Last Week’s Poll Results: We’re Keeping Comments Anyway

Well, the votes are in and in a perfectly democratic world we'd be turning off comments, saving me a ton of work and moving on in an essentially one-way world where mine is the only opinion that can be expressed. That's just dumb. The irony is not lost on me that by ignoring the majority vote, I'm enabling the kind of discussion that allows at least some semblance of First Amendment basis for this publication's existence.

A glance at the results of our thoroughly unscientific yes-or-no poll on whether to continue to allow comments shows the nays have it by a really slim (1.17 percent) margin and like any good autocrat who disagrees with that result I'm going to ignore it and keep allowing comments. Unlike some of the high-minded comments this elicited concerning free speech and democratic rights, AVweb is not a democracy and in this matter I am king.

I have two main reasons for keeping the comments. The first, and most important, is that the comments provide a direct line of communication with readers that is far more effective than any other. You can always email me directly at rniles@avweb.com but comments are easier. They are the first thing I check in the morning and it's almost always how we find out about the errors we make. Please keep using them to report inaccuracies. The sooner we fix mistakes, the better for all of us. We can get into the arguments about how they occur, what nonexistent agendas are behind them and how AVweb just isn't the same as it used to be but first let's get the error fixed. Only a few commenters mentioned that justification for keeping comments but it was my most important consideration.

The second reason they're staying is because I learn something every time I open them up. Our readers have such an incredible depth and breadth of knowledge and experience, there is a treasure trove of valuable information offered freely and without prejudice in those comments. It would be a horrible waste to cut that off because of a few morons and the realities of insufficient time and resources to keep them in check all the time.

And what about the morons? I'm sure they will continue to post and they will continue to be outed and piled on by other commenters and occasionally I might delete their comments. And life will go on.

The point is that the folks who think they are being clever by insinuating their own extreme beliefs or prejudices in the agnostic world of aviation are everywhere and who knows what motivates them. We do our best to weed them out but they are quickly replaced by others. By far the majority of commenters are thoughtful and respectful and it would be disrespectful of us to cut them off because of the lack of civility of a relative few.

I don't want to wax too philosophical about all this because I don't have the training or experience, but it seems to me the comments section reflects the state of affairs in the rest of the world and I, for one (the really important one, don't forget), think we should all be keeping an eye on that.

To help us all out, we will soon be moving to a new platform called Discourse for handling the comments. The current setup is very rudimentary and Discourse will allow a range of content moderation tools that will make commenters part of the process in keeping extremism in check. I have some reservations that a few clever commenters might exploit the very tools intended to foil them but we'll deal with at as it arises.

By far the most contentious subject concerning comments is the role politics plays. I argue that politics is a vital element in aviation and discussion of government policy and its development is fundamental to our role in keeping readers abreast of issues. I get that some of you have strong beliefs in the root causes of just about everything and that those beliefs are part of the whole picture. But others have equally strong beliefs and they get to express them, too.

It used to be that news publications were a neutral zone, but now those who wish can follow sites that masquerade as news but only express a single point of view. AVweb has been accused of that many times in the past and quite a few times in the last few weeks. It's the most worrisome aspect of the discussions about comments and I think it comes down to a matter of definition. This blog and the comments are commentary and everything else on the page is news and that must remain neutral. I doubt I'll change any minds about the alleged bias of AVweb on any number of topics but I'll do my best.

So keep those comments and newstips coming in. AVweb has grown into a community with aviation as a common thread, but it is made up of individuals whose beliefs and opinions are frequently at odds and even if we don't agree with them there is value in knowing they're out there. Thanks for all the comments and private notes so many of you took the time to write. It shows how much you value what we try to do here and it is very much appreciated.