Blog: Rod Boyce: The editor's desk
Comments continue to entertain, disappoint
Published Wednesday, April 30, 2008
"Momma always said, 'if you can't say somethin' nice ...' " I would add, or at least say it politely.
Today we let comments run on a murder arrest story. Consistent with our decision on the public safety blotter and crime stories of some weeks ago, comments should have been disabled. Someone just forgot to click the button.
And, true to form, comments quickly digressed into speculation about the victim and damning statements directed at the accused as if he surely is guilty. It was mostly bunk, and it spun off into yet another gay-bashing exercise. (what with those prison references and all, who could resist?!, he said with sarcasm) After all the Day of Silence hubbub and that embarrassing Elton John string, I can't decide if our comment makers are homophobic or fixated.
The murder arrest comment string was all fun and games until the brother of the victim chimed in. He identified himself as "noname," but we'll assume he was who he said he was within the comment.
I was in meetings and busy with the daily paper so I wasn't aware of the string until it had gone on for some time. Flag after flag after flag started rolling into my e-mail.
I ended it with the following statement, but I'm happy to discuss it further here with anyone who wishes to carry on.
"Comments should have been disabled on this story. That was an oversight.
"This string ended up being a good example of why we don't allow comments on crime stories. First reactions tend to be completely inappropriate, assume guilt, and inflict hurtful and small-minded commentary on our small town. You can expect that friends and family of those affected are reading hurtful statements. Why provide a forum for that?
"The answer is that we recognized online forums are a kind of community communication that has growing interest and a newspaper seems a logical place to host community interaction and discussion of issues.
"It is, in a way, a service we felt compelled to provide. But the forum very much belongs to the community. We can hop in an police from time-to-time as comments are flagged, but our staff is limited. The length of this string attests to that. We're just providing the pipe. It's up to those who use the forum to make it a good one.
"Maybe I was naive. I had greater faith in the people of Interior Alaska.
"The discussion here on commenting in general has been good, however, thanks in great part to the strength of family/friends willing to post thoughtful commentary. So, I'm leaving the string thus far intact. Much of what was discussed here goes to the heart of why this forum may ultimately be curtailed."
Lesson learned, for me anyway. I do feel bad that it happened at the sake of the feelings of victim's family.
Ditto.
much like my moderated Yahoo Group, why cant you guys get a volunteer(s) moderator who scans comments all day? Should be easy. Or moderated before allowing them to be posted (again by volunteers). I know there are a ton of people who sit at their computer all day who would love this job.
It's worthwhile of the News-Miner to evaluate its handling of online comments. I hope the News-Miner also considers the ethics of its own commentary, which appears implicitly in its regular Public Safety Report.
The Safety Report is a community service insofar as it alerts residents to crime trends. It may even entertain. However, the Safety Report routinely prints the names of the accused, who, as Mr. Bostian takes care to note, have yet to be proven guilty and who deserve the benefit of the doubt until they have their day in court. Yet, Mr. Bostian says he is aware that guilt is often assumed by readers.
Rarely, if ever, does the New-Miner follow-up on the charges it reports in the Safety Report in order to clear someone's name. In an age when employers regularly and easily seek information about job applicants over the Internet, a single mention in the Safety Report is enough to destroy someone's livelihood. And not just locally. Any of the individuals named in the Safety Report can be Googled indefinitely. Try it and see for yourself. If you are unfortunate enough to be charged with a crime in Fairbanks, yet are declared innocent at a later date or the charges are dropped, the aura of guilt may follow you online to the Lower 48, around town, and financially and personally for years to come.
Of course, these names are public information and are available to anyone who asks for them at the police station. But the names' mere availability does not justify the News-Miner's wholesale promotion in print and especially online of them. Many of these individuals may never be found guilty of a crime. The public benefit of the Safety Report would not be diminished by redacting the names printed there.
At very least, the News-Miner should undertake a systematic evaluation of the legal fate of the accused whose names it publicizes to determine how accurate of a picture is portrayed to the public. DUI and domestic violence charges, for example, are often resolved without a finding of guilt. Otherwise, the News-Miner should perform due diligence and follow-up on every case it reports -- just as it does for the higher-profile cases printed on page A-1.
Kelly, I am sorry about the losing my control in my post to that individual in the Soldiers and Sex thread. I am a 10 yr vet of the AF, and I have never been insulted the way he insulted ALL vets in his post. I am NOT sorry for what I said, I am sorry I said it in this forum. I am proud of my service, and proud, thankful, and 1000% supportive of our troops in this time of war. I am equally against our govt.'s involvement in the war in Iraq, but our young, brave soldiers are doing exactly what they are told to do and doing it well. How dare he, or anyone else for that matter, say the things he said about them. Again, my apologies to you and the staff at the NewsMiner, I will try to do better in the future, and thank you for allowing us to comment on stories, it is a huge hit around town.
John Greene
Hi John,
That string simply got out of control with the comments made about soldiers. We would have yanked them. They were clearly baiting people and the reactions were understandable given the bait. But it needed to stop before it went further.
What do we do about comments that attack other commenters? I am getting threatening and disturbing emails from someone (a man?) who doesnt like my comments. I've never had a comment removed. They simply dont like my opinion. The person doing this to me has repeated had comments removed and whos opinion is rather extreme and crass. This is a major problem for me, but I do like the comments feature.
Here's a good one: Compact-Fluorescent light bulbs CAN BE VERY DANGEROUS!!!
Read: Mercury leaks found as new bulbs break (The Boston Globe).
...Even cleaning up the dust from a broken bulb is very dangerous...!!!
Post a comment