Commenting dilemma

posted 09:48 AM 05/06
Link this article here.

TheOlympian.com website enables users to comment on most of the stories and content posted online.

Unfortunately, the online comments section has developed into a hotbed of hate where derisiveness, personal attacks and slander are the norm. TheOlympian.com harbors users who make comments that propagate hate, violence, militarism, the exploitation and maligning of the poor and weak, global dominance, etc..

If The Olympian respects this community, a change is in order. The Olympian cannot rightly turn a blind eye to users who engage in hate speech - users who engage in the rhetoric of racism, sexism, and unadulterated violence.

When I use the comments section, I do my best to neglect the voices of those who preach intolerance and hate. However, it would be wise to take action against those who detract from the purpose of a meaningful conversation. Stop the personal attacks. Stop the defamatory statements. Stop the hate and violence.

The Olympian professes to care about the community. I only ask, what kind of community does The Olympian (and its employees) care to promote? Is it a community of hatred, injustice, racism, sexism, violence, oppression, exploitation and intolerance toward others' religious affiliations or sexual orientation? I don't believe so!

Do The Olympian and its employees believe in truth, honesty, peace, equitableness, justice, love, and the essential goodness of human beings? If so, I ask that the online comments section (as well the rest of the paper - but the comments section for starters) be managed to reflect those standards. - Robert Whitlock

From Assistant Managing Editor/Interactive Long Liu: Thank you for your concern and detailed description on our commenting section & the current issue under debate. The Olympian has been grappling with this issue of when to delete, what we can delete under “freedom of speech” and who to ban from our site for a number of years.

We are very concerned with the negative tone of some of the commentators and we try to respond when readers report them & there are serious violations of our policy. Our policy that reads as follows: (which you are well aware of…)

Community Publishing Guidelines

“The Olympian encourages a free and open exchange of ideas in a climate of mutual respect. The Olympian welcomes your participation in our online discussion and comment posting systems. We hope these forums offer you the chance to interact with our writers and each other. In order to keep these forums enjoyable and interesting for all of our users, we ask simply that you follow these minimal rules. These rules are only a minimum; in addition to complying with these rules, we ask that you also exercise common sense and generally be considerate toward your fellow users. By participating either in our online discussion and comment posting systems, you are consenting to these rules.”

Please see our complete Guidelines at the beginning of our commenting section.

“Please further understand that The Olympian does not and cannot review all content prior to its posting. Keep in mind that more than likely you will read a post before The Olympian staff. Nevertheless, The Olympian may monitor the discussion forums as it chooses and reserves the right (but assumes no obligations) to remove, edit or otherwise alter content that it deems inappropriate for any reason without obtaining anyone’s consent. We further reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to remove a user's privilege to post content in our discussion forums.”

There is a fine line between freedom of speech and censorship and we have to walk that slippery slope. When we do finally ban individuals there is huge uproar and everyone’s freedom comes under siege. We are so concerned about this issue that our executive editor wrote a few months ago regarding our commenting challenges online; please read her article at the following link: http://www.theolympian.com/asktheeditors/story/348904.html

We try to delete all direct profanities and direct libelous statements or attacks on the individual — indirect attacks can be construed as hearsay and when reviewing this latest explosion of negative comments regarding Evergreen there were many other compassionate voices that redirected the flow to higher ground.

I agree that we need to have a better commenting solution & McClatchy is currently working on this…the solution will be that future users register first before they can post on our site. This will cut down on the number of negative comments in general.

Let’s work together to make our online commenting site a better place in the future. If many concerned writers move in we can drown out the mean and evil spirited ones.

'Most viewed articles' not necessarily most current

posted 11:20 AM 03/10

NYT's Friedman on leave, back in April

posted 08:29 AM 02/25

Help keep comment threads meaningful and substantive

posted 02:30 PM 02/04

Word limits allow for diversity of opinions

posted 08:29 AM 01/29

Bhutto interview in PARADE preceded assassination

posted 08:59 AM 01/07

I was curious as to why the PARADE section of the Sunday's paper's front page stated "Is Benazir Bhutto America's best hope against al-Qaeda?" Do you think it should have started "Would she or Could she"? I am sure you know she was murdered ? I read the article but perhaps it was too early in the morning but I did not read anything saying about her being dead. I think she would have been a great asset but know we will never know. -- Bill

Pearl Harbor not forgotten amidst flood, recovery news

posted 08:38 AM 12/07

I find it very disturbing that on December 7th the Olympia chose to print only one article regarding Pearl Harbor. This “Day in Infamy” must never be forgotten. To ignore the servicemen (and women) and the sacrifices during WW2 is a slap in the face to the veterans. An apology would seem to be in order. - Keith L. Clark

Comments are deleted for inappropriate or abusive language

posted 02:57 PM 11/23

Names of individuals not necessary to dispel rumors

posted 05:56 PM 11/19

Police did not attack Olympian staff during protests

posted 03:13 PM 11/12

Why has there been no mention in any article of the fact that two reporters of The Olympian were attacked and pepper sprayed while not breaking any laws? - Sam, Tacoma

Clarifying deadline for election-related letters

posted 01:00 PM 10/29

Reader concern: needed more respectful comments online

posted 02:14 PM 10/16

Staff follows online comments, moderates when necessary

posted 08:50 AM 10/05

I think that you should suspend the comments section that you make available for the online stories. If you have looked at any recent posts you would notice that there is rampant group bashing bordering on racism and violent speech. Further those who post are able to maintain anonymity which escalates the level of the speech. I am aware of the idea of "if you don't like it, then don't look," but this is unfortunate given that the comments section should be able to be a forum for concerned citizens and honest discussion. I suggest either suspending this feature, or making those using it more accountable. -- William

Sports columns -- by men and women -- are for commentary

posted 02:02 PM 09/27

Given the recent tirade by Oklahoma State Coach Mike Gundy on a female sports columnist, I'm curious to see how the Daily O would respond if their woman sports writer were to do a similar column? Would Ms. Wochnick be fired or disciplined? Would the Daily O stand behind her actions and writing? Should it matter Ms. Wochnick is female? -- Dick

No endorsements for primary election

posted 11:36 AM 08/16

Why don't you make an obvious link from either the front page of your Web site or the opinion page to your endorsements in the current election? As part of my job, I do a "news scan" of the major online papers in the state. Today, I received a message on e-mail from Progressive Majority about their endorsements. Out of curiosity, I wanted to compare their endorsements with those of the local papers. I'm about halfway through my scan and so far, have not found one newspaper that has a user-friendly way of quickly accessing endorsement information. Think about what a service you would be providing if a user of Web site could quickly and easily clip into your endorsement editorials. -- Robert