Reader comments: Great debate or heap of trouble?

One of the greatest differences between a traditional broadcast or print story and a story run online is the readers’ ability to comment instantly on breaking news or a hot topic. At the beginning of the multimedia journalism bubble, many news sites were resistant to allowing open discussions on their online stories for fear of the internet “crazies.” Now, all but a few holdouts see the benefit of a free flow of discussion to the local and global communities.

The problem is user comments are sometimes far from civil.

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