Readers silent on Metamora teacher scandal story
Funny thing. If you read the Peoria Journal Star article on how the Metamora school superintendent hired a teacher knowingthat he had a criminal record, you would not see any comments from readers.
Surely residents of this district have opinions on the matter, considering the guy later ended up imprisoned for having sex with a Metamora student.
Well, they do have opinions. A source tells me the page was full of comments, but the Journal Star apparently removed ALL of them.
Now, I can see the need to delete comments that are libelous, vulgar or racist. But all of them? This is one of my problem with newspaper sites in general. They tend to either be too restrictive, or not restrictive enough. And sometimes when they do buckle down, they wield too heavy a hand.
Anyway, if your comment was deleted by the PJS, feel free to comment here. Just follow the rules.
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 
Do you know how their CMS manages comments? It could’ve been their only choice. It could’ve been done as a preventative measure to prevent repeats of the same offensive posts and they just don’t want to expend the manpower to police that single story.
I don’t know why you “see the need to delete comments that are libelous, vulgar or racist”, federal law generally protects the site from liability for comments. Coupled with the rest of paragraph, you seem to be heading down a slippery slope to censorship.
I’m on meds now, so I will try extra hard to be lucid.
Yes, i know the PJS isn’t in any danger from libelous commewnts made bu readers. But it isn’t about getting sued. it’sd about being morally responsible. They have the right to bouce hate and stupidity from their site. And I applaud them for doing it. I just want a gentle hand.
I read those comments last night and I did not feel any of them were lewd or libelous, though several seemed to think there should be a lawsuit. Others voiced their opinion against it. How could Maurer have missed this?
http://www.tsc.state.tn.us/opinions/tcca/PDF/052/chromik.pdf
If there isn’t a lawsuit yet, there should be! Maurer should resign immediately and so should any board members who had knowledge of this incident and still voted to hire the man.
Nick; If the Journal Star’s CMS doesn’t allow for the deletion or moderation of individual comments, then shame on them.
There was nothing out of the ordinary about the comments being made last night. I have no idea why they deleted them and when I e-mailed the reporter, She did not have the courtesy to respond.