Comments anyone?

By: Sarah Harl

A recent blog by Don Day wonders if some components of new age journalism fail to serve the intended purpose.

Day's blog asserts that the comments section, where readers can post comments on the reported stories, at the least serve no purpose, and as the worst, bring out the worst in readers.

Many comments sections do fuel name calling and bitter back and forths between individuals with too much time on their hands.

But what the comment section does do is prompt people to talk about what is happening in their world. And for every person that abuses the comment section, there are those one or two people who can add meaningful insight to discussion.

It's through these discussions, ignorant and insightful that new ideas are formed and narrow-minded attitudes change.

Will everyone benefit from the comments section of stories? Absolutely not. Is it more often than not a forum for petty bickering? Certainly.

But for the people that will benefit from this interactive component of journalism, it is well worth it.