Anonymous posts lead to editor's resignation
Those nasty remarks that come from an unknown person after every story start to weigh heavily on some people. One thing about journalists, every story they write has their name on a byline. Columnists have to live with the words they write on a computer screen.
But the internet and the habit of posting comments under a reporter’s story has allowed anonymity to become part of the world journalists must deal with. One editor, in South Dakota, finally reached his breaking point and announced his retirement because of the anonymous comments. “My skin has thinned,” he buy cheap viagra online
>said.
The arguments are simple: one side says that since journalists put their name on what they write, those who criticize their work should provide the same courtesy. The other argument is that anonymity allows for a more open and less censored discussion. Journalists are against censorship, right? Newspapers have a long legal history for anonymous speech in the U.S. and some papers believe they are holding themselves more accountable when they open themselves to critical comment.
Where do you sit in this argument? The Gateway Journalism Review would like to know.
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