What should Proviso Probe do about comments?

A suggestion was made that Proviso Probe should eliminate comments entirely since the low level of discourse in comments undermines the credibility of Proviso Probe as a source.

Since All Proviso Network is available for people to make comments it seems like a reasonable suggestion to me.

What do you think?

ADMIN, no comments on Proviso Township board meeting?

I did not allow comments on the entry about last night's meeting of the Proviso Township trustees. Instead I sent readers to All-Proviso Network.

I did this for a few reasons.

The leading reason is that I want to grow All-Proviso Network. There's a difference in how Proviso Probe and All-Proviso Network handle comments.

At Proviso Probe I moderate the comments which slows down the discussion. All-Proviso Network is unmoderated, but requires people posting comments to create accounts. There are also other administrators there to help keep the discussions from going "out of bounds".

Ultimately I want All-Proviso Network to grow so that it becomes a meaningful local media outlet. But for this to happen people need to write for All-Proviso Network. I hope some dedicated citizens will take responsibility for keeping an eye on some piece of Proviso Township.

ADMIN, new guidelines for comments

Last week we had local elections. This has caused me to reflect on both Proviso Probe and Proviso the community.

I am going to make a major change to Proviso Probe. Proviso Probe will no longer accept comments that are disrespectful to members of the Proviso community, including people who post on Proviso Probe.

I'm not sure I can describe all the ways comments can be disrespectful, but here's a partial list.
1.No talk of people's sex lives, unless there is direct connection with professional duties
2.Do discuss people's bodies
3.Don't discuss medical conditions, including mental health issues, except in cases where mental health is central to the story (e.g. Westchester case and Hubert Thompson)
4.Do not engage in name calling and insults
5.Do not attribute motivations you can't know

Does this mean Proviso Probe isn't going to allow criticism of public figures? Discuss what people do, not who they are.

Why am I making this change? I suspect that the negativity of our political discourse is doing a certain amount of harm. People and factions say ugly stuff about each other and it makes it difficult to work together in the future.

Also, I suspect the incivility hurts reformers more than it hurts people in politics to make a buck. When the discourse sinks to a bunch of name calling and allegations about porn, pedophiles and perversions the people who oppose reform can avoid the issues of substance by turning the discourse into a mudslinging contest.

As for the Proviso community, part of me would like to see the various governing bodies put the elections behind them and have the factions work together.

But part of me thinks that it would be inappropriate to give people a pass for doing stuff that is unethical or illegal. I'm wrestling with this so the line between allowable comments and not allowable may shift.