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That was the subject line of an email that came ot me this morning from pal Brad: "Mario Batali and Michael Bauer need Public Square." If you know what a crazed foodie I am, you know that hit home.
Reading Batali takes on bloggers
I am in Batali's camp when it comes to anonymous comments by unknown parties. I've taken many hits on my blog from people who accuse me of certain things, and it's hard to know how to respond. However, if someone who uses his or her name, I take the comments more seriously.
Well yes, we can help with that. Personally I think anonymous comments should just be stricken form the web-- bloggers shouldn't permit them. It allows for drive-bys and *ssholes to not even have to raise a finger in the effort of perpetuating their drivel. Moreover, a content reputation system makes it easier for tired bloggers and publishers to enlist the help of the readership to weed out the armchair critics.
What the L.A. Times does, and I think it's interesting, is to put the reporter's email at the bottom of every story. They are very interested in good comments, and I know that they read them, because they write back and say thankxs. They probably have some way of circulating all the good comments throughout the newsroom so that the entire staff of journalists reads them. For the most part, I could care less (or do I mean I couldn't care less? I've always wondered about this locution) whether my comment is published or not. I've got my own blog if I want to comment on issues of the day. I think a lot of people just leave comments because there isn't any other obvious way of leaving email for the author, or because that's the method the author has proffered to communicate back to her.