If you want to comment on this blog ...
A small number of readers have mistaken the comment section of this blog for a stall door in a public restroom, where they feel they can write just about anything they want.
They are wrong.
As I expressed in a previous post, I'm generally disappointed at the level of discourse in the comment section of this blog. Many comments are quite good, actually, but there's a fair amount that are little more than obnoxious rants and/or personal insults. I've had enough.
I read a fair number of blogs and most of them do not tolerate the nonsense that a handful of my readers feel they have a right to engage in.
I'll outline our official posting policy below, but, in a nutshell, here the rules of the road:
You can disagree, but you can't insult. In short, no flaming.
You can't swear or use racist, homophobic and other hateful language.
You can't lie or make unfounded allegations.
You have to stay on point.
I'd be nice if your comment actually added something to the group discussion. Ideally, I'm looking for informed, intelligent discourse. I intend on making the comment section more conducive to those who want to make such contributions.
For the record, here are the paper's official rules on posting comments:
Reader comments are posted immediately and are not edited. Please use good taste, be respectful of other writers, keep comments relevant to the post and do not impersonate someone else. We are not responsible for the comments on this blog, but we reserve the right to remove any that are libelous, obscene, threatening, abusive, or otherwise offensive, and to block any user who does not follow these guidelines. Comments containing objectionable words are automatically blocked. Some comments may be re-published in The Buffalo News print edition.
This blog has received more than 870 reader comments since I began writing it in April. In recent weeks we've blocked a couple of consistently over-the-top commentators and removed about a dozen inappropriate comments. I have stepped up my policing of the comments section, and will continue to do so.
In short, I'm in a clean-up mode.
As in print, The News reserves the right to control the content it publishes online. We are in the news business and are not interested in hosting an online food fight.
