The Lansing State Journal caused a ruckus in July when, like many Gannett newspapers, it added a searchable state employee salary database to its website. The paper was inundated by angry e-mails and online protests, spurring publisher Richard Ramhoff to apologize.One reader went the extra mile, a Gannett Blog tipster says. "You know how all our sites offer some inane reader poll every day? Well, it looks like this user pasted html code into his new thread title to embed his own poll (see screen shot, above) on the great Michigan state salary database debate of 2007."
Other newspapers, feeling the same pressure, are taking different approaches. The San Bernardino County Sun, a former Gannett newspaper in Southern California, removed names from its public employee salary database just days after first publishing them. The change came after complaints from public employees. "Their argument -- that the greater good of publishing public salaries could be achieved without 'outing' them individually on our website -- caused us to reflect on our standards of discretion when deciding whether to publish or not publish public information,'' Editor Steve Lambert said Wednesday.Got a profane, racist or just-plain-crazy comment that made it past your Gannett site's filters? I'm collecting examples for Commentz Korner in hopes of shaming editors into action. Use this link to e-mail Gannett Blog; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the sidebar, upper right. Or leave a note in the comments section, below. (But be forewarned: I personally read and approve all comments on this blog before they get published!)
http://frontier.cincinnati.com/blogs/borgman/2007/12/borgblog-at-two.asp
ReplyDeleteThere aren't any filters over at the blog of Jim Borgman, the insightful, witty and highly skiled cartoonist at Cincinnati, who really is the only reason to read the damn paper anymore. He's taking if offline for a while though because the comments are just too far gone to deal with. And it;s a wise move - the comments are a trashheap. Borgman's a liberal cartoonist in a tiny pocket of the world that worships Rish Limbaugh and thinks George Bush can walk across the Ohio River, so he gets hammered constantly.
The Cincinnati Enquirer has been in a free fall for at least fifteen years. It sacked most of its long-time people earlier in the decade and replaced them with kids, cut staff, reassigned people - God, it's a cluster-you-know-what.
Thanks. That's a great tip!
ReplyDelete