Sean Blanda

One point of contention among journalists is the value of comments on news stories. There are various downsides:

1. They’re just nasty
I have noticed that on many stories at The News Journal, the comments are often racist, unintelligent, and downright mean on most occasions. Some would say having an thought provoking discussion around the news is complimentary to the function a newspaper. But most examples say otherwise.

2. You reap what you sow.

My Google-fu has failed me, but someone once wrote that the nature of your comments reflect your content. For example a site like 43 folders that is geared around helping people will generally have helpful comments. News, by nature, is mostly negative. Perhaps this reflects the people that respond.  Also, I tend to believe that the people that read news for the “right reasons” are the ones who use it to apply to their everyday life, not to debate some guy on an internet forum.

3. The penny-arcade theory

Normal person + …

4. The comment curve

I would argue that, on most sites, someone is more likely to comment if they are mad than if they are pleased. The same can be said for most customer service situations.

So what do we do to fix this situation?

1. Transparency

One underused aspect of user comments is transparency. I don’t understand why news outlets don’t encourage their reporters and writers to respond to comments on a story they wrote. Here, papers have what is essentially free advice and most are letting it go to waste. Let the reporter get involved and help restore trust in a section of media that many believe lost its credibility .

2. Foster discussion
In a “discussion” atmosphere, there really are no positive and negative comments.  Every comment would avance the topic being discussed.  Another benefit of having staff comment on stories is it helps foster intelligent discussion. Soon, most of the negative users will either leave or change their tune. Another way to foster discussion is to build a user base around another aspect of the site such as a niche product or a forum and let that bleed over into other areas.

These are just passing observations.  If you can poke holes in any of them, drop a comment.  But a big part of me believes transparency is the key to unlocking the true potential of comments.