During the past few months, we’ve tried to be fairly consistent about moderating reader comments that do not follow our first posting guideline: Use your real name, including last name.
But we may not have been quite as consistent in moderating some of the other guidelines, including those that ask readers who comment to stick to the issues and not make their comments personal.
And during the past few months, readers have let us know they want us to keep the comment section civil, and not allow personal attacks or off-topic posts.
So, we pledge to work harder to ensure that those who comment follow the other guidelines as well. In general, this will probably mean that we simply remove comments that we don’t think follow the other guidelines (be civil, stick to the issues, etc.). In some cases, we may send a short e-mail explaining why the comment was removed.
Our goal is to apply the standards consistently to all readers. Those who repeatedly fail to follow the guidelines and require excessive moderation will lose their ability to comment.
We want to allow room for discussion, but we also want to keep the conversation civil. We hope you understand.
The majority of those who comment do follow the guidelines, and we want to thank you for doing so. Your comments are appreciated.
Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today.
Mark Harvey says
John, I appreciate the service you provide to the community, and the opportunity it provides for civil dialog on various issues of the day that are important to the well being of our community. I respect and admire your desire to keep it on the high road – you have my full support in that regards.
johnhuotari says
Thank you, Mark. I appreciate you letting us know.
Kate Groover says
You are always a class act John. 🙂
johnhuotari says
Thank you, Kate. We appreciate your support.
Joshua Hamilton says
Mr. Huotari, we thank you for all of your hard work 🙂 You are an indispensable asset to this community!
johnhuotari says
Thank you, Joshua. We appreciate your support.