Do Newspapers Need Comments?
from the probably-not dept
A few weeks back, we wrote about the question of whether or not newspapers should be getting into the community business by noting that you don't build communities, you enable them. But, the question still remains how you enable those communities. Gawker had an interesting post recently along those lines arguing that newspapers shouldn't allow comments on articles. The argument is, basically, that a lot of the comments are really dumb, and don't add very much. That may be true, but in many cases, that's because the newspaper doesn't give anyone incentive to add smart comments. There's no indication that anyone at most newspapers read the comments. The authors of the articles rarely, if ever, respond to people in the comments. There's little to no engagement or discussion. So, instead, the comments just become a way for readers to vent. Just tossing up comments and thinking you've created a community is a mistake -- but that doesn't mean newspapers shouldn't enable comments. It just means they should do so in a more intelligent manner.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: comments, community, newspapers
Reader Comments
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Not that I'm against comments, of course.
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Re:
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The Authors won't comment because...
If they had to respond, their bias' would quickly be exposed.
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Same
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Re: Excelent exampel
I don't normally read comets because of this. I don't usual leave comments saying "Your comment is crap" but this time it seemed on topic.
I think any unmoderated forum tends to drown in peoples vapid self indulgence.
Vewww thank god that's off my chest.
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Comments, dumb?
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Now, I have a facebook account, I'm on LinkedIn so it isn't like I am opposed to the community idea. But the quality of reader submitted comments on news paper content is so poor, offensive and biased that it reduced the value I used to have from reading homeland news while drinking my morning coffee.
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F U ! Comments rulez!!
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Comments on News Papers
I think that maybe they should be moderated.
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comments: yes
IF there's deceptive or angry comments, thats just the nature of the internet.
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Re: comments: yes
GRR!
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Or he could just be a semi-literate twerp.
However, my knee-jerk reaction to the title of this article was "no" and some of the more well-spoken of you have convinced me that I may be wrong. Thank you.
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Comments should be moderated
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Well thought out comments add to an article
Obviously, it depends on the calibre of the writers who respond. I like slashdot.org, eetimes.com,theeconomist.com for the mostly good comments.
Slashdot has a grading system that works. (I also think it has a huge army of informed readers who add great info many topics, Science, Law, Med, IT etc).
Oh Yes I like the comments here also.
But a piece of advice. If in doubt - don't post.
ps - Mike , Have you thought of using the slashdot grading model. It seems to make the most informative comments float to the top.
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Re: Well thought out comments add to an article
We're working on some stuff, but we're not sure what's going to make the most sense yet. But stay tuned... :)
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they are almost entirely worthless
Most of the websites I frequent are tech-related, mostly focused towards IT professionals, and the comments generally add value to the article and contain intelligent discussion. I'm driven away from even glancing at the comments on newspaper sites because the mass stupidity on display just pisses me off.
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Editorial Page
The professional journalists have their integrity to protect, can't have the riffraff scooping them all the time.
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Hidden comments
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Mpls StarTribune Comments
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I kinda like...
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Re: I kinda like...
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Upside of Comments.
Sadly, if you listen to teacher unions, and education think-tanks, the always unbiased left wing of the country, they sadly decry the country's state of education. In there eyes, another 10 trillion thrown their way and everyone can finally be an uneducated and ignorant drop out.
Well folks, they represent a majority of Americans. I am grateful they are involved to any degree. Barely half of America votes... and those are the ones who probably do not even comment. Sorry state of affairs, isn't it?
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Re: Upside of Comments.
You bemoan the education level of our "nation of drop outs" and yet you lack an acceptable command of the english language.
Or, maybe it is just a troll ......
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Newsvine's ranking system is simple to understand and use, while maintaining comment order and threads.
BTW - Did the NY Times have reader comments on most stories for a few weeks and then withdraw it? I think the Chicago Tribune launched and withdrew comments, citing poor quality and offensive content. SF Chronicle's comments are particularly idiotic (if you average more than 50 per story, most recent should be at top).
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Re: good movie
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Re: Re: good movie
Go watch your stupid movie and stop posting your spam
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the only thing
Slate's "The Fray" forums might be what you are describing as the best way. Slate takes the time to highlight the best of the forum comments, so even though I never read the forums I get the benefit of them and they must be more high quality because they might get highlighted by the editors.
There may be some necessary foundation for a "The Fray" style forum, such as audience size, and quality of the audience, and new media cluefulness of the editors.
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Indy Star
On the flip side, the Indiana Business Journal allows comments on their online articles and there are actual real discussions and opinions there. And by opinions I mean, telling people what you think without putting down the people that think different. Maybe it's just the different type of people that read those articles as compared to the main Indianapolis newspaper.
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Newspapers Comments
According to me, they should have so people can share their view and query for further discussion. You can reach out to https://www.moweb.com/ for proper help.
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yes, absolutely
Interesting article. But i guess newspapers do really need comments to get to know the opinion of the readers and subscribers.
Regards,
Nadia from https://chudovo.de/
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