"Sites have been given a short time to clear up existing abuse complaints, after which the paid comment handlers will take over,'' my source tells me.
This may explain the following obscure comment posted last week by Anonymous@10:19 a.m.: "What the Pluck? Answer: More work for Deepak and Sahib I'm betting, not Joe and Jane (sorry TOTUS), starting July 1."
Know more about this switchover? Please post your replies in the comments section, below. To e-mail confidentially, write jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.
[Image: today's Desert Sun of Palm Springs, Calif. -- one of 100 newspapers published by Gannett in the U.S. and the U.K., Newseum]
If this is true, there goes more local control. Some of the story comments on my site's Web site that are abusive/racist/etc. hinge on knowing the community or the inside players or even plays on people's names. How is an outside person going to understand any of that?
ReplyDeleteMaybe if the editors didn't have so many planning meetings they would have time to clean up the comments. As it is, the main Web editor is a golden boy who pushes off his work on the lessers, and we really can't figure out what the heck he does all night.
This is a WONDERFUL idea. Let the moonbats rant and rave against the outsourced people, instead of the hardworking web folks... oh, wait, what am I saying, I mean the hardworking people from other departments who donate their time to help monitor... oh, wait, what am I saying, I mean there's no time to moderate comments, and no one bothers anyway.
ReplyDeleteBut yeah, I think it's a good idea. Anything to let the web people do more web stuff and less grunt work.
It IS true. An email went out midweek last week that had a document in it listing the rules and regs by which the Pluckheads would remove messages.All the Web editors are golden boys/girls...ours is half my age, with no college journalism background, and in way over his/her head. Like yours as well, no doubt.
ReplyDeleteBut get ahead of the game Jim:
Local paywalls are coming sooner than you think.
5:37: I was told, and so posted, that three sites, including St. George, Utah, were going paywall July 1. What do you hear?
ReplyDeleteSo where are the other two, Jim?
ReplyDeleteI'm wondering if we're one of them.
What a great idea. And I bet the outside folks know nothing about journalism and will moderate using some stupid pre-defined list that will leave plenty of room for error. Yay Gannett. I feel better about working for you every single day.
ReplyDeleteI believe Lansing has been piloting this comment moderation service for a few months.
ReplyDeleteEditing comments has nothing to do with "journalism". Believe it or not, there is more to the web than your precious media sites. Comment moderation is everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI'd be terrified if I had to deal with a journalist running my website operation. Oh wait, I did deal with that so I left.
10:19 -- You're dead on. "Editing comments has nothing to do with journalism." And that's why the Web is such a festering pot of libel.
ReplyDeleteSomeday -- as the Web gains more influence -- the Web is going to allow a libel suit based around the types of things readers are writing in comment sections on media Web sites. Then, your precious "say whatever you want with no fear of consequences" Web site will be nothing but a lawsuit waiting to happen.
If you actually enjoy the type of shit that is allowed in the comment sections of many Gannett sites, you should be ashamed.
Note that Jim moderates comments here because things get out of hand if he doesn't.
This is moderation of the abuse queue and not the comments on the site. What doesn't get reported in user self-policing won't be removed.
ReplyDeleteThere are plenty of other sites around for those who want to avoid the thought police. The local Gannet paper started banning people left and right, a few months ago, and another forum was started for 20 bucks for a URL, and using excess space on the existing website of one of the posters. You can also rent more space than you'll ever need for less tha $5/month. It doesn't have advertising and is free to all. The rules are, "If you can't stand the heat, stay out of the kitchen." Who needs Gannet? Start your own forum with free software from Phpbb.
ReplyDeleteJim moderates to allow the drones to post bullshit without fear of being challenged.
ReplyDeleteDon't fool yourself into thinking anything else. The crap about Jim's foreskin and some of the other juvenile stuff is probably posted by one of his drones to make it look like the site needs to be policed.
Who cares if we ban a lot of people. A restauranteur would kick out someone who came in, used the bathroom, bullied the other customers, complained about the lousy food and harassed the staff - while making the major purchase of a cup of coffee every third day. Even banning a paying subscriber is worth it if the atmosphere improves for the majority.
ReplyDeletePeople are anonymous assholes because they can be. Banning them just lets them be themselves, someplace else.