Comment Policy: Focus On The Civil
Oct 20, 2009 12:39 - 4 Comments
Dear Rockville Central readers:
As some might have noted, there is an election coming in a few weeks (November 3, in case you wondered). As happens when it’s campaign time, emotions are running a bit high. Editor Cindy Cotte Griffiths and I have been amazed at the volume of comments and gratified that so many readers see Rockville Central as a good place to discuss issues.
However, with the increase in comment volume, we feel the need to refine our comment policy in order to protect the civil and respectful qualities of this space. Rockville Centralhas always been intended to be a blog where we can discuss issues in a measured way. Sometimes we worry it may have lost sight of the “measured” part of that goal, in favor of being open to all.
Moving forward, we plan on tightening our moderation of comments. That means fewer comments will be approved. We will not approve comments that are clearly mean spirited or do not add to the discussion. We will be especially careful of comments that are critical of individuals. There are ways of criticizing behavior without criticizing people.
Our suggestion to people who wish to leave comments is to stop a moment and think about whether and consider whether you would really say what you are writing to an acquaintance or friend. That’s the bar we want to adhere to.
We will continue to actively seek out views that differ from our own, and to try to maintain a fair and impartial policy — both in attitude and in practice. We do not moderate comments based on ideology or because we disagree on the viewpoint of a writer.
We recognize that this policy refinement may cause some to lose interest because the comments will get less active. We accept that. We hope that it will also cause some readers togain interest, because there will be more room for thoughtfulness.
Thank you.
4 Comments
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Read our comment policy. Please be civil. Don't write something you would not say to someone's face. COMMENTS ARE MODERATED. We reject comments with vulgarities, obscentities, or that personally attack other commenters.
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I think you guys are more sensitive to this than the average bear because you see the sausage being made. From my perspective you seem to post a lot of comments on etiquette while I don’t see any bad behavior. I’m sure that’s because y’all keep an eye on it.
As the site becomes more popular it will become harder to police. What can you do but be vigilant…
Some Rockville Central readers might be interested in further thoughts I had on this issue — it raises fundamental questions that do not have easy answers. I discussed it in my most recent podcast, Public Life Today, available here. -Brad
The easy answer is that this is a private website by an individual, and is subject to any editorials he/she sees fit to make.
I’m all about free speech within the confines of what is protected under law. But its the website owner that is allowed to choose whatever they want. That’s their right. I applaud the effort made on this site to be objective.
And if you write an article, discontinuing participation because of a few people’s comments is also reacting, not responding.
This is off topic, but …what if I wanted to write a segment about yesterday’s big line for a flu shot on Picard Drive, which I was part of? I don’t see anywhere to submit an article!
Andrew, thanks for the comment. Just to respond to your question . . . in order to submit an article, just email it to us at [email protected] and we will take a look! Very low-tech, I know, but there you have it. -Brad