As publisher and editor of this blog, I reserve the right to reject any or all comments for any reason. While I have published nearly every comment received, including some which are most offensive and insulting to me, I will repeat that if I cannot verify your full name and that you are indeed the writer, I will automatically reject your comment. I have been receiving comments about various candidates for office and it is completely unfair to print letters about them when the writer is not clearly identified. Any readers who have sent letters that have been rejected are invited to resend them to paul@foerfront.com with complete contact information (I will not publish your email address).
Anonymous comments eat away at free speech, are unaccountable and are ultimately not worth much--but they are unfair to those who are the subject of the comments. This is not censorship. This is protecting free and responsible speech and the rights of those who seek or hold office because they have their names in front of us every day. If you don't like this, you can write me a comment-as long as your are properly identified...or you may start your own blog.
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Bay Daily on Hiatus
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Congratulations to Bay Daily creator, Tom Pelton, who has accepted a
position with another organization working to make the world a better
place. In his ab...
10 years ago
1 Comment:
From Diane C Russell:
I read your blog intermittently, but have never felt moved to comment because I concentrate on my own local area, not on Annapolis politics. With the adoption of your policy, I never will comment, and that's at least as much your potential loss as mine.
I do have my own blog, I do allow anonymous comments as long as they are on topic, and I do believe in America's long tradition of anonymous political commentary. I would most certainly welcome--even love to have--writing like The Federalist Papers. You apparently would have censored them. In my opinion, that would have been your loss and the country's loss. But while I question your judgment, I certainly don't disoute [sic] your right to limit what is published on your blog.
Diane C. Russell
http://pg-politics.blogspot.com
http://gorypg.blogspot.com
Dear Diane C. Russell
That's why you started your own blog where you identify yourself and I respect that. But I would have to disagree that it's my loss that you won't comment. You admittedly never have been moved to comment, so who lost anything? Besides, you identify yourself, so why do you care? How do I know you are not "anonymous" at other times?
If either of us got 100 comments a day, would we publish every one of them? What if they were obscene, libelous or simply irrational gibberish? Would you be compelled to publish them? I am not. I am the publisher and in this day and age, anyone can start their own blog, as we have both done. So, where is the censorship? All writing and publishing involves gate-keeping and filtering whether you admit or not, but to call it censorship is inaccurate. I am not going to be a party to anyone who has an ax to grind to say whatever they please about anyone else, especially those who seek or hold public office.
Sincerely
Paul M Foer
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