I was just reading comments in The Seattle Times about Obama's

[gateley]

visit yesterday.

:scared:

Although the article cheered me by mentioning that Obama raised over $20 million during the last election compared to McCain's $2.8, after reading the almost ALL extremely negative comments I find myself looking around nervously.

I rarely look at the local paper's site but wanted info on a large home explosion/fire that occurred this morning, and saw the article on Obama's fundraising trip here.

I'm very discouraged that these people -- in MY city -- are so hateful and closed-minded, meaning REPUBLICAN! WTF happened?? :(

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016315301_obamavisit26m.html

[knowbody0]

1. it's raining today

they should be gone by now

[TheWraith]

2. Newspaper comment sections are often overrun by freeper types these days.

It plays to their style: short comments with no facts required, no real chance at calling them on their shit, and often there's little or no attention paid to moderating said comments or removing offensive ones. And as with any unmoderated forum, it allows whoever screams loudest to often drive away more reasonable people.

[gateley]

3. Thank you - that makes a world of sense and makes me feel much better! nt

[Blue_Tires]

6. it's been going on for years

so much that many papers are doing away with open anonamyous commenting, or heavily increasing the moderation/editing...

[demosincebirth]

10. Our local papers don't publish anonymous comments

[TheWraith]

11. The Buffalo paper did something similar.

They were taking a lot of flak over what was a particularly toxic comments system, so they decided to both increase moderation, and require the use of real names.

[CakeGrrl]

7. Very true. As are the comment sections on some entertainment blogs.

It's getting harder to differentiate between trolls and earnest posters, which is why message boards should always be taken with a grain (or better yet, a tablespoon) of salt.

Having the GOP control much of the media buys a lot of trolling effort.

[alsame]

4. I suspect there are always some paid posters and operatives

in major newspaper comments sections. Not all, but enough to direct the discussion a certain way and give an overall impression of positivity or negativity, depending on the issue.

[maxsolomon]

5. The Blethen Times is the voice of the periphery of Seattle

I read it for the Huskies scores at most.

[madamesilverspurs]

8. Trash-talking.

My area is roughly split in thirds (Republicans, Democrats, Independents). Yet the comments posted to our newspaper would lead a visitor to assume that our population was comprised entirely of right-wingers. It got so bad that the newspaper abruptly discontinued the comments function, promising to bring it back when they'd figured out a way to appropriately monitor the thing. That was many months ago, and there is still no comment function.

For freepers, Seattle has to be an irresistable target. If you're making them nuts, you're doing it right!

-

[gateley]

9. More calming words of sanity -- thanks! nt

[ClarkUSA]

12. Most news outlets are being freeped. Have you ever read the cesspool that is Yahoo! News?

Ditto with MCNBC's First Read, WaPo, Politico, The Hill.... although the RW haters avoid the New York Times.

[gateley]

13. I hope that's what it is, and not a true indication of what many Americans

are feeling, because there's nothing like fear and hatred to spur one to action (even if it's just posting on a forum).

And, as always, I have to wonder why WE aren't as gung ho about blanketing these sites with our views.

[lunatica]

14. It's shocking isn't it?

I live in the Bay Area and work in UC Berkeley. It never ceases to shock me when I encounter people who are right out of teabaggerville, USA.

[otohara]

15. He's Coming to Denver Tues. Denver Post Comments

were shockingly hateful - and so stupid, God these people are so uninformed.

What I noticed though were the number of people who recommended the story to their Facebook page and it was several hundred. The posters were few... like the tea-nuts rallies of late.

[Norrin Radd]

16. Agree that it has to do with lack of moderating on newspaper boards,

but, also, the Times is a right-leaning rag.

[jefferson_dem]

17. I've made it my personal policy to never, ever read comments posted under an Obama news story.

They are always dominated by hoards of scumbag racists who are a disgrace to the human race. I wonder if they carry on with such vitriolic spew in their day-to-day travels or if they just adopt assholery when sitting comfortably behind their keyboards and anonymity.