Letters to the Editor
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n.b. kennedy
you have to backspace and cut them out. probably something with TEXTAREA wrap (showing off my knowledge of html tags). so you really *can't* order a letter like a poem. you just have to have it run on like this. if you hit enter you get a space. ok for *huge* posts, but annoying if they didn't do preview. you have to improvise. if you have lists, you number them.
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From Joan Walsh
LeCastor, I'll ask about page titles, I hadn't noticed that before.
Ken Erfourth, I'm glad you made sure to grab your own name quickly because I wouldn't want some random Joan Walsh back-patter to have gotten there first! I'll ask Heather if she wants to take on the task of communicating Salon changes like this to readers; I'd enjoy that too. Puts a whole new spin on "I Like to Watch."
Thanks, everyone.
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Works for me
Bukk63 I guess I'll be.
P.S.: Bukk63 isn't my real name.
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Thanks
I'm glad you're taking this step. And I hope, honestly, that readers at some point will be able to flag offensive letters--meaning ad hominem attacks--that will then be taken down and off the site. Perhaps, too, we readers should take responsibility for drowning out this sort of hate speech whenever we see it--perhaps by not responding, or by responding en masse, or by having several Wikipedia-type volunteer editors who will delete comments that are wildly inappropriate.
It makes me sad--and angry--that Salon's women writers are moderating their words lest the hordes get to them. Though I have to admit, I've been a newspaper columnist for 10 years, and I now avoid entire topics lest I unleash the fury of a few viperous email lists. So I understand.
Yet I read Salon to get analysis and opinion I can't find elsewhere. Please don't be silenced by the haters. I want to hear what you really think, even if--especially if--I disagree.
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LC, GB said he did?
he might just have been lying. i wouldn't put it past him. you and he got under each other's skin. quite a ruckus! perhaps you and he will realize that neither of you is going to convince the other and avoid those topics, then again, perhaps you'll decide to run an exhaustion race. (in that case, my money's on you!)
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Moderation Is A Means To An End
David, I understand perfectly that moderation is not to everybody's tastes, and personally I like a mixture of moderated & unmoderated environments. Each has something valuable to offer that the other cannot. I'm suggesting moderation because in all my years online I've seen it as the only effective means to the end Joan seems to want. I've never seen anything else work with large numbers of heterogeneous users over time, though other arrangements can work in the short term or with tightly knit groups. If she's not willing to draw up and publish an open code of practice and budget for a team of moderators to enforce it, there's going to be a lot of sound and fury here as there is elsewhere online. That's not the end of the world, most everyone else online manages to deal with the kerfuffle, but if Salon don't want it, and are willing to commit some serious time/money there's a way to calm it down, yet still keep debate going.
And if you're listening Joan I'd also suggest appointing a readers' ombudsman, someone impartial people can take their (OK, our!) complaints with editorial decisions, specific authors, etc. Otherwise it's mostly going to end up in comments section of your own shiny new blog...
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walsh! you have a sense of humor!
(and so does Bukk63) i was wondering how to accomodate both me and SunshineNYC. i *like* insults to me. i like everything. i like exercising *all* my emotions. perhaps you could delete everything directed at SunshineNYC. nah that wouldn't work, she *wants* to read "nice" things. how about deleting all posts that have *both* sunshineNYC and the seven nasty carlin words? nah, too much effort. the answer is...you can't please everybody! (so please me instead)
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Good change, but...
...I cast my lot with those who believe that anonymous letters should not be permitted. As another poster noted, one needn't use one's real name, so I don't understand the concerns about being fired from one's job and so forth.
I also agree that the new font is dreadful and too difficult to read.
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Hrefna, she *is* listening!
but she doesn't know what she wants! she knows what she wants *politically* but she doesn't know what she wants to do with this letters section. she's trying out things. gingerly, because she *likes* it. can't you see the difference in tone in her articles and her posts here? she *likes* us. she really doesn't want to send any of us away. and i don't believe it's the circulation or the few pence derived by advertising clicks. maybe i'm naive or simply wrong. but that's how i read her.
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From Joan Walsh
david sugarman, I do like people's passion for Salon letters. Everyone's, including yours.
It's not quite correct to say I don't know what I want. I do: I want letters threads where people passionately debate all the ideas we passionately raise in what we passionately publish. Without personal attacks that are insulting just for the fun of insulting -- whether that means sexist/sexual attacks or the many other kinds of regrettable insults (the ones that in fact diminish the person who wrote them more than the person on the receiving end.) But it is true that we don't quite know how to get there. And this thread is very helpful. Thanks.
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Requiring an Identity is OK By Me ...
but it's awfully hard to get the font size right. The new size is too small for the bottom part of my glasses and an enlargement id too big for the top part. It's hell getting old!
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Great idea
The quality/quantity ratio of letters has already noticeably improved.
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cool
Just registering my approval as a long time reader--Salon's letters section has become a baffling and alienating place of late.
(Plus I just wanted to register my beloved screen name before someone else snaps it up.)
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Amen!
Thank you for the new policy - it's long overdue.
I'd be even happier if the "publish anonymously" box did not appear at the bottom of the screen. On the Net, it isn't familiarity that breeds contempt, it's anonymity.