Comments

Elements of this thing called The City Wire remain experimental. Not that pushing news and information via the Internet is a new thing, but the approach we use and the platform we built are new to the Fort Smith region.

So far, so good. Traffic to The City Wire and feedback continues to exceed our expectations. 

Other than pursuing our unabashed capitalist tendencies to create commercial success (create wealth, jobs, etc.), The City Wire was built with two primary goals.

Goal 1: We seek to deliver business, political and cultural news and information that is of value to people in the Fort Smith region. We don’t do car wrecks, house fires and crime news. The other media outlets handle well that sort of drama. We prefer to provide information on the people, issues and events that truly define the ups and downs of our regional communities.

Goal 2: The City Wire seeks to create an electronic community center in which regional citizens may directly engage each other, promote their ideas, promote their community affiliations (churches, businesses, nonprofits, etc.), and participate in the accomplishment of Goal 1.

It is Goal 2 that plows new ground in experimenting with broad, and largely unfiltered, mass communication. And in this regional experiment is found the risk that could minimize the commercial and community success of The City Wire.

Let’s consider, Kind Reader, how we all might participate in the reduction of said risk. Specifically, the risk is found in the comments to business, political and cultural stories written and posted The City Wire staff.

To be sure, most comments are reasonable. Some comments are instructive in that they provide a whiff of common thought to business and civic leaders willing and/or able to measure the context of public comments. Also, some comments are appreciated because they help The City Wire staff develop ideas and/or angles for future content.

However, there continues an unfortunate number of comments that are at their core mean-spirited, ad hominem attacks that seek to kill the messenger rather than address the message. What follows are three sincere requests to commenters who prefer to be destructive rather than constructive.

• Don’t be a schmuck
Don’t be anonymous. It’s interesting how folks who are sooooo sure of their opinion and facts are afraid to reinforce such surety by using their real name. Anonymous is just another word for Cowardice.

• Don’t be a schmuck
Have at least a modicum of respect for those who seek to engage in public service. Many good folks in the region avoid public service because they don’t have the patience or willingness to deal with folks who seek to reward their effort with personal attacks. True, it comes with the territory, but that doesn’t mean we citizens have the right to turn an honest disagreement into a hateful diatribe.

• Don’t be a schmuck
Have some knowledge about the subject before opining. Perception is rarely reality. The where-there-is-smoke-there-is-fire thing is a dead-end path in terms of seeking true understanding. (And on that note, ENOUGH already with the whole Jeff Barrows-Chief Lindsey-Randy Reed thing. OK? The future progress of this region does not depend on who was right/wrong in this matter. Is it important to remember and learn lessons from such conflicts? Sure. But an emotional rehashing of all the He-said-she-said stuff is more about conflict regurgitation than conflict resolution. Let it go. Move on. Please.)

Rotarians, at the end of each meeting, collectively pose four questions: Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to all concerned? Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

The truth, however, is subjective. Global warming, for example. And the building of goodwill and better friendships is important, but sometimes the pursuit of knowledge/information leads to anything but goodwill and better friendships. The politics and science of global warming, for example.

Which leaves us pursuing commentary that seeks to be fair and beneficial. If you need an outlet to direct your personal venom, feel free to direct it at me. I’ve been doing this long enough that I now enjoy analyzing the creativity of personal attacks.

But if it’s not too much to ask, please craft your comments toward other people/issues/events so they are fair and beneficial. It is possible to do that and still express a forceful opinion about the matter at hand.

The bottom line is that The City Wire comments were designed to encourage the promulgation of ideas and information rather than becoming a forum for insults and inanity.