Even though I love the smell of newsprint and the feel of a newspaper, I’ve come to hold a romanticized view of the Internet, too.
Rather than cursing that tangled web of computers and users that threatens my very livelihood, I try to embrace it as a 21st century town hall. You know, a place where citizens can gather to hash out the most pressing issues of our times: energy, the economy, war, education, poverty, immigration.
That is, until some racist nimrod spits into the great pool of democracy and spoils our good time.
If you’ve ever read the comments posted under any of our editorials dealing with illegal immigration, for example, you know what I’m talking about.
The conversation often goes some place unpleasant. Quickly.
The Internet, as anyone with a connection can attest, can be both a blessing and curse. It allows us to bring you closer to the politicians and policymakers who help shape our state and country through videos and live chats — extras you don’t get in the newspaper. But it also allows anyone, through a cloak of anonymity, to post thoughts they almost certainly would keep to themselves otherwise. It can be a bawdy place.
Since Palmer Hoyt re-established these editorial pages in 1946, The Post has been a sounding board for our state, a place where readers could offer their opinions through letters to the editor or guest commentaries.
Want to bemoan another tax increase or rail against unresponsive government? Fire away. All we ask is that you stand behind your opinion by telling us your name and hometown.
But with anonymity being the name of the online game, the political discourse often hits below the belt. Klansmen no longer need to hide behind white hoods; now they can hide behind their online monikers.
Not all of the comments are distasteful, of course. Many are enlightened, witty and razor-sharp.
And they’re not all anonymous either. I suspect that one of our readers, Byron Bergman, gets up extra early on Sunday mornings just so he can publicly disagree with whatever I have written.
But by posting under his real name, he’s earned a measure of credibility that others lack.
As an industry, we’re still debating whether to place controls on what’s said in chat rooms or in our comments sections.
It’s a fine line. If our restrictions are too tight, readers will go elsewhere to rant or share their thoughts. If they’re too loose, the public dialogue can quickly devolve into gutter talk, and everyone loses.
At The Post, the truly outrageous or racist comments are deleted — once they’re discovered — and the authors are often banned from the site.
But mostly, anything goes.
Voices need to be heard, even the most unsettling. We can’t hide from the realities of our society.
We can do some things, however, to elevate the public dialogue, such as requiring people to register with real names before they can post and moderate the comments more closely.
Nastiness, unfortunately, has always been part of the public discourse, and will continue as we traverse this new frontier.
That doesn’t mean, though, that we shouldn’t expect, or even demand, a measure of civility and respect from our online friends.
Editorial page editor Dan Haley can be reached at dhaley@denverpost.com.
