More than a decade ago, newspapers were one of the first to champion the digital commentary forums open to everyday citizens. The hope was that journalism would be enhanced and that more opinions being aired without oversight would foster a more thoughtful populace. Those predictions were further empowered because people could remain anonymous and speak more honestly.
We, too, believed in that dream when we launched Independent.com in 2006, and we’ve kept those channels wide open ever since. But that idealistic dream has turned out to be a giant nightmare: Our comment pages are a cesspool of rage, ignorance, racism, sexism, class warfare, and insults of all sorts.
The rare occurrence of a productive discussion is exponentially overwhelmed by diatribes from all trenches on the political spectrum. Anonymity only makes the conversations more hateful and irresponsible.