Censorship ?

[tornado]

I just found something interesting....

The Pantagraph has just instituted a new policy...
they will now require registration for anyone to leave "Reader Comments".
No longer will they allow anyone to leave a reader comment unless they identify themselves.
Of course it's their newspaper, and I guess they can do whatever they want.
We certainly have some censorship here, as we can delete posts that don't comply with the stated rules.
I think the PJS will probably follow suit, all the while claiming to be a bastion for freedom of speech.

Obviously this will cut down likely more than 90% on the reader comments, and is a little bit of a censorship step,
especially when you read the reasons they give for why they are taking this step.
They have ALWAYS had the capacity to "suspend comments"..and they essentially state that's what they've been doing,
but I guess they want to suppress those comments they have been "suspending".

Here are their reasons...
"to temper the discussion"
and
"make readers feel more accountable for their behavior"
and
"an effort to improve the overall reader dialogue" (what they call "improve" really means to censor/snuff the stuff they don't want)
and
to limit "“frontier freedom” on the Internet"

http://www.pantagraph.com/articles/2008/02/28/news/doc47c6e73dbfecf758740520.txt

[BU ICEMAN]

Um, do we allow anonymous posters here?

Yeah, yeah, I know we're not part of the "media," but I think the same reasons that we have logins here are the same reasons that apply to the Pantagraph or any other newspaper/news outlet, right? They're not the first ones to require this.

If you're not willing to stand by what you say or afraid to say it with your name attached, maybe you shouldn't be posting it?

I don't think anybody can argue against the fact that anonymity provides a much greater opportunity for abuse (of anything, posting, public behavior, etc.) than being identifiable and therefore accountable.

[ph]

reading the anonymous reader comments on the pjstar stories are much like watching the Jerry Springer show. You do not leave with a higher IQ. Overall, yes, those posters are that bad.

I bet the main reason for instuting any moderation policy is $$$. It takes too much time for paid staff to moderate the blatenly inapropriate and offensive comments that they get.

At least this message board gives you a consistant alias and has some moderation, so (most)people that do not want to be banned will be civilized and think about using the English language in their posts.

Much great literature has been written by authors using fake names. I see no overall value in requiring real names for a valid discussion.

In today's society, I mostly think it is dangerous to get your real name on the Web too much..

[tornado]

A month has gone by since the Pantagraph changed their policy and made readers register to leave comments.
Maybe this is what they wanted, but....nobody is leaving any comments any more.
It used to be really interesting to read what the other readers said in their comments.
Now almost never is there even ONE reader comment to any story.

I thought for sure the story yesterday about the new verbal ISU got and the speculation of who might be leaving would generate some comments, but I was wrong!

[TNel]

Pantagraph

A positive move in my opinion. It will eliminate most of the Cable Guy wannabes, who have no regard for facts, no concept of fairness and not enough wobblies to vent in the Letters to Editor section, which requires their real names.

[beanocookschins]

A positive move in my opinion. It will eliminate most of the Cable Guy wannabes, who have no regard for facts, no concept of fairness and not enough wobblies to vent in the Letters to Editor section, which requires their real names.

Absolutely. I agree.

[tornado]

Then why even bother to ask for reader comments?
It is completely schizophrenic....act like you want to know what the readers think, then even tho the vast majority are sensible, polite, civil, etc.....change the rules and make it hard enough that 95% of those who used to leave comments, no longer do.

If they didn't want a certain component of the responses (the Cable-guy wannabe responses) then just delete them, exactly as we do on the message board.
But now not ONE of the ISU-related stories over the past couple weeks have had more than ONE reader response.
They might as well delete the whole response option.

Talk about schizo....how about the policy (the one PJS uses) to ASK FOR candid reader responses, then slam the readers if their responses are not to their liking?
Just delete the ones you don't like, for gosh sakes...but don't put them up then immediately devote entire columns to trashing the people whose opinions you don't agree with or like!!

http://www.bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=3789