Keeping the conversation constructive
By KRISTEN SCHMIDT
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krschmidt@shawsuburban.com
Schmidt: We recently received this unsigned letter to the editor:
"Just curious why the Web site disables comments for some of the more controversial articles? Most recently 'Man sentenced to 20 years in kidnapping case' and 'Man charged with criminal sexual assault of a child.' I understand that because of the drama that goes on amongst comments in everyday articles, you must be weary of the comments that would come out in articles such as the two I mentioned, but why censor thoughts and opinions on some articles and allow them on others?"
The two stories this writer refers to were both about children being sexually abused. The accusations in both cases are heartbreaking, stomach-turning. They are the kind of charges that make you wonder what compels humans to sometimes do terrible things.
As in other stories about child abuse and child sexual abuse, we chose not to allow comments on these stories. Why? There is sometimes so little probability of constructive debate and discussion that we do not allow comments in the first place.
Comments on these stories almost always devolve into personal attacks, slurs and wishes of violence on the person accused of the crime. Rarely will a comment string strings on stories such as like these stay on topic and above board.
We would welcome letters to the editor about public issues raised in these stories, though I'm not sure what such a letter would say. Maybe it would come from someone who advocates for elimination of such abuse. Maybe it would contain praise for investigators and prosecutors. Maybe a parent would share his or her concerns about the safety of children in the community.
The fact is, though, that those aren't the kinds of comments that crop up online with these stories.
Accusations that we censor or prune comments to be more shaped like our political views are silly. The newsroom is populated with people who can recite the First Amendment and who (literally) pound fists on desks about things like open meetings and public documents and unfettered discussion.
The decision to disable comments on a story is not taken lightly; if anything, we err on the side of opening a story to public debate. But when it comes to some stories about sexual or physical abuse (particularly involving cases that do not threaten public safety) we don't see a lot of opportunity for constructive conversation.
We'd love to hear your thoughts on the topic. Feel free to comment on this story online, drop me a note via e-mail or write a letter to the editor. Keep the conversation going.
• Reach Daily Chronicle editor Kristen Schmidt at kschmidt@shawsuburban.com or 815-756-4841, ext. 257.
