Southern Illinois' Daily Egyptian ices reader comments

Requiring registration for commenting on a newspaper site doesn't stop anonymous posting. You can list a name on your post, but by no means must it be your name.

All you need is a valid e-mail. You can register a yahoo or gmail account, then register yourself as Susan Boyle at any newspaper site you want.

 

There was a Kentucky state legislator a year or two ago who wanted to require all blogs to verify IDs and enforce real-name-only for commenters.

 

I know. That's why comments are still there. That and the fact most of the publishers don't give a shit about sports and don't read the trash written under the stories. I've seen racist comments, sexist comments, direct threats to the reporter who wrote the story, direct insults to the subject of the story. Cuss words.
Newspapers something the family can read? Not on the internet.

 

Refresh my memory: Do we, or do we not, require people sign their actual names when submitting letters to the editor? Do we, or do we not, take steps to actually verify the person is who they say they are before printing it?

But the same standard on the Internet shouldn't apply?

Interesting theory.

 

Bing, bing, bing.

I've found the people who spout the most about "free speech" have no fucking clue what they are talking about. Why is that, I wonder?

 

Amen brother....

 

Let's make this perfectly clear:

No one ever argued that closing newspaper message boards was a violation of free speech.

Several people argued that anonymous speech "should not be allowed."

 

As an alumnus of SIU and the DE, I'm feeling extra proud today.

 

Apparently, we publish some of our online reader comments in the print edition.

My SE pointed out how dumb that was -- having letters to the editor that have been checked and verified and then on the next page having anonymous reader comments.

Seems rather contradictory. Does anyone else's paper do this?

 

Again, when letters to the editors are checked for "accuracy," what exactly is done? Do you call the number given and ask if the name given is there? Boy, that's foolproof.

 

Our newspaper makes sure somebody at the residence claiming to be the author answers the fucking phone and confirms it's them. The newspaper has never had any problems authenticating or being accused of getting authentication wrong.