The Winston-Salem Journal is allowing article comments on some stories, the paper announced Tuesday on its web site. But the gatekeepers may have to ease up on the controls a bit to get the readers involved.
Several significant limitations:
- Not all articles allow comments. In fact, the site is starting with comments enabled for just a single column.
- Comments are limited to 500 characters, about 50 words.
- All comments are reviewed before they go live.
On the other hand, the reader does not have to register before posting. Oops. You have to register before you can even access an article page. I forgot I had bugmenotted before reading.
Blogger Jon Lowder asks that the character limit be bumped to 150 words and would prefer to see comments posted instantly. He's right about both, which means that other message moderation methods may need to replace the pre-publication review.
As of Wednesday morning, the column with comments enabled is not displaying anything from readers.
Thanks for the mention and the trackback. I absolutely agree that they need to ease up on the controls, and I have a feeling they will. They have to be more than a little motivated by what the Greensboro News & Record is doing just 30 miles away. Their markets overlap and N&R has definitely been a leader in utilizing blogs, enabling comments, etc.
Posted by: Jon Lowder | Wednesday, June 08, 2005 at 08:57 AM