Friday, June 1, 2007

Online Feedback: Comments Not Always Wanted

Two columns posted yesterday on The Poynter Institute's website address a topic that many news organizations with online components are struggling with: how to handle visitor comments.

Pat Walters, in a story titled, "Dealing with Comments: A Few Interesting Approaches," examined three newspaper websites (Wall Street Journal, New York Times and the Washington Post), a news aggregator (slashdot.com) and a radio program site (www.radioopensource.org).

Al Tompkins, Poynter's Broadcast/Online Group Leader, attempts to shed light on the legal implications media outlets face should when they allow online visitors to freely post comments on their websites.

In Omaha, only a handful of media outlets allow visitors to comment on stories on their websites.

WOWT (Cox Channel 8) allows people to submit comments on news stories on WOWT.com, but the submissions are reviewed before being posted.

KETV (Cox Channel 9) does not allow comments to be posted after stories on KETV.com. However, its forum provides a number of opportunities to comment on local topics such as news and sports, as well as national issues. All discussions are moderated by a team of editors and submissions are limited to 500 words.

KPTM (Cox Channel 10) provides for visitor comments and the ability for users to post stories and photos in its "Community Correspondent" section of its website, KPTM.com. People who post content must be at least 18 years old and must register and agree to terms of an agreement governed by California law.

The Omaha World-Herald newspaper's website, KMTV (Cox Channel 5) and KXVO (Cox Channel 11) do not provide the opportunity for comments on news stories. However, KMTV does allow people to comment on posts on its Weather Blog.

The Reader and City Weekly newspapers do not allow reader comments. However, the online component of the City Weekly's Media Watch column (this site) permis visitors to comment without requiring registration or pre-posting moderation.

16 comments:

Jess said...

Sean...are you trying to tell me something ?

Anonymous said...

Sean, since you're in the know, who is the new girl over at Big Six, Michelle something? And, I saw that old sports dude from 3, Bill Steckus, on 7 today, what's up with all of this?

Anonymous said...

THE ONLY REASON PEOPLE DONT LIKE FREEDOM OF SPEECH ON SITES LIKE THIS IS BECAUSE THET CANT HIDE THEIR LIES........MEDIA TYPES ESPECIALLY HATE INTERNET SITES LIKE THIS THAT EXPOSE THIER LIES.....A PERFECT EXAMPLE OF THIS IS THE TODD AND TYLER SHOW.....TODD AND TYLER HAVE OPINIONS ON EVERYTHING AND EVERYONE BUT THEY MADE IT A POINT OF KILLING THE PUBLIC INTERNET FORUM Z-92. AN ALLEGED PRIVATE PARTY THEN STARTED UP A SITE CALLED "TNT UNAUTHORIZED" WHICH IS A FARCE...TNT PRETENDS TO BE FRIENDS WITH THE HOMER WHO RUNS THE SITE IN TRADE FOR HIM NEVER ALLOWING ANYTHING EVER TO BE PUBLISHED ON THE SITE THAT WOULD SHOW TNT IN A BAD LIGHT....THE LAST THING ANY OF THESE MEDIA SITES WANT IS FOR THE PUBLIC TO BE ABLE TO TELL THEIR OPINIONS....CONGRATS TO THIS SITE FOR BRINGING A LEVEL OF HONESTY TO THE PUBLIC RARELY SEEN!

Anonymous said...

The Journal Star also allows feedback, both on stories and on its numerous blogs. Imagine -- a Nebraska media outlet with a decent website.

Anonymous said...

@ 5:58 AM

Dude, check your CAPS LOCK key, I think it must be broken. :-p

Anonymous said...

Don't even get mestarted on Todd and Tyler!

Anonymous said...

Todd and Tyler? Are they still around?

Anonymous said...

yeah, apparently there are people that think they are still funny.

Anonymous said...

bitter old has-beens.

Anonymous said...

3:52 PM: Just because Todd and Tyler THINK they are the greatest thing to happen to Omaha radio doesn't mean they really are.

Anonymous said...

why can't all of you use your real names like heywood does?

Anonymous said...

Mr. Freely,

I agree.

Sincerely,
Sofa

Anonymous said...

i'm hungry for fish tacos

Anonymous said...

Where can I comment on the mass purge going on at Journal radio?

Anonymous said...

Well, not at any Journal site, that's for sure.

Anonymous said...

That Community Correspondent thing is a good enough idea, but the layout sucks and it was kind of hard to figure out at first. I guess i wouldnt expect anything less (i mean more) from pappas.