Java banter and online newspaper comments

Was chatting with a friend over a cup of joe a few weeks ago when the conversation turned, predictably, to the Record Searchlight, my — present — employer.

 

Let’s see, I haven’t set foot inside of the R-S newsroom since February, when, awash with fear, anxiety, depression, anger and more, I essentially fled the building. And my physician, upon examination and listening to what I’d been through – base sexual harassment, harassment, cyberstalking, intimidation (all of which involved one or two colleagues), employer abandonment and more – ordered me off of work. Through January.

 

Since, I haven’t been exactly ingratiated with the inner sanctum of the R-S, although friends have and continue to reach out. Part of that estrangement stems from an EEOC sexual harassment charge and another, from an uphill battle with my employer over Workers’ Comp.

 

Both battles, predictably, continue. But the Workers’ Comp one simply blows me away. My employer hasn’t paid a dime toward helping me recover from my workplace injury. So, with a $324-a-week income from California’s SDI, I’m left to foot the bills. Women, predictably, are injured at least twice for standing up for their civil rights – first with the social scarlet letter for uttering a taboo that no one wants to believe exists and the second from economic reprisal that cascades out of the first. Ah, economic justice.

 

But back to the coffee. I told my coffee companion that a dear friend was leaving the paper and that I was delighted to hear about her upcoming adventures.

 

“You want to see the Record Searchlight fail,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone, obviously figuring that I was getting some sort of glee out seeing another staff departure.

 

His words startled me. “Fail,” I thought. No. Never. I far from want to see that. I was, however, delighted to see a friend embrace new opportunities, adventures and more.

 

Still, his words haunted me. Do I want to see the Record Searchlight — or any other news-gathering organization — fail? No way. To want that, out of some sort of vengeance-based hostility, is to want to see the fabric of our society fray and unravel. That, most definitely, is not what I want.

 

But I do want change. Some of that change is obvious: Eliminate sexual harassment for female journalists. Restaff papers. Stop outsourcing. Scale back corporate greed. Embrace sustainable employment practices.

 

But other changes aren’t so obvious and they revolve around the newspaper comment board. R-S editor, Silas Lyons, takes the position that the newspaper and the community are served by online commenter chatter. On one hand, I can see his logic. Open discussion. Barriers removed. A messy conversation with lots of points of views folded into the fray. On an idyllic level, it sounds delightful. But then the harsh reality sets in: Spittle, venom, personal attacks, sexism, racism and more scuttle through the comment boards and snuff out the flame and spirit of honest give-and-take discussions.

 

Lyons likens the online dialogue to conversations around a kitchen table, in a coffee shop or on a bar stool – except that it’s all at once.

 

I thought about that analogy last night while having dinner with a friend. He made an off-handed political comment. I sniggered and tossed a second barb. But neither of us would have posted our roll-off-of-the-tongue banter onto a message board, especially since neither of us was really thoughtful in our exchange. More: Once it was said, the comments were diluted with the passage of time and conversation. They disappeared. Were forgotten. Didn’t linger in the air or build a tower of Babel Commentosphere.

 

That got me to thinking. Besides moderating comments — which, I believe, is the ethical and moral duty of an organization that serves the community and allows an online free-for-all — what about letting the comments take the dinnertime conversation, coupled with the Craigslist, route? That’s to say, let them fade away and disappear after a period of time, like craigslist ads do? A thought anyway.

 

And while that thought rolls around, consider these recent comments to news stories on Redding.com. Moderation is needed. A newspaper’s roll is not only to report the news, but it helps to shape the community’s social fabric. Behold, the moths in the linen closet over the last couple of weeks:

 

-Christy

 

Story: Mien community reunion location changed:

“will there be any chow mein?”

“Why don’t they just relocate it to their own country. What a reunion that could be. Maybe they’ll like it so much they’ll stay!”

http://www.redding.com/news/2008/jul/25/mein-community-reunion-location-changed/

 

 

Story: Greyhound Bus complaints:

“The problem is the scum bag people who use Greyhound.”

http://www.redding.com/news/2008/aug/06/complaints-circle-greyhound-site/

 

Story: Motorcyclist dies in crash:

“Maybe this will be an eye opener
….or natural selection depending upon how one looks at it…”

“Darwin wins…..again…”

“Now there’s one less…..”

http://www.redding.com/news/2008/aug/01/fatality-reported-motorcycle-crash/

 

Story: Stunting blamed for motorcyclist’s death

“You hit the nail on the head. It’s called Natural Selection :-]”

http://www.redding.com/news/2008/aug/02/stunting-blamed-in-fatality/

 

Story: Man injured by boat propeller:

“lol….he got hit by a boat….”

“outlaw swimming unless you have an orange flag sticking out of your butt”

http://www.redding.com/news/2008/jul/31/man-injured-boat-crash-whiskeytown-lake/

 

Story: Police dog tracks suspect:

“You seem to like jerking off cops alot…”

http://www.redding.com/news/2008/jul/31/police-dog-tracks-assault-suspect/

 

Story: Driver injured in pickup crash

“See ya in the obits, smart guy.”

http://www.redding.com/news/2008/jul/23/driver-injured-cottonwood-pickup-crash/

 

Story: Pair arrested in meth raid (drugs found in woman’s bra)

“I thought her breasts looked a bit larger than normal.”

“Maybe she got cut some slack cause they got to look in her bra???”

“Are you saying there are a lot more “breasts” that need to be searched?”

http://www.redding.com/news/2008/jul/31/pair-arrested-meth-raid/

 

 

Story: Inmate attempts suicide (later dies):

Final story: No comments allowed.

Update story: Comments disabled, although the site says there were 123 of them. This note appears instead: “Editor’s note: Comments on this story have been removed due to widespread abuse. Users are encouraged to review our policies before posting.”

http://www.redding.com/news/2008/jul/23/attempted-suicide-victim-faces-life-prison-murder/

http://www.redding.com/news/2008/jul/24/inmate-dies-after-hanging/