The Herald of Randolph, the award-winning weekly newspaper for Orange County, devoted an editorial to a question being asked in many newsrooms in Vermont and across the country: should media websites allow anonymous reader comments?
Herald Editor/Publisher M. Dickey Drysdale reprinted an editorial from a Maine newspaper that is "food for thought" for editors of online news publications. The Maine paper recognizes the issue's pros and cons, then takes a strong "no" stance. To read the editorial, go to:
http://www.ourherald.com/news/2010-01-13/Columns/col02.html
As editor/publisher of the Colchester Chronicle, about 12 years ago I began allowing anonymous reader comments in print, with the published understanding that I could edit with broad discretion. Shortly afterward the Colchester Police detained and handcuffed the Town Manager, whom they suspected of swiping some soft drinks stacked in a hallway in the Town Office. They had probable cause: on the morning after the police had dusted the drinks with invisible, heat-reactive dust, the TM showed up for work with purple hands. I am not making this up. The ridiculous affair dubbed "Sodagate" was received with much ridicule and hilarity. Now that the Statute of Limitations on newspaper comment anonymity has expired, I can reveal to the world that the funniest comment came from a Fort Ethan Allen resident and radio personality better known these days as one of Colchester's representatives to the Vermont Legislature: Rep. James Condon.
I never let the anonymous comments get too uncivil. Perhaps for that reason, the anonymous comments column died a slow death. I doubt the same can be said for the "To Sign or Not to Sign" debate, as the popularity of online news increases.
Your thoughts are welcome in the "comments" section.
Anonymous comments should not be allowed, along with sources cited as "an unnamed senior Administration official". IMO, an anonymous source equals an unverifiable source.
ReplyDeleteAnonymity leads to incivility in media comments. Hiding behind 'anonymous' to express strong opinion should not be allowed.
ReplyDeleteI would trust the editor to do his job, voluntarily or otherwise, and edit, modify, expunge, whatever, to any extent desired.
ReplyDeleteA good, or not-so-good, idea should be able to stand on it's own. There are always those who feel it may depend on whose idea it is as to whether or not it is 'good'. Or not so good.
;-)
IMVHO