Thanks for setting the record straight. As you so nimbly put it, I was astounded when I saw the CWard blog post Tuesday on the Herald site. Let me say with no equivocation: I Did Not Write That Post. In fact, I do not believe I have ever posted at NWHerald.com, though I do surf there.
This episode has been minor, but a little unsettling. If you missed it,
someone criticized Chris Krug's column at the Herald site under the name "Cward" and included a link to Mark's World.
Coincidence? Nah. Far more likely that someone was trying to make it look like you and / or I were picking on the NWH (Granted, it DOES seems to be an industry trend this week).
Although it's been four years since I last toiled in the Northwest vineyard, you'd think someone would have put two and two together when they saw the post. Perhaps the name rang a bell for Mr. Krug, whom I interviewed when he was hired as a sportswriter and whom I supervised when he was sports editor and managing editor. ("Cward? Oh yeah, there used to be a guy by that name who sat in this office before me.") Sure,
there are a lot of CWards out there, but the link to Mark's website? Who could it be other than Cliff Ward, Mark's longtime managing editor?
An outfit that prides itself on ethics should have taken a few minutes to check the veracity of the post. And if it was, in fact, legitimate, then a note of some kind clarifying the authorship was in order.
And now the post has been deleted. There's probably zero interest in Crystal Lake in trying to autopsy this thing. However, as one editor recently put it, I urge the NWH to move quickly to conduct an internal audit to understand how this reckless engineering of fact and fancy took place.
One could hope that their IT people are attempting to track the source of the post. You could hope. I agree with Mark that an unmoderated comment policy leads to nothing but grief.
I think it would be a waste of time to try to track down a post on an unmoderated Web site. What the sneaky-inclined often do is set up a Yahoo.com or a Hotmail.com account with a fake identity, register on a site, and then after they post something nasty while surfing with a masked IP, they can delete the e-mail account. At that point, they are relatively untraceable. So, there is no accountability on part of either the poster or the Web site with its various "disclaimers." Hang on: I feel a manifesto coming on...
Somebody's gonna have to explain to me why newspaper companies hire trained journalists, preach ethics, issue them HR policies on proper communication, Internet use and harassment, spend thousands on libel insurance to protect the print product and THEN turn their Web site over to those who try to make a mockery out of all of the above.
Like a smart, young lawyer isn't someday going to point all of that out just before he/she uses an actual shovel to fill his/her Humvee... And her/his client's Humvee.
What am I talking about? The death of the unmoderated Web site. Stay tuned.
The saddest thing about this incident is that it was perpetrated by someone you and Cliff both know.
Do you smell lawsuits in the newspaper wind? I agree. But I can tell you how the conversation goes when they're setting up a website and deciding whether the comments will be moderated or not.
IT Person: "Well, if you decide to allow comments on your stories and comments on all your blogs, you will need someone dedicated to moderating those comments."
Editorial Purse Strings Person: Nah, we don't have the staff for that. Just let the thing fly.
The Baristanet out of New Jersey finally had to post a policy that the commneter would be legally responsible for their statements. I bet that had some lawyers salivating as they surfed.
5 comments:
Mark,
Thanks for setting the record straight. As you so nimbly put it, I was
astounded when I saw the CWard blog post Tuesday on the Herald site.
Let me say with no equivocation: I Did Not Write That Post. In fact, I
do not believe I have ever posted at NWHerald.com, though I do surf
there.
This episode has been minor, but a little unsettling. If you missed it,
someone criticized Chris Krug's column at the Herald site under the
name "Cward" and included a link to Mark's World.
Coincidence? Nah. Far more likely that someone was trying to make it
look like you and / or I were picking on the NWH (Granted, it DOES seems to be an industry trend this week).
Although it's been four years since I last toiled in the Northwest
vineyard, you'd think someone would have put two and two together when
they saw the post. Perhaps the name rang a bell for Mr. Krug, whom I
interviewed when he was hired as a sportswriter and whom I supervised
when he was sports editor and managing editor. ("Cward? Oh yeah, there
used to be a guy by that name who sat in this office before me.") Sure,
there are a lot of CWards out there, but the link to Mark's website?
Who could it be other than Cliff Ward, Mark's longtime managing editor?
An outfit that prides itself on ethics should have taken a few minutes
to check the veracity of the post. And if it was, in fact, legitimate,
then a note of some kind clarifying the authorship was in order.
And now the post has been deleted. There's probably zero interest in
Crystal Lake in trying to autopsy this thing. However, as one editor
recently put it, I urge the NWH to move quickly to conduct an internal
audit to understand how this reckless engineering of fact and fancy
took place.
As always, I can be reached at KMAIARF@yahoo.com.
Cliff
I think the person posting as cward just forgot a vowel.
Coward.
One could hope that their IT people are attempting to track the source of the post. You could hope. I agree with Mark that an unmoderated comment policy leads to nothing but grief.
I think it would be a waste of time to try to track down a post on an unmoderated Web site. What the sneaky-inclined often do is set up a Yahoo.com or a Hotmail.com account with a fake identity, register on a site, and then after they post something nasty while surfing with a masked IP, they can delete the e-mail account. At that point, they are relatively untraceable. So, there is no accountability on part of either the poster or the Web site with its various "disclaimers." Hang on: I feel a manifesto coming on...
Somebody's gonna have to explain to me why newspaper companies hire trained journalists, preach ethics, issue them HR policies on proper communication, Internet use and harassment, spend thousands on libel insurance to protect the print product and THEN turn their Web site over to those who try to make a mockery out of all of the above.
Like a smart, young lawyer isn't someday going to point all of that out just before he/she uses an actual shovel to fill his/her Humvee... And her/his client's Humvee.
What am I talking about? The death of the unmoderated Web site. Stay tuned.
The saddest thing about this incident is that it was perpetrated by someone you and Cliff both know.
Do you smell lawsuits in the newspaper wind? I agree. But I can tell you how the conversation goes when they're setting up a website and deciding whether the comments will be moderated or not.
IT Person: "Well, if you decide to allow comments on your stories and comments on all your blogs, you will need someone dedicated to moderating those comments."
Editorial Purse Strings Person: Nah, we don't have the staff for that. Just let the thing fly.
The Baristanet out of New Jersey finally had to post a policy that the commneter would be legally responsible for their statements. I bet that had some lawyers salivating as they surfed.
Post a Comment