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I will certainly let you know if I get a response
Posted below is the draft of my reply I think he is wrong and I don’t see any issue with questioning this. I will note that it must make me a rather boring person to pick at such a topic but I feel like saying something so I am.
Dear Mr. Sheller
Thank you for replying to my Email. I understand that often times there is a fine line or gray area when discussing mannerisms and free speech on news stations web comments and the like. Like yourself I also recognize the value of citizen dialogue. One of the great things we have in this country is freedom of speech and the ability to exercise it as we see fit. I support this as well as other people’s opinions and ideas even when they are different from my own However, as previously said the idea of online comments on media websites are meant to foster community discussion and keep people engaged with the site as well as providing engaging commentary of the posters. On some stories that are expected to provoke racism, the entire comments section is disabled beforehand, a practice shared by a growing number of newspapers except the Dispatch.
I understand that you are not responsible in setting up the Topix forum. Do you have moderators for this forum? If so you could kindly pass this correspondence in their direction so that they may also understand that what we see on any given day of the comments section is neither engaging or constructive. Instead there are random comments that blatantly violate “terms of use†to start. I think we can reference some recent story’s in the Dispatch so that I can fully show my ideas of what falls out of an gray area. You say that what some may interpret views they don’t agree with as hate speech the general definition of Hate speech is as follows
- Hate speech is, outside of the law, any communication which disparages a person or a group on the basis of some characteristic such as race or sexual orientation
- a term for speech that attacks or disparages a person or group of people based on their social or ethnic group
- type of speech which is used to deliberately offend an individual; or racial, ethnic, religious or other group. Such speech generally seeks to condemn or dehumanize the individual or group; or express anger, hatred, violence or contempt toward them.
-According to the law Hate speech is not protected by the First Amendment, because it is intended to foster hatred against individuals or groups based on race, religion, gender, sexual preference, place of national origin, or other improper classification.
-As well as this Hate speech is a communication that carries no meaning other than the expression of hatred for some group, especially in circumstances in which the communication is likely to provoke violence. It is an incitement to hatred primarily against a group of persons defined in terms of race, ethnicity, national origin, gender, religion, sexual orientation, and the like. Hate speech can be any form of expression regarded as offensive to racial, ethnic and religious groups and other discrete minorities or to women.
I leave you with that and now I will show you just a few of the disrespectful comments that people leave that according to you is not hate speech like the definitions suggest no it’s merely free speech as you noted but I do think you are incorrect.
I sent the comments above and a few extra I just did not want to re-post them all
The comments listed above are recent I could go on and on with the stuff you say is not hate and you see Mr. Sheller this is what I mean when I say that this attitude does not evoke any conversation that is intelligent or for that matter useful to the topic at hand.
It should be noted that not all are bad in fact some are extremely insightful and kind amongst the madness that has become a play ground for those who would never dream of saying any of this to someone’s face in person or with a real name. If people want to contribute thoughtful things, maybe they should be willing to stand up for them . Maybe your news publication could benefit by making users register. Even perhaps moderating for term violators would be a nice start. I know you mentioned that By allowing such sad stories to be derailed by ignorance is rather disappointing. I know the terms of service are rather slim and do warn you that you may be offended.
It still leaves me with questions like why does the Dispatch turn comments off from some topics and not the others? It seems that the topics that draw the largest pool of hatred are the stories that are left for such. It's this type of placement or oversight that could be adjusted so that families don't have to get hurt and people can't as easily display their ignorance and love for it.
I do want to thank you for your time and I hope this is not a bother.
I look forward to this discussion in the future should it ever again arise
Warm Regards
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