Home > View from the Newsroom > Archives > 2008 > September > 09 > Entry
Community.gjsentinel.com — it’s your site again
Earlier this year we rolled out what we thought was a brilliant idea: Community.gjsentinel.com. It was to be a place within our website that was owned by readers. They were to decide the content and produce it. Our only contribution was to be a few letters to the editor every day that for one reason or another — mostly lack of space — didn’t make it into the print edition of The Daily Sentinel.
And indeed, that’s the way it worked for a while. Readers, often using a letter to the editor as a point of departure, engaged in lively, spirited debate. They did exactly what we thought they would do: They advanced many stories about many public issues.
But it didn’t take long for the site to be hijacked by a small group of people who, instead of debating in a civil manner, decided the best way to make a point was to call someone else a name. The site deteriorated quickly.
We had decided at the outset that pretty much anything was fair game, and so we watched in dismay as Community.gjsentinel.com became, as one staffer here put it, “a cesspool.”
Contributors to the site for the most part couldn’t be persuaded that a point of view other than their own existed. I found out the hard way, when we deleted a thread a few weeks ago because the letter from which it originated contained erroneous information. In fact, the letter never should have been put on the site.
The regulars pounced, wanting to know why we “censored” their comments. I explained why. The explanation was simple. The letter was erroneous and we don’t leave erroneous things on the site. But that wasn’t good enough. It was as if they didn’t read. They demanded again to know why. I didn’t have anything else to say. I could have, and perhaps should have, tried to point out that it was not “censorship.” Nobody was taking away their right to say anything. They were free to start their own blog any time they wanted. And they still are. It’s not difficult.
Finally, last week we decided we’d had enough. Editorial Page Editor Bob Silbernagel announced on the site that from now on we would block anyone who engaged in uncivil conversation or name-calling.
To date that’s had some positive effect, although we still find some unacceptable posts every day and delete them.
But what we hope happens is the Community.gjsentinel.com once again becomes what we always wanted it to be, a place where any of you are free to come and engage in lively, spirited and civil discourse about any number of issues. We still want it to be your site, and if we have to block the people who stole it, so be it.
Comments
By Lynn
September 9, 2008 11:35 AM | Link to this
How refreshing. I am so pleased to see the community putting a halt to moral deterioration. Why would those “regulars” even think anyone wanted to read their derogatory remarks instead of intelligent comments? Thank you Sentinel for stepping up and being an example of morality…
By rockman
September 9, 2008 11:56 AM | Link to this
Thank you for doing that.
The site had become a sewer. I’m no shrinking violet, but even I didn’t feel much like posting an opinion there.
Thanks again for giving it back to us.