Site news: Ummm … thanks, I think
.Elaine Hopkins of Peoria Story (who STILL doesn’t allow commenting on her site) noted my recent expression of frustration:
Duh — blogging can be work.
It’s journalism when done right. That means covering events, interviewing people, finding information. That can be fun, but it’s also work, and few people can afford to pursue full time work without a paycheck attached.
Even if a blogger/journalist doesn’t need a paycheck to survive, other interesting events intervene: vacations, entertainment, family obligations. Soon it’s tempting to say ‘to heck with that meeting, that issue. Who cares anyway!’
That said, let’s hope Bill Dennis and C. J. Summers don’t become blogger dropouts. They perform very valuable services to the community, digging out information and presenting opinions and analysis that the mainstream media may not have the resources to present.
Even when they are wrong, or wrong headed, the work of bloggers — mostly volunteer apparently — matters as much or more to the community than the activities many volunteers pursue, from organizing fund raisers and running interest groups to backing politicians.
Elaine, I’ll count on you to keep me informed of when I am wrong. Or at least when YOU think I’m wrong. I’ll reserve judgment. And open up comments, already, huh? What are you afraid of? Even Vonster opened up his site.
But don’t worry about me quitting. This stuff keeps me sane, which is a difficult task, believe me.
Billy Dennis is a former reporter and editor at small daily and weekly newspapers in Illinois and Missouri. He comments on media, news and politics. He also owns and operates 
I used to be showered with disdain for not allowing comments. I see Elaine’s treatment is much more civil. Hmmm.
She might be afraid that her comment board will degenerate into a never-ending flame war unless it’s strictly moderated. Case in point: go to the Pantagraph website and click on one of its “most commented” stories, especially the current top two. Or the comments in the Journal Star concerning almost any story on racial issues, crime or (especially) both.
Don’t get me wrong, I (obviously) like being able to comment on blogs, and a community journalism blog should take comments from readers… how else are you going to know what’s going on out there? However, I believe care must be taken to insure that the “weeds” of insulting, ignorant and potentially libelous comments that add nothing to the debate, and the (sometimes) equally insulting and ignorant replies to them, don’t crowd out the good.
At one time, I heaped scorn upon mainstream media Websites that didn’t allow for reader comments. Now, I am much more sympathetic. The racist junk that is systematically dumped onto PJStar is disheartening, and has the exact effect that the racists want: To convince black people that most white people are racist. If the choice is a wide open unmoderated comments section, or NO comments section, I prefer the latter. It takes time and a willingness to ban abusers. Not a lot of newspapers these days want to spent those resources.