I have tried to contact HQ regarding this fora. Cant access

Re contacting HQ - have you tried reporting a post (eg, your own on here) to HQ? That goes straight to them and they respond.
I agree with you about not combining news and politics. Although the most politically minded posters on those threads keep telling us that "Everything is political" I don't class every single news item as a call to confrontational arms. There are many occasions where things can be talked about without recourse to polarised party views.

I think some news items are definitely discussed without getting party polical- getting rid of plastic waste, Meghan Markle outfits etc just mentioning 2 recent ones. Doesn’t mean everyone agrees with each other- it wouldn’t be a discussion then would it?

It's only a heading! You can talk about anything at all.

They should be separate I totally agree

Those who see political conflict in everything do in general tend to use everything of public interest as a vehicle to emphasise their affiliations. It is possible that the party slant would still be appled to news even if the two labels were separated.

I'd agree with that. I found the plastics thread pretty political! Certainly at the start - but maybe that's just me.
I don't have a problem with news & politics being together, but separating them out might help posters differentiate between whether the OP is looking for a news or politics chat?

It won't stop people turning any thread political if they feel like it - and some people probably will feel like it.

But why are they together? news can be everything from seeing a shark swim past a British coast to a total eclipse of the sun Politics is politics and deserves a forum to itself saying some might bring politics into a news item doesn’t mean they should be together if that’s the case you could put politics with any forum -fashion and politics, tv programmes and politics
Isn’t politics important and big enough to have its own forum and not be tag on with another?

But isn’t a lot of news political as well?

So in the”news section” could you have political news? Or maybe the politics thread should be called “ political news and politics” and the news section should be called non political news- but what about when they overlap?

But if we had thread about a shark swimming past a British coast, wouldn't we start talking about whether or not the EU had been responsible for cleaner seas, or about whether global warming was responsible, and that would be talking about politics.
Not sure about a total eclipse of the sun, or how much could be said about it.

They are only examples I just don’t understand why politics needs to be shoved on the end of another forum isn’t it important enough to have its own I don’t have any concerns about this I just don’t understand why?

I could be wrong but I'm sure that when I first joined Gransnet in 2012 they were separate.

I think we had 'In the News' and 'Politics'

Maybe I dreamt it though.

I don't like them being lumped together either.

I really would like to see some substantive examples of news stories that are not political - anyway,having two separate boards could just lead to a bunfight about whether something was news or politics. Generally imo the left on here are much more politically aware and understand how a ‘news’ story is political. The right are more likely to say’why bring politics into everything’ because they are less aware of the impact of politics on just about every area of life

I am listening to the 6pm news on R4 - it all sounds pretty political to me

You could always post something in the “chat” section if you just wanted to talk about something non political. But it doesn’t really matter what the heading is does it?

jolly why don’t you put this on Site Stuff - HQ will see it and the discussion can take place on there - I really can’t imagine HQ would change the board anyway just because you contacted them.

politics is LIFE ..from street lights to Trident and everything in between ,decisions made about every facet of your life is a political decision.I guess I'm one of the offenders who brings politics into threads.Thats because I'm passionate about my country and how its being systematically destroyed by Tory policy .I may consider if Gransnet is really a site for me ,I find myself out of step a lot with the mainly southern grans who can neither see nor understand a Scottish Nationalists point of view ..cybernats someone called us on here recently.....so why not BRITNATS ,for the rest who are unionists?Whats good for the goose...?

And just because it’s in Chat doesn’t mean it won’t or shouldn’t become ‘political’. Threads develop and meander - and attract those dreadful dreadful ranters and cutters and pasters. Truly shocking.

I've noticed some comments on the News and Politics forum protesting "this thread is not political", interestingly in response to someone who challenged the view of a previous poster.

There are plenty of innocuous websites for those who want to avoid controversy, and plenty of non-controversial threads on GN.

The News and Politics forum is there to engage in debate- and that includes differing opinions. This is the most popular GN forum and it is difficult to find any thread on it which is "news" but not "politics".

" it is difficult to find any thread on it which is "news" but not "politics"" That is because most people considering starting a thread about headlines in the news like the following thinks twice about venturing into the gladiatorial pit of News and Politics They post instead in a less confrontational area - Chat perhaps - but all these are in the news. If they are too frivolous to be serious news, then either news and politics do not belong together or it is not true that "Everything is political"

"Winter weather: Thousands without power after gales hit UK"
"Berkshire wolf escaped 'after gate left open'"
"2017 'warmest year without El Niño'"
"Beauty queen hits back at racist critics"
"Cocaine found in fresh pineapples"
"Peter Wyngarde dies aged 90"

BTW, the cocaine in the fresh pineapple wasn't a scientific discovery of why fresh pineapple is so tasty. The cocaine was packed in plastic inside pineapple to be transported.

I missed that!
and hadn't heard about Peter Wyngarde.

Really, I should get out less and turn on the telly.

I rather think that most of your 'news items' could become political, Elegran.

Apart, perhaps, from the sad death of Peter Wyngarde (I hadn't realised just how old he was )

I don't necessarily mean party political , just everyday 'how we mediate life in our society for all its members and how we look after our physical world'.