Anonymity Policies Provide Environment for Racist Rhetoric

Blog for Iowa, as regular readers know, is committed to doing our part to reform the broken media.  Usually, when media reform is discussed, we're talking about such things as biased news reports, media diversity, net neutrality, ownership rules, etc.  Today's post reflects a media problem of a slightly different nature, but surely no less important – newspapers' policies of allowing anonymous comments on their websites.  Read on.

The following is posted with permission from the author, Johnson County Supervisor Rod Sullivan, from his newsletter, “Sullivan's Salvos,” which is sent once per week to any interested party. Salvos provides
a brief update on issues of interest to Johnson County residents.  Its content comes solely from Rod Sullivan, and neither represents the viewpoints of the whole Board of Supervisors nor those of groups or individuals otherwise mentioned. ~

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I sent the following letter to the [Iowa City] Press-Citizen as a letter to the editor. I also sent it (TWICE!) to the top brass (who are, of course, in Des Moines). I have not received any response.  This is an important issue, but the PC has chosen to ignore it.

There are several factors that encourage racism. Fear and ignorance are big contributors. Another important factor is cowardice. When people can hide their identities, be it behind sheets or behind pseudonyms, racism has an opportunity to thrive.

There is plenty of racism in Johnson County. Unfortunately, the Press-Citizen has decided to make the single biggest contribution to these racist attitudes. The Press-Citizen online forums allow people to post anonymously.  The most outrageous and most racist comments come from people who hide behind false names.

Require posters to use their real names. It has always been good enough for the opinion page; why not apply the same rules online? By providing an anonymous forum for racist speech, you are providing the Klansmen with their sheets.

If I were a Fortune 500 company considering opening up shop in Johnson County, I would probably go online and look at the local paper. After reading the PC website, I would immediately look to put my business elsewhere.

The racist comments that permeate the PC website give us all a bad name.  Shame on you, Press-Citizen. You have an obligation to this community, and you have chosen sensationalism instead. You can, should, and must do better.