More on comments

Thanks to Ari for pointing me to this, via a comment he made on the Daily News website (it's those rules and regs for commenting on their stories again).


I found this piece, which is on PBS's MediaShift but from what looks like a Jan. issue of USA Today, to be very interesting.


Over the years, traditional media sites have tried forums, killed them, and tried them again, this time with more moderation. But still, the unruly aspect of online commentary continues to upset people, as the Hartford Courant’s public editor Karen Hunter recently railed against the “uncivil discourse” on her site’s comments, blaming it on anonymous commenters and calling for a requirement that people use their real names.


Sounds familiar, somehow. But my readers are not uncivil, at least not the ones who comment. I have never "banned" a comment, no matter how little sense it made to me!


I enjoy watching how new stuff, such as online comments and forums, play out.


Scott Anderson is vice president of shared content for Tribune Interactive. He says, in this piece, that newspapers shouldn't shut out people who talk about race and — gasp, sex! - since the role of the comments is to activate and engage the conversation, not stifle and control it.


What I mostly wonder about, though, is where are these people who are reading/commenting on blogs and stories on the Daily News' website?


I mean, are they at work?


Tsk, tsk.