Newspapers Debate Unfettered Reader Comment Versus Standards of Decency on the Web: Faced with declining circulation, many U.S. newspapers are trying to engage readers by allowing them to respond to news stories online. But the anonymity of the Internet lets readers post obscenities and racist hate speech that would never be allowed in the printed paper. [...]
One of the few newspapers that does monitor everything readers post is The New York Times.
After the recent Virginia Tech massacre, five editors were working at once to vet all the comments from readers, said Vivian Schiller, vice president and general manager of NYTimes.com. The effort is worthwhile to make sure the quality of the newspaper is carried through to its Web site, she said.
"I don't understand people who wash their hands and say, 'We're just going to capitulate to irrelevant information on our Web site,'" she said.
Eve Batey, the editor of blogging and interactive for the San Francisco Chronicle, is an advocate for papers taking more control of reader comment on their sites. Her background is in blogging, not newspapers.
