Press Bans 3 Comment Trolls

In the article this morning re: Mayor Sandi Bloem’s decision not to seek re-election, reporter Tom Hasslinger discusses the newspaper’s decision to rein in nasty online commenters. For example, “bionic man” had directed this comment at Bloem and three council incumbents who supported the McEuen Field upgrade: “They are going to stick the taxpayers with the most they can get away with while in office. too bad they all weren’t sitting on the ‘bombs’ of boston,” it said. “May the legal system and wrath of whatever, reign down on their lives.” Bionic man was banned, and the comment was taken down. Mike Patrick, managing editor of The Press, said Wednesday that the editorial staff had just banned three frequent cdapress.com visitors from posting comments. Many people in the community have said the Press online discussion is often too crude and mean to serve any public good. “It has gotten out of hand,” Patrick said. More here.

DFO: Good call by Mike and the Press. The comment sections of the Press Online and Huckleberries can offer a good gauge of community sentiment, if the trolls are kept at bay.

Thoughts?