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Archive for December 30th, 2006

I can still do math

Saturday, December 30th, 2006

I have wondered whether not taking a math course in college would impact me later on. But, I just took this Math Test for Journalists, and I only missed one of the 13 questions. On question 10, I answered 300 percent. I’m not the only person to make that mistake, in explaining the answer it says this:

Last year your small town had three murders. This year there were none. How would you describe the change?
100% decrease — not 300%, which John Allen Paulos notes would mean bringing victims back to life

Not too shabby for not having taken math in almost four years. But then, math was always one of my stronger subjects. I didn’t necessarily opt to not take math in college, I actually tested out with AP Calculus in High School. So it wasn’t like I was avoiding it. I just didn’t have to take it. The closest I came was data analysis, which was just statistics. While I probably couldn’t do derivitives and other calculus problems now (at least not without a refresher), I’m glad I still know how to figure percentages, averages and square feet.

Handling inappropriate story comments

Saturday, December 30th, 2006

As newspapers rush to get readers involved and interacting with stories, many if not most are adding story chats or comments. (We did this at the Stater this fall, and often we ran a “Campus Chat” column on the Forum page with the best comments.) Personally, I think it’s a great way to get instant feedback and to open the dialogue beyond the 12-inch story.

However, then you have problems like this, where the Ft. Lauderdale paper has repeated instances of racists comments being posted (link courtesy of Romenesko).

I remember the day I learned that I would have to read and monitor every comment that was posted to StaterOnline. Tim, the law professor and legal adviser for the Stater, came into the newsroom one morning. He very rarely ever came into the newsroom, and every time he did I got that sinking feeling, “What now?!”

He handed me two comments printed off the site; neither was particularly bad or libelous, but the potential and insinuation, even I could see, was there. He wanted one removed as soon as possible. I took both down immediately. And then, I felt like a dog with a tail between its legs as he led Ryan and I down to his office to hear his lecture.

After that, every comment was filtered through Ryan and I before it was posted. And there were times when we had to question and decide when something had gone too far. The n-word and any variation of it, which apparently happened several times on the sun-sentinel.com, would never have made it public. (Though, we were especially sensitive to that topic given the whole n-word column blow-up from last year.) Very rarely did we choose not to post a comment.

Pre-approving comments was annoying at best. We had to constantly check our e-mails and the system to make sure we were approving quickly enough to ensure a dialogue. It also meant extra e-mails on top of my already overloaded inbox. It was what we had to do.

Then, I read the court ruling that user posted comment on the Web isn’t subject to the same standards of libel, etc. as a newspaper’s content and asked Tim if that meant I could turn automatic comments back on. He said yes, and so I did. But I chose to keep receiving the e-mail notification, and on occasion I had to go back in and delete some inappropriate ones. Yeah, it still sucked time from my limited schedule, but it was a small price to pay for users being able to communicate directly and in real time.

The moral of the lesson is someone needs to read the comments. Every comment. I don’t think it should be the editor him or herself per se. (I defaulted to it being me and Ryan because we knew how to use the College Publisher system and other editors didn’t.) But someone should.

Even if you won’t get sued, and even if you have no legal reason to worry about what is said on those comment boards, you do have a responsibility to keep the discussion civil. Discriminatory remarks in comments can hurt just as much as they do coming from anywhere else.

Even though you don’t think you are putting your stamp of approval on it, the fact that it runs below your logo and on your domain almost gives it that approval anyway. The fact that you let it exist almost means you condone what has been said. I realized that when I left the comment e-mails on. That had, after all, been the gist of the lecture Tim gave me and Ryan that day in his office. It took some time for me to realize it, but he was, of course, right.

Some notes about the blog

Saturday, December 30th, 2006

I’ve officially had this blog for more than a month.

In that time, I’ve missed exactly two days posting. So far, I’ve only missed one day in December. Most days I’ve had several posts. In fact, I’m quickly approaching my 100th post. I’d say that’s not bad.

I switched up the design on the top of the blog. What used to be a composition notebook is now a stack of newspapers. (Note to any of those wondering, that was actually just one week’s worth of the newspapers I’d accumulated in my office. I read four newspapers a day in print, sometimes more.) I think the newspapers hit the journalist part home more than the composition notebook did. Carl had suggested I add a computer, and I took some photos of my MacBook, but I decided my keyboard was enough for now. It’s subtle enough.

I added a calendar to the sidebar this morning. I’m still tweaking the design of it, but yeah. I also may add a few more things to the sidebar. Maybe a “What I’m reading” box, so everyone can follow along with my latest books. Plus, then I could keep a running list of the books I read and buy in 2007. (An idea I totally stole from Katie.)

I also updated the about page and the sidebar about myself. Now the sidebar is a list of random things worth knowing about me. It’s funny, but it’s a pretty quick snapshot of what I’m all about.

I am going to start in January doing a daily quote. (For those who don’t know, I’m obsessed with quotes.) I have a random quote in the sidebar already that changes with each refresh. But, I come across quotes I like every day. So, I think I’m going to start doing a “daily quote” or “daily inspiration.” It could be anything from something I read in a book to something I read in the newspaper to just a really good quote I came across. Today’s entry would be the one I just swapped into my e-mail signature:

“Fate loves the fearless.”
— James Russell Lowell

Finally, I wanted to note that now when you search my name in Google, the first result is this site. I don’t pretend to understand the inner workings of Google and how pages are ranked, added, sorted or anything. But at least now anyone wanting to know about me sees this before some random stories I wrote about May 4 for the 35th anniversary DKS a few years back. That’s reassuring.

Other than that, I think that’s all I have going on.