Censorship – Newspapers Suppressing or Eliminating Online Comment Sections

The press is good for telling everybody to get out and vote.

People could do a better job of voting if they were better informed.

Both Whidbey papers have stripped away all comments from past articles, and removed the opportunity to post comments to new articles.

Various newspapers in the Puget Sound area have gone with this trend.

Newspapers are suppressing online comment sections, getting away from asking questions related to public policy and telling us they need more support from subscription and advertising sales.

Got it.

I’d be more interested in paying (again) for a local paper subscription if there was more in the way of newspeople asking questions.

Elimination of reader comments works against the idea of paying for an online subscription.

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“In consideration of how we voice our opinions in the modern world, we’ve closed comments on our websites. We value the opinions of our readers and we encourage you to keep the conversation going.”

Comments are shut down and we encourage you to keep the conversation going?

Looks like various US newspapers made use of this statement. See them here.

No hate speech, insults, threats, foul language, attacking other commenters, etc. These are rules that make sense.

Eliminating the opportunity for all to follow some basic rules and comment is information suppression.

Over the years, I’ve seen some really good points brought up in the comments section. Manage it, don’t ban it.

Independent/alternative media

We are big fans of Independent/alternative media here at Oak Bay Starfish.

The family friendly, hometown pride-oriented local small town papers and TV news folks are more welcome to do interviews related to public policy. Unfortunately, they seem to have moved away from asking questions.

Alternative media is also good about keeping an active comment section up & running. There’s always something to learn or think about from the points others make in the comment section.

Mainstream Press

4 Stories The Puget Sound Press Will Not Question Or Report On

US Border Patrol, Port Angeles, WA

An upgrade in staff requiring a new, $11.9 million, 50 agent facility. Secret arrest statistics, denied FOIA requests, heroin and meth in the community, rare and mysterious cross-border arrests, fraudulent overtime claims, 1,200-horsepower interceptor boats and zero questions from the press.