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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

HBO — To Chris Rodkey RE: In-House Commenting

Chris Rodkey: I have just started to delve into this blog, even though it might not make sense for me to do so because it happens to be where I'm employed. But even just now I can see why people get turned off from it. As a journalist I have thick skin and can shrug off most things. But part of "shrugging off" means that I pretty much blow off unreasonable people. I'd hate to do that here, but I don't want to get involved in pettiness. Discussions are great, and having opinions are wonderful, but there's no need to insult people's ideas, it's just rude.

DFO: I'm glad you're kicking HBO's tires and checking under the hood, Chris. We generally have a good time here. And you hear things at HBO that you'd never hear in letters to the editor or even phone calls from readers. As journalists, we have ways to control disagreeable or upset people. I don't try to control things here, unless someone gets too far out of line; then, there's the cooler. As a result, you have bad days. Today wasn't a great one in HBO history, although I learned much re: the reaction to Adam Morrison's tears at the end of the UCLA game. I felt terrible for the kid. But others saw it another way, particularly PDX Pup, a former college athlete who has played in important postseason games. Her post was worth the price of admission today.



Huckleberries Online

D.F. Oliveria started Huckleberries Online on Feb. 16, 2004. Oliveria's Sunday print Huckleberries is a past winner of the national Herb Caen Memorial Column contest.