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Extra: Web comment sections, a form of free speech?
To make your voice heard, you could type a letter, stamp it, mail it and hope an editor puts in the newspaper. But these days most would laugh at such an old-fashioned approach. Most prefer to quickly make their voices heard online. That includes Betsey Porter, an avid commenter on kare11.com. "I'm free to say what I want, generally without being interrupted," says Porter, who uses the name "Betseyp" while commenting. More and more news websites allow readers to comment on stories. Comment sections give users a chance to discuss the news as it's happening. "We want to have a connection with our community and this is one more way we can do it," says Kerry Oslund, vice president of new media for Gannett Broadcasting, which owns KARE 11. But the conversations aren't always healthy. Some stories lead to name calling. "Mean, awful things" are often posted for no reason, Porter says. And some of the comments are actually targeted at other commenters. "If I get attacked, I have comeback and called them stupid or ignorant," Porter says. "I probably shouldn't do that, but you get defensive." A story about an attack at ValleyFair in June spawned numerous racially charged comments on KARE's website. And earlier this month, a heated discussion was triggered by a story on Muslim cab drivers who didn't wanted to drive passengers carrying alcohol because of religion beliefs. "Go back to where you came from," one poster wrote. "Dear immigrants: we're full," another person wrote. "Try France." Other comments were too offensive to repeat. "Polite society depends on people not necessarily saying everything that pops into their heads," says professor John Logie, who studies the internet at the University of Minnesota. Logie notes there's no easy solution for dealing with such rhetoric. "I'm torn," he says. "On the one hand, there's the sort-of libertarian impulse to say, 'The more discourse, the better.' On the other hand, I wouldn't return to a site that is filled with that kind-of rhetoric." Anonymity may be one reason people behave this way, although Logie argues it's just the perception of anonymity. Powerful search engines make it easier to uncover commenters' identities. Still, that perception -- and the fact people are more apt to say things online that they wouldn't say in person -- may stoke the commenting fires. It's why MinnPost.com requires those who comment to use their real names. "I just personally believe -- and it goes back to my long days in the journalism business and at the Star Tribune and before -- that people should put their names next to what they say," says MinnPost editor Joel Kramer. All of MinnPost's comments are also pre-screened. Kramer says the site has received about 4,000 comments in 10 months, which is fewer than many news sites. But the discussion is much more civil and thoughtful. "There is a huge culture of anonymous, vitriolic comment and there's a lot of people who want to do that on websites, and they won't do it at MinnPost because we won't let them," Kramer says. Kare11.com has allowed comments for only three months now. KARE only requires a made-up user name and doesn't pre-screen comments. If readers think a comment is out of line, they can click the "Report Abuse" button. Comments disappear if they're reported three times. "Our tool that we have at KARE 11 allows the community to police itself," says Oslund, who oversees 18 websites for Gannett. He believes the volume of offensive comments will shrink as the commenting community grows. "The larger the community, the faster it polices itself," Oslund says. The Star Tribune's approach falls somewhere in the middle. Some comments are post-screened, others are pre-screened, depending on the story. "Our feeling is that you can't live at either extreme and serve the audience," says Will Tacy, managing editor for StarTribune.com. Local crime stories triggered a number of comments that violated the company's terms of use, Tacy says, so the Star Tribune no longer allows comments on those stories. "It did what we expected, which was, you remove the trigger," Tacy says. "You remove that kind-of noise." Tacy says the majority of comments are heartfelt and thoughtful. He feels the commenting experience is valued by readers and needs to continue. Betsey Porter agrees. She hopes the free-flowing debate continues to grow, but in a respectful way.
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