By Tim Redmond
I really love all the comments and debate on these posts. That’s one of my goals for 48hills – to be a forum for discussion. That’s why I posed the question a week or so ago about whether David Chiu’s legislation could be saved and how; I want my readers to weigh in.
But things can sometimes get out of control, so I’m going to make clear what the comments policy is on this site.
I learned early on in my journalism career that people who throw bricks should plan on getting some thrown back; my old boss, Bruce Brugmann, used to say that if you can dish it out but you can’t take it, you don’t belong in this business.
So you want to criticize me? Go ahead.
But as for the rest of the commenters, who are members of this 48hills community, I’m going to ask you to keep it civil. There is no room for ad hominem attacks at 48hills. You want to disagree with someone’s position, fine – but don’t call someone a “suicidal moron” or a “despicable human being.” I will delete those comments as soon as I see them or they are brought to my attention.
Comments need to be on point, at least somewhat. Anyone starts spamming this site with long rants about the CIA and contrails, I will use the delete key. (Nothing against the CIA and contrails – although actually, I think I’m against the CIA and contrails, although I’m not sure. But stick to the discussion.)
Oh, and there is such a thing as Community Standards in San Francisco. Anyone who has followed me all these years knows I’m not an overly-PC person, but we are in San Francisco, and obviously comments I find offensive (NOT because I disagree but because they are, well, offensive) will be deleted. Keep it lively, fight all you want over issues, but don’t be a jerk.
If you have so much to say that you are dominating the board, you need to start your own blog. Daily Kos limits people to one “diary” a day; I won’t go that far, but if one or two people are crowding out the rest of the discussion, I may have to limit comments to, say, two per person per article.
I’m open to comments on this – and I will NOT limit comments just because the person disagrees with me or others. But I’m not going to let this become Troll City.
Fair enough?
