I disagree as to moderator actions, where I have some experience. If a moderator asks someone for a favor, the recipient is much more likely to agree when the request is private rather than public. Private communication takes "face saving" partially out of the equation. This is crucial. Private communication is the invisible hand that keeps FT running smoothly, and it won't work even half as well if it has to be done in public.

As to TalkBoard actions, I don't yet see a reason they would benefit from being private. Nevertheless I'm confident that prior TalkBoards have good reasons for any decision to keep some actions private.