Grace: The chew toy that looks like a squirrel responds
Well, the new comment changes are going about as well as to be expected. (oldreddog's "ripped apart like my dogs chew toy that looks like a squirrel" was rather dead on.)
The following are my responses to some of your comments.
taxedtodeath wrote on January 25, 2010 5:10 p.m.
"This is ABSOLUTELY a response of the paper to local political pressure. You will never convince me that it's not. They HATE that we can comment like this, stir things up or make people think. Political blowhards, conniving, scheming, whining. You can bet they read ALL this stuff or assign their assistants to keep tabs. A cowardly move Chronicle."
Response: Despite the fact I will never convince you that it's not a response to local political pressure, taxedtodeath … it's not a response to local political pressure. I've taken maybe three calls from local officials complaining about comments in my 17 months as editor – none in the past few months – and none of them suggested we limit our comments. The changes were made – across Shaw Suburban Media – because of issues the papers were having with comments going completely off topic after about two days and the time needed to moderate off-topic comments that were being reported on stories a few days old. The 600-character limit was chosen because we thought it would be close to 100 words and people were abusing the word limit by stringing words together. Some of the comments on my previous blog are more than 100 words even with the 600-character limit.
kcgerbil wrote on January 25, 2010 2:04 p.m.
"You can't be serious...What's next? Charging people to make a comment?..Your paper edition struggles to stay afloat and the only thing supporting your online edition is advertisers...so go ahead and start dropping the interactive portion of your readership. Be thankful you have readers - online and in print - and concentrate on making better stories - not playing games on comment sections. Maybe we should create a time clock on the survival time of this paper?"
Response: As much as some people might want to believe we are on the verge of closing our doors, it's simply not true. (And I'm not for any paper closing its doors, even our competition. The more papers out there, the better it is for the public and journalists like myself.) We had a good year in 2009 – staying in the black despite a down economy – and we're looking forward to an even better 2010. As for concentrating on making better stories – agreed. And these changes should help free up time that was previously spent moderating days-old comment threads that had gone off-topic.
Dallas wrote on January 25, 2010 7:29 p.m.
"Ridiculous policy changes only hurt your readers. Now we will have to resort to one letter (use text like spellings) like u,r,etc. Give up the 10 questions and write real news and do some investigative reporting like other papers do. Allow those you serve to respond as long as the posting is factual and true. You seem to have a willingness to work with your readers. Please take another step in this direction."
Response: With the new rules, I will strive to do more to facilitate discussion. If a comment thread is going strong and staying on point for two days, I will continue the discussion through my blog. You can also send me an e-mail at jgrace@kcchronicle.com if you want to start a discussion on another issue, I will begin the discussion.
sgmom wrote on January 25, 2010 8:27 p.m.
"Pretty bad when they are limiting comments online! they don't really send reporters to meetings to get the facts.It was obvious from comments that investigative ability is lacking at the paper."
Response: Many of you have written about investigative reporting. And I agree with you. It's something we need to do better, and it is one of my priorities for 2010. My reporters enjoy doing those type of stories, and it will be my job this year to help free up the time to allow them to delve into investigative reporting. It will take a commitment on our part to do this, but it is an important step forward we need to take. And, of course, I expect all of you to hold me to this. I'm not asking you to believe it before you see it – simply to be on the watch for it.
Bluejeans wrote on January 25, 2010 9:53 p.m.
"So we have a character limit, a running clock, AND to top the cake we have an editor who additionally removes many of the comments in a string so it doesn't even make sense after a while? I'm wondering why they even invite comments at all! "
Response: Many of the comments are removed from the string because comments are reported that specifically break the no personal insults or attacks rule. If you want a comment to stay and keep the thread going, do not insult another commenter within the comment.
Altumdreams wrote on January 25, 2010 9:57 p.m.
"It's great people are upset about this. Especially the comments about KCC's lack of investigative reporting. No one reported on Dem. Foster stating we had to redistribute wealth, no one reported on the City of Geneva admitting they violated the Federal Constitution and the fact they still use the same "Old Boy Network Lawyer, etc.", etc. Hire someone that can investigate and make a real paper or e-mail me and I'll give you the stories. I'll give you the tape from the meeting. Stop trying to be people magazine. Stop trying to be a tabloid and do some real local news. "
Response: You bring up an excellent point, Altumdreams. Community journalism requires the community to help. We can't be everywhere. We can't cover every meeting. We rely on sources for information, and that includes all members of a community. If there is something you want us to investigate, send me an e-mail or – better yet – call me at 630-845-5368 so we can discuss the matter in detail.
NoOneKnows wrote on January 26, 2010 9:14 a.m.
"Let's not confuse a couple of things here: First, Joe might have editor in his title, but he has veerry little say in what happens with the direction of what appears in KCC (blogs, etc.). Joe's a good soldier to his commanders. Second, you'll notice these comment changes are occuring at all three papers (as pointed out by the eerily similar notes from editors, talking points anyone?). This is to streamline the work of whomever is left to monitor the comments. How's that charging for archived stories going? Also, I noticed that 8 hours disappeared from the clock in two minutes time."
Response: Do I have unilateral power to do whatever I wish with this paper? Of course not. I don't own the company. I can't on my own change the two-day policy. It was a group decision because it would affect all Web sites, and it would take a group decision to change. I do, however, have more say than NoOneKnows might want to believe. As Chronicle editor, I plot out editorial philosophy and direction. The reporters and I have weekly meetings to discuss what stories we want to focus on during the coming weeks. No one else is involved. If you would like to see changes made to The Chronicle, well, I'm your guy. I want to continue to improve this paper as much as all of you want to see it improved. Being a chew toy that looks like a squirrel? Part of the job. But, more importantly, it helps me see what areas we need to improve in. And through hard work and the community's help, we'll do exactly that.
• You can e-mail me at jgrace@kcchronicle.com or call me at 630-845-5368.
