I was reading this in the paper this morning, and I thought of Islamica. sad.
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On the Web, talk is cheap, and nasty
Online sites provide forums where chats can turn mean, ugly
By Stephen T. Watson NEWS STAFF REPORTER
WGRZ.com posted a small news story Jan. 16, disclosing that KeyBank, an important tenant at the Broadway Market, plans to leave the historic market when its lease ends in April.
The first few comments on the online WGRZ Buffalo Forum aimed some gentle sarcasm at the market’s executive director and ruminated on the impact of KeyBank’s departure. Then the racism started.
“The more it gets blacker, the more decay and cancer you get,” wrote “James Z from Kaisertown.”
There was more, much worse, which The News will not repeat.
But that is what some online forums have become, where reasonable discussion can quickly degenerate into vile and nasty commentary — all behind a veil of anonymity.
“Sometimes I think, man, don’t these people have mothers? How could they say that?” said Joe Marren, a Buffalo State College assistant professor of communication. “You can post something rude and it’s not really you, it’s your screen name.”
The comment sections of news Web sites, online message boards and Internet chat rooms are growing in popularity and attract thousands of comments each day.
But they can become pockmarked with bigoted, homophobic, racist or defamatory language.
It’s enough to make a person wonder if we’re a nation of hateful people, or is there something about the Web that brings out the worst in people?
“It points out the kind of racism, and you sometimes find sexism, that is deep in this society,” said Frank B. Mesiah, president of the Buffalo chapter of the NAACP. “It’s changed. . . . But, down deep, these feelings are still there.”
“Anonymity eliminates any kind of accountability for what you say on the Internet,” said Kelly McBride, ethics group leader for the Poynter Institute, which promotes good journalistic practices.
The administrators of Web sites for The Buffalo News, Channel 2, the New York Times and scores of other news outlets are trying to figure out the best way to moderate these forums.
They want to pull in readers and encourage a free flow of discussion, but they don’t want bile and venom to overrun their comment sections.
“That’s a line that we have to walk every single day,” said Ellen Crooke, Channel 2’s vice president of news, who took down the Broadway Market comment thread last week after a reporter alerted her to it.
On the Web, if you have anything to say, it’s easy to find an outlet and an audience.
Comments turn vile
In addition to the scores of message boards and online forums, most news organizations give readers a chance to comment.
At their best, commenters share thoughtful opinions and amplify the coverage of a topic, often providing ideas worth investigating by reporters.
“It can be a very effective community connection tool for newspapers. It can be a way to draw people to the newspaper Web site multiple times a day,” said Beth Lawton, manager of digital media for the Newspaper Association of America.
Unfortunately, constructive comments sometimes are overwhelmed by vile postings, according to news reports.
In Miami, the NAACP chapter complained last October after a story on the Miami Herald Web site about the death of a black teenager prompted a number of hateful responses.
One comment said the death should be celebrated because it saves taxpayers money that would have been spent on incarcerating him.
Not every post targets blacks. The Orange County Register in California profiled an obese 40-year-old woman who didn’t know she was pregnant until two days before she gave birth to her son.
This generally positive story drew a wave of false attacks from readers on the woman’s purported laziness, unhealthy lifestyle and even claims that she made money off her story.
“Really, it’s next to impossible to baby-sit [the comment section] 100 percent of the time,” said Anthony Fracasso, founder of
Buffalo NY Buffalo News Speakupwny.com , an online message board that covers local politics.
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