A look at how news organizations are handling user comments
@shawnpwilliams Yeah, you’re a dumb n****r.
When I read these words written by a stranger last week, I wasn’t sure how to react. It wasn’t the first time I’d been called the n-word, but it was in a place that… Read more
By Al Tompkins
Broadcast/Online Group Leader
As newsrooms across the country grapple with online user comments, the discussion often turns to legal implications. I wanted to demystify the matter and sort through the rumor and rhetoric. So I went… Read more
By Scott Libin
Poynter Online Managing Editor
Where I work, the legendary status
of Eugene Patterson is perhaps second only to that of Nelson Poynter
himself. Patterson won a Pulitzer Prize
for his Read more
By Bob Steele
The Nelson Poynter Scholar for Journalism Values
I recently spent a couple of days trying to help people in The (Cincinnati) Enquirer newsroom come to terms with ethical challenges that affect journalists almost everywhere in… Read more
Since 2002, Poynter Online has allowed users to share feedback on stories they read. Bill Mitchell, editor of Poynter Online, answered questions in the user commenting survey on Poynter’s approach to commenting. Here are his responses:… Read more
By Roy Peter Clark
Senior Scholar and Vice President
If we crave a civil discourse about incivility, we might
begin by gazing through the various frames people build to express their
opinions on this topic. These frames
By Roy Peter Clark
Senior Scholar and Vice President
Every day from 1960 to 1968, Gene Patterson wrote a signed daily column on the editorial page of the Atlanta Constitution. Many of those 3,000 pieces concerned race.… Read more
By Kelly McBride
Ethics Group Leader
April Branum is used to the teasing. As a child, she was the fat kid. Now she’s a big woman. Her entire life she has endured stares, jokes and rudeness.
If… Read more
By Aly Colón
Reporting, Writing, Editing Group Leader
How
does uncensored, uncivil and anonymous commentary on blogs and Web sites affect
online conversations about diversity?
We
asked contributors to Poynter’s “Journalism with a Difference” column,
along… Read more
On May 14, Bob Steele, the Nelson Poynter scholar for journalism values, talked with Washington Post ombudsman Deborah Howell about her concerns with user commenting on news Web sites.