember ever hearing about any Canadian elections on here.

3. If I want to see who wins the US election, I can see it on SBS World News. I sure most countries will have a TV or radio station that covers the US election, if not... well I´m sure you´ll hear about it somewhere.

Frankly, I'm sort of disappointed that I missed this thread.

IMO, the 'org shouldn't post ALL presidential political news, but what can be interpreted as the most significant and important pieces of news regarding the aforementioned topic.

Considering that politics are undeniably important in the roots of punk, they should be kept up to date here. So, to put it simply, keep us orgers posted.

Sorry, I've been drinking a lot tonight.

Acually, fuck that. Less politics, more Nickelback.

Punk is about thinking by yourself. It's not about telling people what to do or what to think. This site should not take a stance about politics. conservativepunk is lame and stupid, but if punknews becomes democraticpunk or liberalpunk it would be equally lame and stupid. Provide links to REAL political websites who are made for this and o it well, let people choose if they want to read them, but don't dare try to shove down our throat some ideas, that most of us but NEVER everyone agree with. And it's better like this, if everybody agrees there is no debate and no reflexion.

Since punk rock is a reaction to politics, it would make sense to have some relevance here. Just don't over saturate the site with it.

I'd say only post the big stuff. Don't have a bias on anything. It makes sense to post who's winning in the election every once and a while and when one of the candidates makes a major sense, but we don't need the small bullshit.

Definitely post any political news that relates to music.

'Politics is the business of governments and politicians. The world where punknews.org uses its economic influence to prop up or bring down governments, would be a frightening and bleak one indeed."

Fuck politics stay with music. Just know that however once Mr. Bush is out of office there will be less song material for those bands focused on both music and message, and I don't know if that will be a good or bad thing yet.

Just give the big details, like when or if a debate happens, big wins, ect. Just don't go into "omg barack obama forgot to wear his flag penant 3 months ago."

don't worry, it's definitely "punk rock" to talk about politics and to question our government, and trust me, there's no question that both of the two main people running right now are one in the same, part of the global elite set to make a one world government controlled by the banks and big oil companies, microchip the human race, and eventually exterminate all of us.

that said, in a perfect world this would be a ron paul vs ralph nader election.

who knows though, if we all speak out about how 9/11, gas prices, taxes, debt ,and food are all in place and set to try to enslave us, maybe things will change.

mxpx is running for president

No election coverage please, unless we are talking Ron Paul who is a fabulous write in.

But really, let punkvoter awake from the dead and be courted by the democratic party.

post an article about who wins. thats about it. or unless its pertaining to music.

"your wrong if you think punk rock doesnt mix with politics"

I think Punknews should cover major events in the election coverage. It will serve a good purpose for many of the people on this site that do not closely follow the news. Punk rock has been about social and political causes for a long time and I believe PN can facilitate the spread of news without an overt spin.

I think there should be a tie-in, definitely, but I don't think PN should be directly involved with it. My idea would be for you to endorse a news website, be it Punk Voter or what have you, and embed an RSS Feed of their headlines somewhere on the sidebar near Contests and Reviews.

you guys should make little bios for what the candidates favborite bands are and which ones are least against anarchy in the uk

- jones the bones

- stevejones8770@yahoo.com

- if my real opinion on this were to count in any way, please reconsider what youre trying to accomplish...um, for the sake of the better good, i wont leave any real opinion

Punk rock and politics go hand in hand.
Absolutely, let's all discuss it...everyday. It's important and relevant.

As long as it doesn't become heavily skewed to one particular ideology or become just an immature insult fight then it seems like a good idea.

Ultimately, it's your website your call.

please! stay out of it. punknews isn't ready to tackle politics. opinions are like assholes, especially on the internet. if you post anything, i guarantee you the next fifty reply's will involve some sort of unnecessary slander. when was the last time someone had a change of opinion on punknews, or at the very least a consideration of someone else's opinion.
but who the fuck am i...

by politics you mean obama vs maccaine right? giant douche or terd sandwhich? canidate 1 or canidate 2? i think you should talk about politics, just like how you talk about the politics of musical censorship, downloading rights, etc...but lets talk more about broader issues than whether we want a number one or a number two at mccdonalds. i want a number 8, which is ron paul.. lets talk about him.

Yes. You should talk about politics on this site. Not everyday though.

A contest should be held every week where people submit editorials and then the staff votes on the best one and it gets posted on Sundays. Staff editorials would be welcome too, maybe on Wednesdays.

More than anything though I would love to see an enthusiastic endorsement of Obama by the staff in October. This election is too important to keep your opinions quiet.

I say post one headline weekly, Navel Gazing style, but no more. Perhaps a link in the sidebar wouldn't hurt either.

I don't mind a little of political coverage here, but if I ever have trouble finding out about tour dates and stupid things that Tom Gabel does, there will be blood.

I agree with the Navel Gazing style. It would be a good thread if it was once a week.

Yes, please do stay out.
-Mark

I know when I read I headline that is about a band that I don't give to fucks about, I just skip over it...so if someone felt that way about politics, they could do the same thing. I do like the idea of a weekly thread that mentions political stories. And it would probably serve everyone well if you strayed away from large American media outlets like CNN, and linked to NPR or media sources with less corporate ties/responsibilities.

I say stay out. Every other media source covers it. When I come to punknews i want to read about the new Star Fucking Hipsters album or weather or not Dilliger Four will EVER come out with a new album. I'm not saying as people we shouldnt get involved, there are just other places that can cover that for us.

as some of the others have said... this election is so huge that its covered EVERYWHERE and anyone who has the most remote interest in politics knows where to find info and news coverage on it.. i can see the point on putting election news on here if you guys thought that the American people werent paying enough attention to the election, but this is obviously not the case this year. yes, punk would not be punk without politics, and many of my favorite bands are extremely political, but sometimes i want to just read about the music. like most of the other people on here who are interested in politics/world news, i read the major news websites. when i come to this site, i just wanna know music news.

if you're gonna do anything, you should be the most cynical of every candidate and be honest about the reality of this: all the candidates have a lot of bad ideas and no one ever holds them to their actions.

If you cover the US presidential elections, it should be to dissuade everyone from both republican and democratic candidates seeing as they're both fucking worthless.

No political news please! Punknews.org is my desolate bastion of pure music news. I get enough of it elsewhere, leave the Org the way it is :)

A big part of punk music is sharing knowledge and keeping informed. I think an unbiased approach would help people stay informed of issues. Not everyone knows where to go to find candidate's stances on issues, or even to find out what the issues are. I definitely think you should post things along this vein.