New Tricks: Rules of engagement: How journalists can – and should – respond to comments

April 6th, 2009

Traveling to different newsrooms is a big part of my job, and no two newsrooms are completely alike.

I’m an evangelist not just for social media tools, but getting newsrooms and news organizations to interact with readers at a very basic level. Some folks — many of whom are full-time bloggers — are naturally good at it, but when it comes to reporters, many don’t even want to engage readers on the “Comments” section of their stories.

This post will help guide you through this very act. There are a few things to remember, however:

1. Responding to comments is part of your job. Period.

2. Do not judge your readership based on a few bad apples. If you’re a reporter, don’t give up on your digital audience after a couple of crap comments. They’re probably anonymous, anyway.

3. There is no such thing as a one-comment story. If there’s one comment, there are two: the first comment and your response. Once you reach five comments or so, you don’t need to respond to everyone, but it’s good to continue to be a part of the conversation.

Here’s when you absolutely must respond to a reader:

- When a reader has a question about your story. Sometimes, through no fault of anyone’s, there are details that are edited out or just not addressed at all. If a reporter can provide an extra bit of information, it’s incumbent upon them to do it. Hell, there’s nothing wrong with leaving a reader happy.

- If someone bashes you. Sometimes comment boards can spiral out of control, especially when a reader bashes you, but if you respond to an angry reader, it cuts them off at the knees and may ultimately win them over. If the commenter responds, and you have their e-mail address, answer them privately.

- When you feel you have to keep your conversation and comment strings on point. If your comment board allows for threaded comments, this may be a non-issue; however, sometimes the conversation just takes an unexpected turn. Don’t be afraid to jump in and keep folks on track.

Sometimes the conversation can just spiral out of control. Here’s when I think it’s OK to ban a commenter:

- When someone makes a racist, sexist or homophobic comment.

- When one of your readers bashes another. Keep folks polite, and they’ll keep coming back.

It may be good to sit down with your site producers and editors to create a clear set of rules — Terms of Service, if you will — for your site. This way, if you ban someone, they’ll know exactly why. Just don’t go ban-happy.

Steward the conversation, and acknowledge your good readers/commenters. If you do, you have a real chance of building community around your blog or beat.

When do you think it’s OK — and not OK — to respond to comments? What’s your rule of thumb?

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Entry Filed under: New Tricks, Newspaper, blogging, social media

  • I wish all reporters read this. When I was an editor, I had to remind people of this too often.

    One other thing, however, is to remind reporters that they should respond to comments dispassionately and not inject opinion. If someone's being obnoxious, respond to any legitimate point they raise and ignore the obnoxious part. When I did that, I found the commenters became really really polite because someone - anyone - was responding to them.

    I got respect because I gave respect. And whenever they complained about anything, they apologized to me, saying they weren't blaming me, I was just one of only a couple of people who listened. While that wasn't true, and many people were listening, I was one of just a few who responded politely and respectfully.
  • "I got respect because I gave respect."

    Absolutely. Respect your audience. Love your audience. The news business is not about the news. It's about attracting an audience, and that audience is sold to advertisers. A reporter's livelihood rests solely on their audience.
  • Michael
    Would you add sexist and homophobic to racist comments?
  • Absolutely. You want to control your domain. I'll actually add those points to my post. Thanks for the reminder, Michael.
  • Roger
    Good information -- all newsrooms should follow these examples
  • I think your tips are great. I've been learning so much about the value of responding to comments, and I'm really convinced that responding to readers' comments early and often helps to prevent the development of the comment "ghetto" that plagues so many newspaper Web sites. (Sure there will always be jerks, but if you set the tone right away that your blog isn't a place where people can just be ignorant unchecked, I think the jerks find another spot.)

    I used to just ignore it if someone blasted me or my story or post in a comment. (Traditional journalistic wisdom.) But I've found that engaging professionally works better. (You can't rant and stoop to their level, although you can use a bit of diplomacy.) Sometimes the person just didn't understand you. Sometimes the person just wants a scapegoat. But if you respond, you end up with a dialogue at the very least that might inform other readers even if it's lost on the commenter. (It's pretty neat, too, when regular readers jump in and defend you!)

    I do like your rule of thumb -- after five comments you don't have to respond to every one. Makes sense. Things do eventually get repetitive.
  • Daniel. The first one as you mentioned, should be a litmus test for all additional thinking on commenting. Everything else should come fairly naturally and flow peacefully. Occasionally, you will get some harsh criticism but nothing that borders on the particularly offensive. If it does reach that level, act calmly and engage them politely and professionally (but do pwn them).
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