Comment conundrum

Perusing the Globe and Mail's website today, I stumbled upon this story about Scott Brison, a Liberal MP from Nova Scotia. Brison sent out a Christmas card this year featuring him and his husband, as well as their dog. Now, I didn't really think this merited a story: even if Brison was the first federal politician to marry someone of the same sex, an MP sending out a Christmas card of him and his husband pretty much does not deserve any ink on it, right?

But then I saw the comment section; a notice had been posted:

Comments have been disabled Editor's Note: Comments have been closed due to an overwhelming number of hateful and homophobic remarks. We appreciate that readers want to discuss this issue, but we can't allow our site to become a platform for intolerance.

The interest here isn't so much the homophobia - we can only expect that, I suppose, on an Internet forum - but the fact that the only comments - or at least a vast majority - are so homophobic as to warrant the disabling of all commenting on the article (or blog post, whatever) is quite interesting.

Comments on news web sites can be a thorny issue. For some reason or other (many have postulated that it's the web's supposed anonymity), people feel free to say all sorts of things they would never utter or put to paper in the physical world - so comment pages and sections often devolve into lowest-common-denominator slurring, slander, and libel. What's an editor to do?

Short of having a logged-in comments only, where users must have verified email accounts, it's tricky to figure out a way to keep commenters on web sites accountable. Perhaps this isn't such a bad system - Boston.com uses it and has a very lively (and very, very hateful) comment culture. I wonder if The Daily should opt for such a system - and whether it would stifle our already not too vibrant comment sections.

Posted at 04:31AM on Dec 17, 2009

Short term memory loss at The McGill Reporter

Last week, The McGill Reporter published a special issue on the University’s ties to the community. It’s self-congratulatory in that trademark Reporter way, triumphing McGill’s successes at the expense of tackling any difficult – or interesting – questions, mixing in articles without real bylines, and interviews showing a whole lot of adoration, but not much else.

The Reporter’s journalistic back-slapping and high-fiving hit an all-time high with Neale McDevitt’s article about Making Waves, a group that provides swimming lessons to children with special needs. Waves currently meets at CEGEP du Vieux-Montréal, but McDevitt doesn’t mention that as recently as February 2007, the group swam at McGill’s Memorial Pool. McGill revoked the group’s pool time when a participant suffered a bout of diarrhea mid-swim.

McGill Athletics attributed the decision to a broken water heater and a backlog of intramural water polo games, but Waves parents insisted that the decision reinforced stereotypes of the disabled.

Hmm, the University’s approach to problems might contribute to stereotypes and prejudice – that could make for an interesting story. Then again, that might mean fewer high fives.

Posted at 03:37PM on Dec 14, 2009

McGill to host on campus H1N1 clinic next week

The University has just announced that it will host a two day H1N1 clinic next week on campus, which will be open only to McGill staff and students. This is kind of a big deal, given director of Student Health Services Dr. Pierre Paul Tellier's previous statements to the CBC, in which he publicly criticized the government's unwillingness to open a clinic for the campus community.

The clinic will be open Monday and Tuesday, December 14 and 15, from 12 p.m to 7 p.m., on the fourth floor of the Brown building (3600 McTavish). The free vaccine will be given to students and staff who bring their McGill ID and Medicare cards.

Previous Daily articles on H1N1:

Vaccine queues cut amidst H1N1 worries by Ethan Feldman

Vaccinations should not be for sale (Editorial)

McGill to temporarily change sick-note policy by Sam Neylon

Posted at 05:21PM on Dec 11, 2009

BREAKING: James Admin courtyard reopens

It appears that after nearly two years of work, the stairs in front of James Admin are again open to students, connecting the Milton gates to the rest of campus. Numerous barriers and fences continue to surround the site, but only to prevent wayward students from plummeting long distances off of ledges with no railings. We'll be on the story soon, and bring you lots of pictures tomorrow.

For past coverage of the courtyard project, take a look at these articles:

McGill finds dinosaur bones by Winston Jeffries

McGill makes path between fences by Harriet Rocco

HMB statue is a hoax by Lendon Ebbels

Summer construction lazes on by Sarah Babbage

Posted at 11:22PM on Dec 07, 2009