We received the following from Bill O'Connor, retired Beacon Journal reporter. This blog, since it was opened in July, 2004, has allowed anonymous comments. O'Connor questions whether they should be allowed. As administrator I have no opinion at present, but.Blogspot does allow us to moderate comments. Should we eliminate them? Please read this post thoughtlfully and then add your comments. ~~Harry Liggett
I don't mean this as a criticism, for I really enjoy the blog. I am offering a suggestion. I read some comments after stories you posted, and I was disappointed. This is a blog by and for journalists, so I don't think there should be either anonymous comments posted or those by people using pseudonyms, which, I guess, is the same thing. We byline our stories when we can. If a journalist offers an opinion, he or she stands behind it. The other thing is that I often see comments after stories on the net, news stories. (AOL does this all the time.) The comments, again anonymous, are nasty, just plain mean spirited. That serves no purpose. If we want to enter into dialogue with each other, even heated dialogue, let's do it in an honorable and respectful way. The public discourse is becoming more and more acrimonious, and I would like to see us avoid that. On that level, the debate is just shrill and combative, a kind of "my opinion is better than yours," rather than a listening to each other and responding.
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7 comments:
I agree.
I always use my name when I post or comment. Hiding behind a phony name always seemed cowardly to me. There are those who might be punished by their current employer if their name is used with their comment. Deep Throat stuff, for example. But short of blowing the whistle on unethetical stuff while wanting to keep your job, I agree with Bill.
But there should be a way to do it without having to resort to passwords, etc., which I have serious trouble remembering.
Obviously, not being anonymous is complicated. I gave it my name but it didn't post it.
John Olesky
When you post a comment on this blog, John, you have the choice of using your name, a nickname or anonymous. When leaving a comment you should always preview it to see that it says John Olesky and not anonymous. Best bet is to put your name at the end of the comment like
~~Harry Liggett
Then even if you use a nickname your real name is still there
O'Connor is starting to sound like Mike Needs. . . .
I agree with Bill. Let's do away with the anonymous commenting so we can recognize the brilliance of those who are ashamed too use their own name.
Don Roese
Anonymous is nice, because really, if you knew who I was would it make a difference? If anything, if I was someone you don't think highly of, you'd automatically think less of my opinion anyway.
I agree completely with O'Connor and Olesky. I don't even look at the comments on Ohio.com anymore because of the problem Bill points out. They should change the tag to say "Click here to read ignorant, hateful comments." -- Jim Kavanagh
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