anonymous reconsidered
At least one "anonymous" blogger made a good point about my previous blog about anonymous people taking shots at my credibility as an editor.
This blogger pointed out that I shouldn't be so thin-skinned. After all, he or she wrote, in the past I have defended Spout Off, the column of "anonymous" comments we publish from readers each day.
Point taken. To be sure, Spout Off works partly because we allow readers to state what they really think about the issues of the day without attaching their names to their comments.
I should point out, though, that we don't publish Spout Offs from readers if they are unnecessarily unfair, mean-spirited, factually incorrect, or are personal attacks on individuals. And, it goes without saying that many readers -- including this editor -- give anonymous comments less credibility than comments that come with names attached. That's why we avoid using unnamed sources in local news stories in the Northwest Florida Daily News.
All that stated, I want everyone to know that it's OK with me if you wish to remain anonymous when commenting about my blogs. I'd rather hear your critical comments anonymously than hear no comments at all.
And I do hope many of you will take the time to share your thoughts about how to eliminate government waste. Drew had a good comment earlier today, and I hope to see more like that.
Pat
posted by Patrick Rice @ 2:30 PM
9 Comments
9 Comments:
I am new to the newspaper. I just started to read it for the first time. I think that it is interesting to me that you get to write you opinions. I think that you would have to be tuff-skinned to be recieving opinions from other readers. This should not be about anybodies credability.
I guess I have to take exception with your comment "we don't publish Spout Offs from readers if they are unnecessarily unfair, mean-spirited, factually incorrect, or are personal attacks on individuals". There are "Spout Offs" and editorials almost daily that attack President Bush and meet most or all of the criteria you listed above.
Pat, "anonymous" is right. There are "Spout Offs" published almost daily that attack some person, mainly politicians, and specifically the Bush Administration. And there are plenty of mean-spirited comments published in that column.
Here’s a glaring example of this from a recent published “Spout Off”:
“John McCain said that Donald Rumsfeld would go down in history as the worst secretary of defense ever. I want to add that Dick Cheney, George Bush, Condoleezza Rice and the rest of the Bushies will also go down as the worst administration this country has ever had.”
…and for those of you who think I’m being bias…
“Broward Circuit Judge Larry Seidlin should have been a barker at a circus sideshow instead of a circuit judge. Of course, South Florida is really a different country, but this judge is from outer space.”
But my favorite “Spout Off” recently has to be, "My fur coat is 100 percent Pomeranian." Who knew there were so much funny people in Northwest Florida! The satirical, sarcastic “Spout Offs” are the ones I enjoy the most.
Here's my Spout Off for the day:
"My coat is 50 percent loggerhead sea turtle, 50 percent goat skin, and 50 percent American black bear fur."
...you'll have to read the news to understand that one.
A veritable deluge, an avalanche even, of complaints about government waste. Wow, you really hit a nerve there. Maybe, like Bill O'Reilly, you should start denouncing child molesters. You won't find them a difficult target either.
Do you really think that we want to use our name and have people know that we are amused by stories about a man having sex with a goat and another selling shirts about it???? I think I'll remain anonymous!
I like the anonymous thing. I've had dozens of my comments published, a few times as many as three in the same day.
If we had to identify ourselves there would probably be a limit, and I'd get far less print than I do now.
Want to eliminate government waste? Start by eliminating Unions in the Government. Unions have destroyed the US auto industry and serve no legitimate purpose. Do we really need unions in Government to protect the rights of the workers? We have plenty of laws to protect the workers. The only people that benefit from unions are the ones that get campaign contributions from them. Guess who that is?
To Anonymous #1 from Feb 27
Spell check is your friend.
I too have to take very strong exception to your statement "I should point out, though, that we don't publish Spout Offs from readers if they are unnecessarily unfair, mean-spirited, factually incorrect, or are personal attacks on individuals."
Your paper very frequently publishes both regular letters to the editor and spout off publishes material with factual errors. And these are not just subtle little errors. They are errors that should be easy to see.
If you do not want to withhold publishing the piece, at least parenthetically insert the correct information.
One one occasion a friend of mine wrote a letter with a factual error and I privately corrected her. However, that did not correct that error in your readers minds.
G
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