On comment censorship
There is a discussion going on in this post which those of you who care about comment censorship will probably want to note. The summary is that I leave comments with which I disagree posted, in most cases.
Just so the readers of this blog understand my approach to comments, I wanted to say it here at some point. Since this is in a sense a public forum, I feel an obligation to leave posts with which I disagree as untouched as the posts with which I agree.
That said, there are two circumstances in which I could foresee censoring a post: (1) if profanity is used, and (2) if a poster makes public a currently private personal matter in the life of a member of the Southern Gospel industry. Other than that, I pretty much let both sides speak their mind. Sometimes I take part in the discussion, sometimes I just sit back and watch.
Comment by Amber (April 13, 2007, 10:56 am)
I’ll suggest an example of comment censorship to which I’ve recently been privy. I submitted a notification to a well-known Southern Gospel news site concerning two errors contained in one of its current headlines. Not only does the headline remain with errors intact, but my comment was removed. Does this indicate that both ignorance and apathy are at play in this case? I hope not.
Comment by GospelHog (April 13, 2007, 3:04 pm)
Amber…Simon says: YES!
probably won’t find those things at work at this site…DJ does a good job!
Comment by SoGospelNews (April 13, 2007, 8:26 pm)
Amber,
You did not submit notification to this well known Southern Gospel News site, you submitted a comment that was nothing more than a deragatory attack on the owner’s policy regarding rumor and gossip. Your comment was removed due to that reason and that reason alone.
As to the supposed errors in the headlines, they were an alternative grammatical usage that you did not agree with. Ignorance nor apathy played any part in the decision to remove your comments. In the future you might try a more respectful and helpful way of alerting the administration of any website if you find a mistake.
Comment by Daniel J. Mount (April 13, 2007, 8:29 pm)
Deon and/or Susan,
Just so we’re clear, The previous commenter did not identify which Southern Gospel site they referred to. If they had, I would have been hesitant about leaving the comment up on my website. As it stands, I think you understand that I had no way of knowing they were talking about you.
I wish all parties involved the best.
Daniel
Comment by SoGospelNews (April 13, 2007, 8:55 pm)
Daniel,
We realize that you are not responsible for the comments of your readers, nor do we expect you to know the circumstances behind any situation.
Comment by Daniel J. Mount (April 13, 2007, 8:57 pm)
Thank you for understanding.
Comment by angelhairpastor (April 14, 2007, 5:00 am)
which headline was it amber wanted you to change?
Comment by SoGospelNews (April 14, 2007, 8:41 pm)
Doesn’t matter.
Comment by angelhairpastor (April 15, 2007, 6:57 am)
well, i did ask for a good reason. remember, she never named anyone specifically, as daniel said. but she specifically and publicly has been accused. sorry, friends, but i’m not feeling too good about that.
Comment by SoGospelNews (April 15, 2007, 8:04 pm)
She didn’t have to name anyone specifically to be identified by what she wrote, she even used the same name. She made no attempt to not indentify herself as the one responsible. If she didn’t want a response or to be identified of her actions she shouldn’t have posted in a public blog. And she wasn’t accused of anything.
Comment by angelhairpastor (April 15, 2007, 10:34 pm)
the accusation: “…you submitted a comment that was nothing more than a deragatory (sic) attack on the owner’s policy regarding rumor and gossip.”
the contradiction: “As to the supposed errors in the headlines…”
by your own words, amber’s comment was certainly more, not “nothing more.” so we’re gonna need to identify the headline to prove that all this really “doesn’t matter.” if the headline passes the test, i’m in your court, my sogo friends.
Comment by Amber (April 16, 2007, 9:56 am)
Scintillating conversation, all.
I concur, GospelHog, DJ does indeed do a fine job. His teachableness concerning past issues is admirable and inspires me to want to learn from him. I do — and often.
The headline in question concerned Dino and Roger Bennett. Do with it what you will.