Comments!? Its coming.

Yes, a post on why I hate the comments function of news websites is coming.  A coworker of mine actually asked me when I will stop making silly references to this issue and actually write something.  Well, I want to, and need to, but I need the time to sit and make a careful rhetorical argument.  At the moment I am just trying to keep my pencil moving and keep drawing. (We have another presentation at RIT next week).  

I do have a good example of what happens when comment sections get out of hand.  Pollster.com has a comments function and it seems it’s visitors have been behaving badly.  Mark Blumenthal the creator of Pollster.com just had to suspend the comments function because, in his words, 

“ I do not understand why the adults who use this site and comment on it cannot find a way to act like adults”

I concur Mark.  I really do.

If you want to read Marks thoughtful post, please feel free to read it HERE.

Now, having said all of this, I would encourage anyone’s comments here.  This is not a serious place, this is a playground and I encourage everyone to post comments when they like something, hate, something, agree, disagree, or are just bored and just want to chat.  I am sure I will never have 1000 comments a day to sift through so do not take this rant to mean I do not want to hear from you, here.  

So, having said that, please comment, but try not to call me a socialist terrorist. (read Mark’s post to understand this reference)

When they say snakes, do they mean politicians?

This is maybe the third post in which I have referred to Foxnews.com, but once again I will explain that I am trying to be fair in my evaluation of the current political race and the viewpoints of others.  You see, I live in Cambridge Massachusetts and perspective is pretty hard to come by here.  It is an amazing place to live and almost everyone has the same politics, so I must trust the Internet (bad move I know) to give me a different view on things.  So sometimes I go to Foxnews.com to get some perspective.  

So, I was on last night and reading the political headlines, reading about McCain’s and Palin’s optimism about the election, reading about their closing days strategy.  Interesting certainly.  I then I noticed that Foxnews.com has a series of tabs at the bottom of the page which allows the user to see what the “most read” stories are and this is the list I found:

 

Hunt Is on for Missing Missouri Teens Who Vanished During Football Game

Austrian Horror Dad: I Was ‘Born to Be a Rapist’

Hunters Discover Marijuana Farm Worth Millions in Utah Mountains

New York Woman, 76, Arrested for 73rd Time When Wallet Disappears

Kids Found Living Among Rattlesnakes in Filthy New Mexico Home

Kidnapping Charge Dismissed Against Man Found Living in Car With Girl

Feds Bust Dozens of Mongols Motorcycle Gang Members

Mom Gets 18 Months for Prostituting Daughter

Venomous Snake Bites 2 Texas High School Students in Class

Newlywed Watches in Horror as Husband Drowns on Honeymoon

 

Wow!   Really?  That is all I can say is wow.  In a historic electoral race where people claim that so much is a stake, this is the list of the most read stories on Foxnews?  Please tell me that people are getting their political news somewhere else and simply come to Foxnews to read about … what … some guy who was NOT charged with kidnapping for living in a car with a girl?  Sigh.  I guess you could argue that this is what Foxnews puts on their station/website so people are more likely to read this stuff, but if you got to Foxnews right now, all the headlines are about politics.  Just like every other news outlet.  You have to search for this other stuff.  Now before you jump at me, let me try to be fair.  I then surfed over to Boston.com which has a similar function but this one tracks the most e-mailed articles.  The results are something like this for the same timeframe:

• The Ink Tank: a daily roundup of editorial cartoons
• Grade change
• Oysters should love that dirty water
• High C’s in high def: Bravo!
• The McCain I knew
• The incredible, flexible, movable house
• For Obama, a new cause for confidence – and for caution
• The possibilities of a ‘portable eye’
• As life ebbs, healing music flows
• Alaska’s largest newspaper endorses Obama

Hmm.  I guess I am slightly less upset about this.  I see 3 stories about the political race, one about education, one link to political editorial cartoons, one about music therapy, one about a new scientific innovation, one about an environmental cleanup in the Charles river, one about architecture (hell yeah!), and one about entertainment.  I would have to say that that stacks up pretty well to Missing teens, Foreign rapist dad, Mormon Marijuana, Septuagenarian felon (which if a f’n great band name if I have ever heard one), Snakes on kids, the non-story about how something didn’t happen, a motorcycle gang bust (this is actually real news since those guys are pretty bad dudes), Mrs. Madam, More Snakes (what is it with snakes and people who read Foxnews), and a honeymoon of horror. (sad but not news)

Now before I get too uppity about what people I identify with are reading I went over to the New York Times and took a look at what they were saying was the most emailed stories.  What I found was this:

 

• Maureen Dowd: A Makeover With an Ugly Gloss
• Frank Rich: In Defense of White Americans
• Nicholas D. Kristof: The Endorsement From Hell
• David Brooks: Ceding the Center
• Op-Extra Columnist: No Ordinary Woman
• Op-Extra Columnist: The Party of Yesterday
• Editorial: Barack Obama for President
• Recipes for Health: Warm Potato Salad With Goat Cheese
• Paul Krugman: Desperately Seeking Seriousness
• Thomas L. Friedman: If Larry and Sergey Asked for a Loan …

Ok Boston.com’ers, we just got our asses kicked.  I know I know, this is nothing but the opinion of the northeast elitists right?  Right Foxnews.com readers?  What?  I guess they can’t hear me, the are too busy emailing each other this mornings top story of a transvestite nun who didn’t get charged with cocain posesion after he/she was arrested for having sex with motorcycle gangs, oh … and there are snakes in there too … somewhere.

end rant

A prayer for the Boston.com webmaster

 

Taken from a comment regarding THIS article on Boston.com.

“I think this stretch of the campaign must be devoted to teaching the ignorant in America, including so called journalists, about Obama, about the real Obama. The thought of pelosi, reid, and obama running this country is offensive and frightening. With the current finacial situation, we can be sure such a hard leftist trio will revert to their natural state of being – communism and dictatorships.”

Larry Clifton (random commentator)

Now let us all bow our heads in prayer for a moment:

Please God (and I mean any god that is meaningful to you), please give the newspaper websites the clarity to see that when they allow us mortals to comment about good strong journalistic writings, that it cheapens everyone involved.  This includes the writer, editor, and the reading public.  Please give them the strength to stand up for what is right and put this drivel behind a button that says, “Show me what totally random, thoughtless, doesn’t know where the spell check button is, I don’t know why I capitalize Obama, but not Pilosi or Reid or Obama as it turns out, nor understand what defines an economic system like Communism, or what defines a dictator, and I don’t have time to be thoughtful because I am eating a fried chicken sandwich for breakfast, texting, and driving my Hybrid Hummer at the same time.”  Then, if I want to annoy the living crap out of myself I have to choose to click on it and get my just deserts.  Oh, and God, can I have a puppy for Christmas (or whatever holiday your chosen god’s birth is celebrated at).

end rant

When less is more?

Ok, this is a quickie, so here it goes.  I have been obsessed by the polling numbers for the presidential race.  I would say I am only obsessed because it’s the first time I have paid attention to polling.  My obsessions fade quickly, so no need to worry.  In my quest to get some balanced views I was reading the outcome of Fox News’s Latest poll.  The write up that discusses the latest polling numbers contained this gem.

“There is no doubt the economy remains the single most important issue to voters this election. It is picked by 49 percent, which is more than all the other issues combined.”

Wait!  Is that right?  49% is more than all the other issues combined.  Are you saying that if you combined the other 51% of the issues, they would total 48% or less?  Ok, just checking.  I guess fair and balanced does not mean accurate and fact checked.

end rant

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