By Judi Whetstine —-   Is it important for local citizens and public officials to exercise their First Amendment right to speak publicly on the issues of the day? If so, to what extent should local media try to energize citizen and public leaders’ involvement through online exchanges? Zack Kucharski, Topical Content Manager at The [...]

I guess you could say civility is a little like obscenity — it can be hard to define it, but you know it when you see it. Or, more accurately, when you don’t see it, since the only time we seem to talk about civility (and that’s a lot these days) is when it’s most [...]

By Judith Whetstine — There is no reason to continue allowing anonymous comments at KCRG.com. The experience at thegazette.com proves the merits of transparency in online community discussions. Chuck Peters, CEO of SourceMedia Group, said last June in The Gazette that the purpose of the company’s reorganization was “to improve the user experience with The [...]

I was wrapping up for the week, when I saw a Tweet from Iowa’s AP Bureau Chief Carol Riha about a Kansas City woman police say drove all the way to Ottumwa in an attempt to kill a man who’d called her nasty names in an online comment board. According to MediPost, police say Brianna Greathouse, [...]

In the week since TheGazette.com changed the rules for online comments, more than 800 users have signed up to post using their real names. As far as we can tell. And it’s made a difference in the level of conversation. Mostly. So far, so good. I checked in with Online Editor Jason Kristufek on Friday. [...]