Comment policy revised

  “(T)he last time I looked at this comment section, there were more comments on the list. Odd, does the murray newspaper somehow think its right to censor people. Does that sound right to anyone else?”
    Someone self-identified as “wondering” posted this on The News’ Web site,  thenews.org, Wednesday following the removal of several comments made to the  Feb. 19 story “12 students accused of city eggings.” Let me explain.
  The News’ editors certainly understand and appreciate the value of First Amendment freedom of speech. It’s the reason why we get to do what we love, and we encourage our readers to exercise their rights as well. I myself have a Mark Twain quote hanging in my office that encompasses my beliefs on the subject: “Censorship is telling a man he can’t have a steak just because a baby can’t chew it.” (And I’m a vegetarian.)
   For several days, the Editorial Board has discussed the more than 50 anonymous comments - many of them irresponsible - recently made on our online edition. As a result, we have decided to re-examine the rights of our readers and the subjects of our articles.
  The new policy at thenews.org is if you want to comment on a story, anonymity is no longer an option. You will be asked to register with a username, password and e-mail address in order to participate in the open forum we provide. We already have a similar policy in our print edition, and we feel it is only logical to extend this to the comments made online. Your username is the only item that will be displayed on the Web site, but the online editor will have access to your other registration information. This change is in the works, but will soon be up and running.
    Why the change?
     While many of our readers used the guise of anonymity in a responsible manner, like you, “wondering,” others made personal attacks, threats and fraudulent impersonations. Imagine you made the mistake of egging some cars on campus, were named in a front-page article, then were impersonated on the campus newspaper’s Web site just to stir up more controversy? Not a good feeling.
    The News’ goal, as stated on 4a, is “to provide a free and open forum for expression and debate.” We want to be that platform for your thoughts, but not at the expense of other readers. So while readers have freedom of speech, not abusing it is the key.
    While we regret waiting to set such a policy until after the removal of several comments, we hope you understand the necessity on both legal and ethical levels.
  We welcome and encourage each and every reader to respond with comments - positive or negative - but on the same note, we will not be the vehicle for blatant irresponsibility, slander and hate.