{"id":938,"date":"2014-03-17T16:49:16","date_gmt":"2014-03-17T03:49:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.kiwistreet.co.nz\/wordpress\/?p=938"},"modified":"2014-03-17T16:49:16","modified_gmt":"2014-03-17T03:49:16","slug":"time-to-bring-back-the-sub-editors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kiwistreet.co.nz\/wordpress\/?p=938","title":{"rendered":"Time to bring back the sub-editors?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Mega2\"<\/a>Has the tone of the dissenting voice in public discussion become less civilised, potentially more damaging?\u00a0 Or has it just become easier to \u2018hear\u2019 the more extreme voices?<\/p>\n

Has online comment and the Twitterverse simply brought the conversation that previously took place in a pub (perhaps a pub which most of us never visited) directly to our ever-accessible screens?<\/p>\n

Recently, Deborah Hill Cone, a columnist for The New Zealand Herald, wrote what I thought was a pretty fair \u2018starter for ten\u2019 on the part that ageing, shallow celebritydom, and cyber bullying may have played in the death of Charlotte Dawson (of whom, I must confess, I had never heard).\u00a0 Within minutes, Ms Hill Cone had people not so much disagreeing with her as damning her and wishing her horrible harm.<\/p>\n

A few days later, Ms Hill Cone wrote a sort of explanation \u2013 although I\u2019m not sure that one was required.\u00a0 And, again, she was the target of much ill-tempered vitriol and damnation.<\/p>\n

When things like this happen, it is tempting to think that there ought to be \u2018rules\u2019, laws even.\u00a0 Surely, people shouldn\u2019t be allowed to express their opinions in nasty, hurtful language.\u00a0 As the apocryphal grandmother said: If you can\u2019t say it nicely, don\u2019t say it at all.<\/p>\n

But where do you draw the line?\u00a0 What is hurtful to one person may simply be \u2018honest opinion\u2019 or \u2018robust comment\u2019 to another.\u00a0 Also, in my experience at least, there are many, many people who are simply incapable of putting their thoughts into anything resembling coherent language.\u00a0 For many of these people, the only way to say \u2018I disagree with your point of view\u2019 is to say: \u2018Fuck you, shitface.\u00a0 May you and all of your children die a horrible death.\u2019<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s the answer?\u00a0 Well, there was a time when published comments and opinions \u2013 letters to the editor, for example \u2013 were subject to intervention.\u00a0 Sub-editors applied their considerable skills to turning sows\u2019 ears into something more akin to silk purses.\u00a0 But the principle that the internet is free does not allow for the costs associated with professional sub-editing.\u00a0 What gets submitted tends to get posted.<\/p>\n

However, here\u2019s a thought: maybe it\u2019s time to bring back the sub-editors.\u00a0 Maybe we would all be better off if, when posting a comment, the poster paid a small fee.\u00a0 Maybe a dollar.\u00a0 Or two dollars.\u00a0 This would not be an arbitrary revenue-gathering toll, but a contribution to the cost of sub-editing in the interests of a better \u2018finished product\u2019.\u00a0 It\u2019s just a thought.\u00a0 But if you have a better one, I\u2019m listening.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Has the tone of the dissenting voice in public discussion become less civilised, potentially more damaging?\u00a0 Or has it just become easier to \u2018hear\u2019 the more extreme voices? Has online comment and the Twitterverse simply brought the conversation that previously … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3,6],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kiwistreet.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kiwistreet.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kiwistreet.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kiwistreet.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kiwistreet.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=938"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.kiwistreet.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":939,"href":"https:\/\/www.kiwistreet.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/938\/revisions\/939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kiwistreet.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kiwistreet.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kiwistreet.co.nz\/wordpress\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}