To the Point
Online Comments: Freedom of Speech or the Bane of the Internet?
Internet sites are grappling with an issue akin to the freedom of speech. It's all about online comments that are offensive, off-point or that distort researched science.
By Warren Olney • • 51m ListenInternet websites are grappling with an issue as old as the freedom of speech. It's all about online comments — when they're offensive, off the point or so ignorant it distorts the value of carefully researched science. Should they be allowed anyway, or censored? Should websites deny anonymity, or should they ban online comments altogether? Also, the Senate advances a short-term spending bill to uncertain fate, and after thousands of hours with hundreds of movie stars, a celebrity interviewer comes clean: he has no idea what they're really like.
Banner image: Stuart Pilbrow
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3 storiesSenate Advances Short-Term Spending Bill to Uncertain Fate
The US Senate today voted to end debate on the Continuing Resolution to keep the government funded and send the measure back to the House. It was 79 to 19, with just half the Republicans voting "no" in hopes of stopping Obamacare. They've had several votes since then. Manu Raju is senior congressional reporter for Politico .
Read the story8 minOnline Comments: Freedom of Speech or the Bane of the Internet?
Popular Science wants online comments to encourage learned debate but finds that so many are so wrong they damage the credibility of important research. So they've decided to ban reader comments online . The Huffington Post gets nine million comments a month, but 75% are so vile, mean or obscene they never get posted.
Read the story34 minPoint: Peering into the Eyes of a Celebrity and Learning… Nothing
Benjamin Svetkey spent 20 years as a writer and celebrity interviewer for Entertainment Weekly. He spent thousands of hours talking with hundreds of movie stars, more time with Tom Cruise, he says, than with some of his own blood relatives.
Read the story9 min
