- Sep 16, 2012
- 58,075
- 51,665
- 3,605
Our local newspaper had to shut down its discussion forum due to trolls and just generally nasty people.
They reverted to allowing comments on articles and editorials only if you use either Facebook or Google+ to log in.
It's certainly reduced the garbage!
However, I don't know if it could possibly work here.
They didn't HAVE to. I know journalists. They work hard on their stories. They very much dislike being scooped. If they can't find out who did it, or track down the person that has inside information, then they don't want comments. Heaven forbid they can't control the flow of information.
What they hate, is having their integrity and their stories questioned. Anonymous comments are the best source of whistle blowing the wire articles. It is the best check on the establishment media.
Take that away, and the media is better able to condition and brain wash the masses. I won't read any source that doesn't have anonymous comments. A lot of times, I read comments first. lol