Reader comments on the website

[mustangj17]

That sucks Cosmo. Doesn't seem like there is much you can do. But the paper as a whole can just start running a ton of negative news and turn a blind eye towards the good stories coming out of the university. The administrators won't like that too much, but F 'em.

 

[Fredrick]

he story of a school boycotting a newspaper is a story in itself. Ask for comments from school administrators. Go to the school newspaper and get comments from the faculty advisor. If the school has a journalism professor, ask that person for comments. Then go to other media outlets and ask people there for opinions. Go to the AP and Poynter for further comments.

And run it hard like a news story.

I agree. You guys should do this. Pronto.

I won't back the school on this but I applaud any effort to bring reader comments to the attention of publishers who might ****ing read some of them now.
They are racist, slanderous and disgraceful.
They are mean spirited. They are a joke. They should require full names of the individuals just like letters to the editor.
Reader comments make me ashamed of this business.

 

[J-School Blue]

WFW.

Though all I really want is for the damn things to be held to the same standard applied to letters-to-the-editor. Maybe not even attaching a real name to them. But make sure the person making the comment is registered and traceable at least to an email address, and give someone, anyone, even just a copy editor, the responsibility of screening them and making sure they aren't libelous.

I long for the day one of the really vile comments prompts a real lawsuit. I truly long for it.

 

[Cosmo]

I don't disagree that reader comments can be terrible and disgraceful, and to a point, I can understand why the school has chosen this course of action.

But my point remains, if we cave immediately to the demands of the university, we have just proven that they can walk all over us at will.

FWIW, the school's chancellor went on the school's fan web site and stated, more or less, that they don't care. They don't need the paper. They'll get their coverage elsewhere. So they're not going to back down. Not sure we are either.

 

[Peytons place]

So if a printed newspaper and it's Web site are closely connected and the Web site is an extension of the newspaper (or vice versa), then why such different standards?

I look at the comments posted on our Web site and I know we would never allow any of it to run in the printed product (thank goodness).
So it's a real disconnect for me when we lower our standards of decency for the Web site, and then claim the Web site will somehow save us or make us a better product.

 

[GlenQuagmire]

Never liked the idea of anonymous comments. The lack of accountability usually leads to abuse and spoils it for everyone else. Most of the comments at my shop are from local u and state u fans bashing each other. Tends to get ugly - and personal - pretty quickly. Very rarely does anything positive come from any comments.

I understand this was said regarding the topic. But I love the irony. An anonymous poster says he doesn't like anonymous comments.

The big difference here is that I don't post racist, sexist or otherwise hateful thoughts on this message board. There's a line in the sand, and I don't ever cross it. But there's also plenty of things I've said on this board that I say in public on a daily basis.

Sadly, many of the readers at my shop don't show similar respect for others. They'll call some 11-year-old ugly when her picture is online or post nothing but hurtful and hateful things on particular stories.

While I don't agree with the idea of anonymous comments on stories, I do believe that such interaction is important. I just think there need to be some new rules drawn up to keep people from abusing the process.

 

[deskslave]

WFW.

Though all I really want is for the damn things to be held to the same standard applied to letters-to-the-editor. Maybe not even attaching a real name to them. But make sure the person making the comment is registered and traceable at least to an email address, and give someone, anyone, <b> even just a copy editor </b>, the responsibility of screening them and making sure they aren't libelous.

I long for the day one of the really vile comments prompts a real lawsuit. I truly long for it.

Because copy editors don't have any real work to do, right?

Awful lot of us on this board, and I'm guessing most of us don't appreciate the dismissiveness of that particular phrase.