Messages In This Thread

South Pacific Independent News Network · 02-06-2022, 09:46 PM

ELECTION COVERAGE
FEBRUARY 2022 CABINET ELECTION DEBATE SERIES

Senior Editor James Halpert sat down with all candidates running in the February 2022 Cabinet Election to know more about their qualifications, intended policies, and their visions for the coming term.

Minister of Engagement
Minister of Media
Minister of Defence

MINISTER OF ENGAGEMENT

Opening Remarks

[Jebediah] Not much to say other than what's already in my campaign - although I will add that I have added a bit of stuff since I posted it, mostly a TLDR.
also hi! I'm Jeb!

[Purple Hyacinth] Hi everyone! I'm committed to continuing to focus on sustainability within the Ministry. If you want more details than that, go look at my campaign :p

You are either relatively new to the Cabinet or, if elected, you'd be entirely new to it. Why do you believe you are particularly qualified to be Minister of Engagement (MoE)?

[Jebediah] I haven't been the minister of it before, but I have led the direct predecessor to the Ministry, the Department of Integration, which held all the projects of the current Ministry minus graphics. I think that I am pretty qualified to the job because of that - the only new parts will be handling the more public position through reports and such.

[Purple Hyacinth] I have been MoE for two months now, which has given me some experience. While I may not have achieved everything I was hoping for, I was still able to effectively manage and push out several tasks and projects throughout the term. I was also an active member of MoE during the few months after its initial creation, so I'm familiar with how the Ministry functions. I've also had experience with managing things from when I was Chair and managed the projects that my Deputy Chairs were in charge of.

The MoE seems to have a role in various activities such as promoting regional initiatives, collecting cards, drafting dispatches, and building a wiki. If you had to explain it to a newcomer, how would you describe the role and importance of the MoE within the region?

[Purple Hyacinth] The MoE sort of has a few mandates that are separate but sometimes overlap: it's responsible for maintaining informational infrastructure such as dispatches and the wiki, getting new players involved in the region, maintaining scripted infrastructure like SWAN, and helping to promote other parts of government like helping the Delegate gain endorsements. In short, the MoE sort of works in the background to help keep the various gears of the region well-oiled.

[Jebediah] I've always considered the MoE as an extremely important public service organisation - to the Ministries and to people within TSP at large. Graphics, writing, wiki, and recruitment and promotions are all things that we are doing for others to so they can focus on their unique jobs while leaving the stuff we specialise in to us, whether that be graphics through our group of artists or displaying information in the wiki and dispatch projects. This is why I'm focusing on collaborating with other ministries and making an easy foundation for editors to get into the wiki, among other things.

Recently the 'Dispatch Team' transitioned into a 'Writing Team'. What active role do you see for it within the coming term, if any, aside from writing for other government offices when needed?

[Jebediah] My priorities with the writing team would be to focus on writing or editing government messages, such as the recent delegate nations not endorsing post. The idea is that others in the government can offload some of their more tedious writing tasks to us - in order words, a public service for all parts of the government. Whenever that's not possible, I'd focus on looking over the dispatch project and seeing if we can simplify and condense it slightly (or just make it easier to navigate and read) and then if that's done write for the wiki.

[Purple Hyacinth] I mentioned in my campaign a couple of things I'd like to do that fall under the writing team: 1) working with Penguin on a new welcome telegram, and 2) reworking the welcome dispatches to make them more accessible for newcomers. Both of these projects would require significant collaboration, but if done well, could really help with retainment of new nations.

One of the ministry's responsibilities is overseeing citizen recruitment and integration. How would you assess the effectiveness of existing welcome guides and the management of the unified application form in ensuring that citizens get involved in the region?

[Purple Hyacinth] Primarily I would ask MoE staff to give input on those areas to see what can get fixed. If possible, they should be as concise as possible and engaging, giving just enough information that someone new can get an idea of what's going on and get interested. I don't think that a survey of a larger population would be particularly useful because we need specific feedback. I may approach some newer players who've gotten involved in our region and ask them to give detailed feedback, which would be useful because they are still almost new players.

[Jebediah] Past simply making sure the welcome guide is condensed and up to date, I want to advertise potential posts and things to do more directly - for example through advertisements and infographics made by the graphics team and/or directly promoting the things each ministry has done rather than its goals. Both of these are much more eye catchy than what we have currently, and I think that's a good thing. Other than that personal idea of mine, I will make sure to involve other ministries and their staff members in deciding how they want to best advertise themselves to members.

What role do you see for the ministry in terms of promoting citizen involvement in other ministries and government institutions? If any, what results would you hope to see by the end of the coming term?

[Jebediah] I think that's mostly what I stated in the previous question, but as for the latter part, I want to make sure that each ministry and government institution has a clearly accessible (preferably as little clicks away from the WFE, and also shown in a condensed form in TGs every now and again) advertisement for itself detailing their successes, their activities, and what they want out of potential applicants. Whether or not citizens can get involved without needing to join the ministry/institution is up to them, but I do encourage it for some activities.

Activities that don't require someone to stay in the team for a long time, that is

[Purple Hyacinth] I think that the MoE should be involved in promoting other ministries, especially when integrating new players. Currently, this promotion is happening in the outreach program, where we advertise the unified application form to new players, in an attempt to get them to apply for legislatorship or a ministry. With my planned expansion of the outreach program to include gameside, I hope that the MoE is able to get at least a few of the people we contact to apply for a ministry or legislatorship.

Recently there have been complaints from newly accepted legislators who did not receive their complimentary lampshades. What steps, if any, would you take to address these incidents?

[Purple Hyacinth] What an outlandish claim! The great region of TSP would never fail to provide basic human needs such as a lampshade. TSP has so many lampshades to offer to people that I even have my stash of... uh... quite a few!! Don't ask how I got them ?

[Jebediah] This is clearly an attempt at insurance fraud by these greedy monsters. The lampshade program cannot fail - it's preposterous to think otherwise!
[meanwhile, at the office]: dave goddamn it we need to be less obvious with the embezzlement

Desserts are a contentious issue in the region. Do you prefer cake or pie?

[Purple Hyacinth] Ice cream > pie > cake

[Jebediah] CAEK FOREVER! (disclaimer: I am not a spy from those other GCRs.)

Cross Questioning and Open Discussion

[Purple Hyacinth] How much work and what kind of work will be done by other staffers versus being done by you?

[Jebediah] I do think that as minister I am responsible for guiding the general direction of the other staff, but at the same time I only want to ensure that two things are done:
- Each project has a stable foundation for new people to join and contribute and know what to do (one of my reasons for focusing on the wiki on my campaign is it doesn't have this in the campaign)
- Requests from other ministries are being met.
Other than these two, the staff of each department and project can really do as they wish, as long as they're actually working on something. Once each department is stable and meeting those requirements, I will help out with each project as they need it.
I am opposed to completely leaving everything to the department, because that way projects can sometimes tend to get off focus and/or miss important parts.
As a corollary to this, however, I am perfectly willing to go along with anything the PM requires, even if that means I have to go off what I'd like to do. We are a service, and we need to ensure that we are fulfilling what the government requires of us.

Cross Questioning and Open Discussion

[Jebediah] Inside W&S's PM campaign, they mention you by name and say that they hope to work with you later. Do you support the policies of that PM candidate and how they want to run the cabinet?

[Purple Hyacinth] Yes, I do support WS's policies (and HS's policies too, for that matter). I've seen them be a competent PM before, and while WS's and HS's philosophies on the role of the PM is different, ultimately I don't have a strong preference. I would be happy to work with either, as they are both great PMs.

[Jebediah] I'd agree with that - I'd be happy to work under either, though I think from the way we've presented our campaigns that we each lean towards opposite PMs. That's just my opinion though.

Closing Remarks

[Purple Hyacinth] I don't really have much to say. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to read this debate, and if you have any questions about my platform, please feel free to ask me!

[Jebediah] I'd like to thank Hyacinth for this excellent debate - I've personally greatly enjoyed it. I'd also like to thank everyone who takes the time to read all of this, and I'd be more than happy to answer any questions about my platform in discord or in the forum campaign.

Go to Top

MINISTER OF MEDIA

Opening Remarks

[Wizard Ferret] I commented in my campaign on the relative inactivity of TRT and NST which have, I think it’s fair to say, been the bastions of NS interregional news for at least the past couple years. In my opinion this presents the perfect opportunity for TSJ under the Ministry of Media to become the premier publication in NS. I recognize and appreciate that the Ministry can only be successful with a dedicated person at the helm and I’ll go so far as to agree with Belschaft and Glen’s comments that without that person the Ministry doesn’t really need to exist. However I believe I can be that person for the Ministry and take advantage of the gap in NS publication currently presented.

[Belschaft] Hello everyone. I think - in a possible moment of narcissism - that I am a candidate who needs no introduction. I've been around in TSP for long enough that you all know that I say what I mean and do what I say. When the Ministry of Media was created I was one of a number of people who thought it was a mistake, and I believe the last twelve months have proven me correct. The Ministries of Engagement, Culture, Defence and Foreign Affairs all serve clear and useful purposes. They all do things which only the government can and should do. This is not true for the Ministry of Media. It serves no useful purpose, does nothing which individual players can't do better, and most of the time barely does anything at all. The experiment has gone on too long already. We should end it and abolish the Ministry of Media. If you vote for me I'll do just that.

If elected you would either be entirely new to the Cabinet or this would be your first time in it in nearly a decade. Why do you believe you are particularly qualified to be Minister of Media or, more generally, to serve in the Cabinet?

[Belschaft] I think my qualifications for serving in Cabinet are clear - I've previously served in practically every single job our government has and did most of them well. It's been a long time since I've been in the Cabinet itself, but I serve in the judiciary currently and have for the last few years. However, I don't really think my qualifications really matter as I have no desire to be part of the Cabinet. My sole objective here is to improve the region in one single and specific way and then go back to my armchair.

[Wizard Ferret] It has always been my opinion since joining NS in 2019 that “qualifications” for positions in government are slightly over emphasized. Positions like PM, MoFA or MoD it certainly applies, these positions require much more in depth knowledge of the political landscape and technical gameplay than others. When it comes to a role like the MoM there aren’t these kind of barriers. Roles like this should be predicated on ability to be active, to do the job you were elected to do. With that in mind I don’t think my lack of cabinet experience in TSP is an issue as I'm confident in my ability to be active and achieve the goals I've stated in my campaign. Besides that, while I haven't served in TSP I have served in the cabinet of our allied region UDS as well as Delegate there, so the responsibility inherent to the position won't be entirely new to me.

Belschaft is running on abolishing the ministry, and Wizard Ferret is running on developing it. In a succinct manner, how would you make a case to the average voter on why your position is the most convenient for the region?

[Wizard Ferret] I think this actually ties nicely into the point I raised in my introductory comment, that NS' typical interregional news sources are at a downswing. If NST especially was publishing to the levels of say 2020 maybe I would not be so confident in pushing for the continued existence of the Ministry. However absent competitors for the role it is my understanding the Ministry was created to fill, the Ministry can potentially provide great benefit to the region. As a GCR more eyes than normal are on us to begin with, but with an active TSJ filling the space as the premier news publication I think the region can benefit from that extra attention. Even if that doesnt materialize my plans to incorporate content geared toward not typically included sections of TSP such as the onsite community and the roleplay will benefit the region by bringing us all into the one community we are instead of the separate ones NS regions have the tendency to become.

[Belschaft] I wouldn't necessarily say that my position is more convenient, but I think it's more realistic and more honest. We've had a revolving door of Ministers of Media, each one of whom has made very similar promises but every single time we have seen similar failures. The problems of the Ministry of Media are structural and fundamental, and no change of leadership will fix them. Running a news service in NS is incredibly time consuming, requires a fairly specific skill set, and most importantly a huge amount of passion and dedication. If there was someone in TSP who met the criteria then they would have already started their own news service instead of waiting for an election.

Guess what? They did just that. We're being interviewed by them.

You cannot elect your way to a viable news service. We should stop pretending we can and accept reality.

While acknowledging that anyone can produce the content that they wish, what kind of content (e.g. factual articles, interviews, opinion columns, panel discussions, etc.) would you most like to see the region, be it through a state-owned or private initiative, produce?

[Belschaft] I've always found analysis and opinion pieces to be the most interesting kind of news content in NS. You can find out what is happening in the game at large and in TSP by reading the forums, but that won't tell you what people think. Interviews can also be good for the same reason, but quite often end up being bland and inoffensive puff-pieces. You need a journalist who is prepared to ask real questions on serious subjects, not softball inquiries about whether or not people prefer cake or pie.

[Wizard Ferret] The most important part of any NS community is the activity and engagement of it. Given that almost everything a government does should be dedicated to encouraging both. I know the question was about general preference of types of content but in the context of the MoM the focus should on generating that which engages the community. Both in debate for the active player base we have and involvement for those groups currently on the outside. In a roundabout way coming to the answer of the question this means the region, whether the MoM survives this election or through private publication, would be best served by a combination of news reporting (mainly for those not involved that can increase interest) and opinion work (to engage debate in region).

What steps should be taken, either by the ministry or by private individuals, to promote a journalistic culture in the region? Would you take any such steps, either as minister or as a private citizen?

[Wizard Ferret] Promoting a journalistic culture is no doubt difficult, after all I don't believe that you can really inspire someone to write about NS unless they enjoy writing already. Increasing content contributions is really about finding those people, not transforming people not naturally disposed to it into writers. That said the best way to do so is to ensure the routine release of content that does what I mentioned above, convinces the unengaged to involve themselves and sparks debate amongst the engaged. If content that does that is published with enough frequency I believe you'll find more independent journalistic impulses in region as a way of engaging in that fostered debate.

[Belschaft] So, I'm not sure if this is allowed but I'd like to turn that question back around on you James. As the only person here who's run a successful news service - my time as SPINN Editor wasn't very effective - you know better than anyone else in TSP what is required to make a success of journalism in NS and what the regional government could do to promote a more effective journalistic culture.

You're certainly doing the job far more effectively than any Minister of Media ever has.

I'm sure that could be argued both ways, since SPINN has had a certain degree of struggle in producing content outside election season.

[Belschaft] True, but the content it does produce is always of a high quality - a much higher quality of journalism we've seen in TSP than any time other than when Kris was Minister of Regional Affairs.

I think the fact that what you do most is what you do best - elections coverage - is proof of the importance of passion in NS journalism.

You do that so well because you have a real passion for it and don't see it as a job.

I'd also argue it's telling that our regions most successful journalist has no desire to be Minister of Media. I think you know that it would simply get in the way of you being able to do what you are passionate about.

There have long been claims that the Ministry of Media Building contains Vault 263, which allegedly has, among other things, a highly damning investigative report on lampshade and SPIT smuggling mafias. If elected, would you commit to releasing the contents of Vault 263?

[Belschaft] Give me one second, let me spin the wheel of subversion before I answer.

[Image: Untitled.png]

I think it's essential that we get to the bottom of these claims, and I'd encourage every SPIT loving nation in TSP to send Telegrams to the Delegate until they launch an investigation.

[Wizard Ferret] I want to assure everyone I'm confident a government ministry would never hide content that would put the government at risk and anyone who says otherwise hates democracy

Desserts are a contentious issue in the region. Do you prefer cake or pie?

[Wizard Ferret] As you become more mature you realize the answer is most certainly pie

[Belschaft] I am in the minority of TSP who prefers cake.

Cross Questioning and Open Discussion

[Wizard Ferret] One of the main points you have for the abolishment of the ministry is that individuals are able to release their own content whenever they want. They are currently able to do so now, yet there hasn’t to my knowledge been any such releases. If the Ministry did not exist it would seem TSP would have no as our debate moderator put it “journalistic culture”. The question then is why do you think there is no independent content releases currently? And would the region not be worse off without the releases (minimal as they may be) that the Ministry provides by virtue of its Charter mission?

I apologize its two questions

[Belschaft] To be quite frank the content produced over the last four months by the Ministry of Media has been infrequent and poor quality. It's the kind of thing you get when people see journalism as a chore to do or a box to tick, rather than something they are really passionate about. I don't think it added any real value to the region and we wouldn't have been any worse off without it.

As to why - other than SPINN - there is little journalism or news content being produced in TSP, the reason for that is simple; there is only one player in the region currently with the passion for it. It's a small and niche part of NS and we're lucky to have someone who finds joy in it.

So, as you asked two questions I'll also ask two questions.

[Wizard Ferret] Fair enough

[Belschaft] My first is this; if our objective here is to generate interesting and engaging news content wouldn't the time you've spent running for Minister of Media and writing all 2,500 words of your campaign been better spent doing that? Nothing is stopping you or any other player from writing an opinion piece or interviewing another player whenever you want.

And my second, connected, question is the same one I've asked every other candidate for this office; why is it that you've only developed an interest and desire to run a newspaper when there was a Cabinet post going? Nothing stopped you before but prior to a few days ago you'd never shown any interest or desire in this part of NS.

[Wizard Ferret] First: Campaigns are probably the most interesting thing that happens on NS, most of the current news coverage as you and our moderator pointed out is centred on them. Therefore I think my campaign, while not officially released news coverage contributes to generating interest and engagement in the region. After all at the very least this debate results from it. What draws me to the MoM is not the pure production of news content but increasing activity in the region through the content released, I think the campaign does that.

Second: I returned to NS in the middle of January and since my previous time in NS was spent in the UDS I took the two weeks to familiarize myself with a new region and get involved with SPSF. The interest in a newspaper also predates the cabinet election as I've spent my off time writing a long analysis piece for the UDS comparing the region between my time in it before and what I've seen since, I hope the UDS newspaper I wrote it for will release it shortly as I bbcoded it before sending it in. I know the question links to comments about how the MoM is used as a resume bullet point more than anything and I hope the campaign effort and some of the responses dispels that notion at least partially.

Closing Remarks

[Belschaft] I'd like to thank both yourself and Wizard Ferret for your time this evening, and wish them the best of luck when the polls open. I sincerely hope that I don't find myself in this same place in another four months debating yet another would-be-MoM who is insisting that this time it will be different.

[Wizard Ferret] Of course I'd like to thank SPINN and Belschaft for the debate. I'll also add I definitely appreciate the measured reasoning that motivates Belschaft's campaign to abolish the MoM. I won't concede that I think the MoM should be abolished but I definitely agree the case can be made and its been made well.

Go to Top

MINISTER OF DEFENCE

Opening Remarks

[Moon] Nope, don't got much to say here. I believe that I've laid out what I wish to achieve in my campaign in a clear and concise manner and would encourage everyone to read it ^_^

You are running unopposed for Minister of Defence (MoD). What would you say to any voters that might be considering voting to re-open nominations?

[Moon] I think my work over the previous two months speaks for itself here. While there are areas I believe I can improve upon (i.e Tidal Force, public perception et al.), I plan to focus on those areas more (as I've said so and laid out an outline of what I plan to do regarding those in my campaign) and continue to lead the SPSF through this era of unprecedented successes we're experiencing as one of the leading militaries in NationStates.

In a similar line, you are running unopposed despite the rise in participation within the Special Forces. What do you think could be done to ensure that future elections are more competitive?

[Moon] I think it's more of the timing that's an issue rather than any possible apathy to lead the SPSF. The SPSF experienced a bit of an exodus in terms of active updaters/officers and we kinda fell inactive for a while, despite managing to pull impressive numbers for liberations and other major operations on a consistent basis. But we've overcame that and we now have some really exciting talent in our ranks, including Domais, Pronoun, Wizard Ferret, Venatrix and more. It's just that most of them have started R/D recently and don't have enough experience to lead the SPSF right now. I hold no doubt that we're definitely going to have more people contesting for the MoD election in the near future, just that this election happens to be a bit of a special case.

You mention in your campaign a desire to continue building the Tidal Force. What steps would you take to increase its numbers and ensure that its members remain motivated and ready to participate when called to action?

[Moon] I actually answered that regarding the first part here https://tspforums.xyz/thread-10201-post-...#pid227158

Regarding actually retaining those members, we've thrown around the idea of bringing back Tidal Force as a off-update force that does detags, supports and drive-bys on a regular basis to keep them engaged and motivated for any major operations that we need them for behind the scenes. While I've expressed my skepticism for a previous model of this idea due to how infeasible it might be due to the current landscape of R/D and how I believe that it copies another org, it's something that we might pursue further to retain people's interest in Tidal Force.

Recently the Special Forces held some wargames with the Grey Wardens, in keeping with a promise from your previous campaign. What lessons have your learned from that experience both for their intrinsic experience value and as a template for future events?

[Moon] I think the best lesson I've personally learned that HumanSanity is a nerd and should never be entrusted to come up with names ?

On a much more serious note, I think the wargames with TGW was a pretty educational experience for everyone involved. It allowed some of our officers in training to run liberation simulations as to prepare them for the real thing, helped to shake the rust of some of our senior officers' skillset (I personally learned some new stuffs about triggering that I didn't know before), gave our updaters a chance to hone their abilities in a relaxing environment and bonded with a military organization that we've worked with very closely over the last six years.

It also helped to impart some really valuable lessons about event planning and management, including improvising things and the old "prepare for something to go wrong, because it will go wrong". Its effects can be hardly overstated and it has provided a nice base to work with allied militaries for future wargames (including anoter one that's going to be announced soon ? )

The Partnership for Sovereignty (PfS) was cited by both candidates for Minister of Foreign Affairs as a key aspect of the region's foreign policy. What future do you see for joint operations under a more formalised PfS banner?

[Moon] Hot take, but I don't actually see a future of joint operations under the PfS banner, not without alienating some of its foundational members.

The PfS is, at its core, a political alliance born out of a desire to have an unified defender presence in the Security Council so that its interests can be represented more successfully. It comes at the backdrop of years of of raider/imperialist dominance in it, and has been moderately successful in doing things over its short existence. To push this to an actual cooperative military where our militaries' sovereignty is going to challenged is not something that I'm comfortable with, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in it. While the SPSF is a defender military, it exists to serve TSP and its interests at the end of the day; and we as a region have collectively decided that our interests align that of defender values. However, we still do things with our allies, many of which are the prominent independent regions, and I fear that including ourself in a PfS military banner will hinder that ability to serve our region's interests as we see fit.

I'm much more comfortable with the current Libcord structure we have right now, a cooperative space where defenders from everywhere can come together and work to conduct defensive operations. There's a reason why it has succeeded for so long and that's because the model there simply works better than any hypothetical PfS joint military model will.

There have been reports that MREs containing pie were distributed during the operations in China and A Liberal Haven. How would you respond to those reports?

[Moon] I blame the pie lovers and their subversive agenda to get us addicted to pie, when it's abundantly clear that our future lies with the glorious cake.

Desserts are a contentious issue in the region. Do you prefer cake or pie?

[Moon] Cake all the way.

Closing Remarks

[Moon] None. Thank you for hosting this interview ^_^

Go to Top

The South Pacific Independent News Network (SPINN) is not affiliated with the Government of the South Pacific, and any opinions expressed in its publications are those of its authors or the individuals quoted in them unless otherwise stated.