I ran across this interesting piece yesterday. CBSNews.com has decided to disable the reader comments section for all of its stories about Barack Obama. The reason? Too many racist postings. The site is not diabling comments for stories about any of the other presidential candidates, only those about Obama. “We have our rules of engagement,” says CBSNew.com director of operations Mike Sims. “They prohibit personal attacks, especially racist attacks. Stories about Obama have been problematic, and we won’t tolerate it.”
On the one hand, this is an admirable position—taking a zero-tolerance stance against hateful attacks. However, I wonder if this is the best course of action for CBS to take. Most people know that the comments section is a public forum, an opportunity for everyday folks to express their views. I’m not waving the unlimited “free speech” card here by any means. (I sometimes think online forums and talk radio are among the worst things about our society today.) But I think it’s helpful for us to hear where people are really coming from, what’s in their hearts.
When it comes to confronting racism these days, our cultural institutions (perhaps driven by guilt) tend to quash the offenders without exploring the roots of their ignorance or hatred. Could CBSNews.com provide a greater service by allowing readers to share their unabashed opinions?
I’ve seen lots of racist comments from the public on various websites, and they do tick me off initially. But usually another reader comes along to offer a passionate rebuke or rebuttal. For me, it’s just fascinating to observe how people think.
What about you? Do you think CBSNews.com is making the right move? If the site is not able to effectively police the racist trash talk against Obama, is it best to pull the plug on reader feedback? Why or why not? I’d love to get your comments. And I promise not to block them.
I think they might try a filter approach first. That’s used by a lot of bloggers. When people are able to comment, they are sometimes more likely to engage with the content of a web page. I think it’s unfair to Obama to cut off his commentns without cutting off those of other candidates.
My children have been sheltered from this brand of hatred. This weekend, one of them referred to racism as a thing of the past. They actually thought that it did not exist anymore. I wish it were true, and I am happy to be part of communities where ethnic and cultural diversity is embraced and valued.
But I feel that we cannot sanitize ourselves from the knowledge of the truth. If it is still going on, and if it relates to such a high profile as Obama, we should not be shielded from that. At least not from the media giants, who already give us too much of other stuff that I do not consider to be newsworthy.
I think it’s a knee-jerk reaction on the part of CBS. Remove all possibility of racism in that arena for fear of appearing to support it. It’s a public relations move. They don’t want to risk the chance of alienating anyone, so they silence everyone. At least everyone who wants to comment on Obama. (Wonder how long it will take them to do the same with other candidates – if they don’t doesn’t that appear to be racist in itself).
It takes more work to allow open dialog. And more risk. I think the big media are too absorbed in the numbers game to do this kind of stuff. Which is why blogs (like this one) are so great.
I think this is a tricky issue. I certainly understand why CBS can’t allow their website to be a venue for hatred. However, Barack Obama is a public figure and the public should be able to discuss him and his views as a presidential candidate. One thing I think they should NOT allow are anonymous comments. Craver is good at encouraging people to “own” their comments over on his blog, and I think this heightens the level of civility among people who disagree. Anonymity provides a shield for ignorance, and people are much more likely to use mean, hateful words when they don’t have to be responsible for the consequences of their language.
As always, Ed, thanks for the great discussion opener.
Tough one. I guess I’m in favor of the zero tolerance. Will letting folks post their hatred really reveal anything new, some new root that we’ll be able to pull up and change? I don’t think so. I do think a moderated forum would be better than no comments.
B”H
Hi Ed,
I like both what Charity and Phil have said here. While I agree that adding more poison to the water will only make things that much more toxic, a moderated forum where comments would first be reviewed before they are published sounds like a good alternative to me. It may be that CBS doesn’t want to assign a staff person to this task, but to not allow any remarks seems like a cheap solution to the problem, IMHO.
Blessings,
Shlomo
Free, Freeing and Liberating Speech
And Fueyo knows a good bit about what white America thinks. I hear many racial jokes and epithets because I am ‘white,’ he wrote later in an e-mail. IMO, there is far more racial prejudice out there than a black
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