Freedom of speech has come to an end at the Boulder Daily Camera, where executive editor Kevin Kaufman announced this week that comments will no longer be allowed on their website.
The vast majority of the time, the comments are dominated by a small group of people, most posting anonymously, and who, frankly, tend to simply shout down or ridicule any opposing view. Commonly, our comments sections are filled with vitriol, personal attacks, profanity, and angry and hateful speech — and worse, unfortunately.
Oddly enough, that sounds just like the actual editorial product they produce.
But that’s no longer acceptable, so the Camera has instituted its own virtual space safe, except for protecting free thinkers from the media, they are protecting the media from free thinkers.
The Camera denies this is a move to censor speech and insists they still want to hear from readers, they just don’t want the public to know what readers think, cause transparency. So, if you have an opinion, send a letter to the dinosaur. If you need a correction, call. If you have a news tip, call or email.
If you have a comment about the no comment policy, keep it to yourself.
No, Dave, it's not.
There is no legal requirement for the Camera, or any other website, to "moderate" its comments section. If obscenity was a genuine concern, there's an app for that. Ditto SPAM, although I have never seen any SPAM in the Camera's comments.
No, despite its denial, this is simply a (futile) attempt by this outpost of the Dominant Liberal Establishment Mass Media to control their narrative. The timing, during an election year, is especially telling.
It's a shame, too. Since the Camera is only slightly left of The Daily Worker, the comments section was about the only place one could read a contrary viewpoint. Yes the debates got heated, and sometimes devolved into ad hominem attacks, but that's called "free speech." No one was forced to go to, much less read, the comments section.
The Camera's feeble attempt to control the narrative is, of course, doomed. We can thank the Internet, and outlets like Colorado Peak Politics, for that.
They are doing because they cannot afford the manpower to monitor the comments and remove spam and obscene words.
Not about censorship, but about trying to be profitable.