How do news sites handle the editing of blogs? The Washingtonian says The Washington Post posts some blog entries before editing and reader comments without prescreening.
How do news sites handle the editing of blogs? The Washingtonian says The Washington Post posts some blog entries before editing and reader comments without prescreening.
washingtonpost.com Executive Editor James Brady says some posts are editing before posting and some after posting, depending on the urgency.
“A lot of the stuff I put out raw,” says columnist and humorist Joel Achenbach, the Post’s primordial Web blogger. “I keep thinking today is the day I will write something that destroys the Washington Post as a newspaper.”
Achenbach says he relies on readers as well as editors for basic copyediting. “I’ll post something; two minutes later someone will tell me there’s a typo in the second graph.”
Reader comments go up live once they’re entered, Brady says, althouogh a software filter blocks profanity.
“People post anything they want, all the time,” Achenbach says. “We expect some standards. No dropping the F-bomb on people. No hate speech. Don’t be racist. No personal attacks. For the most part people abide, and we can zap it if there’s a problem.
“To a remarkable degree we don’t have problems,” he says. “People who hang around the blog tend to be smart and aware.”
How do you think news sites should handle these issues? Post your thoughts here.
