On 12/22, I was informed by management of the Press Herald Online version that I erred in quoting reader comments that used punctuation to suggest profanity.
Those offending comments were removed from the web comments sections of the Portland Press Herald and the Waterville Morning Sentinel comments after my blog was published.
Today, I have removed the offending comments from the blog, but as the rest of the comments below remain on the newspapers' websites I have kept the comments in this blog.
(It has been suggested to me that I am "unhappy" with the Press Herald and that it be understood if I chose to stop writing my blogs. To date, I have published 25 blogs and only two have concerned matters at the Press Herald.)
My objection in the blog below, in the 11/20 blog referenced, and in a Letter to the Edior published in the PPH in the fall on the subject of vicious reader comments hardly means I am "unhappy" with the Press Herald.
As I noted in my PPH blog bio, one of the six interests listed there is "the move of readers and viewers away from traditional media." As users of the traditional media become increasingly polarized, faith in the value of the traditional media has declined. If the coin of the traditional media is debased, further move will occur.
So, rather me being somehow "unhappy" with the Press Herald, I was and remain astonished and bothered by the hateful tone allowed in the online comments -- comments that would NEVER be allowed in the print Letters to the Editor pages of the Press Herald or the Morning Sentinel.
The hateful comments that are allowed remain to appear in the online versions stay on the web for a year where the venom can be read by our Iraqi transplants in Maine, nationally and worldwide (and perhaps also be read by others thinking about coming to our State.
Call me old fashioned, but I believe that unless the papers' online comment sections are to be turned over to bullies for their personal sandbox, hateful comments that would NOT be allowed to appear as Letters to the Editor, should not appear under a newspaper's imprint online.
Based on history of online comments, I have come to the conclusion that the comments section should be closed to articles concerning
1) violent death
2) suicide
3) rape
4) abuse
5) people on welfare, handicapped, etc.
6) people of color
7) immigrants
If comments continue to be allowed, the resulting comments are totally predictable.
It is to be noted that, to their credit, the Press Herald and the Morning Sentinel made the the decision to deny reader comments on the Sandra May McIntyre/Paula Goodspeed story in November.
PBH 12/23 3:40 PM
****
12/18 as edited on 12/23
Sometimes the best blog entries are simply the words of others.
"According to the US census, Vermont and Maine are tied as the
"Whitest State" in the nation with about 96% in each state self
identifying themselves as white.
"Perhaps as a result, some of us have developed a not so
subtle form of racism that finds an outlet in the online comment
columns of the Portland Press Herald, the Waterville Morning
Sentinel, The Augusta Kennebec Journal, and the Bangor
Daily News.
"When a person of color or an immigrant is in the news,
the columns are often full of the most vile, bigoted comments.
In some cases, readers report these comments are
"inappropriate," in some cases the newspapers themselves
monitor these columns, in other cases the comments remain
for hours or even days and months in the archives...
The great irony is that these newspapers would never allow
these vile comments to appear in their paper editions as
comments (Letters to the Editor), but allow the filth to appear
under their Corporate logos [in the online versions].
On December 17th, the Portland Press Herald and the Waterville Morning Sentinel published articles concerning the relocation of Iraqi refugees to Maine.
The following quotes have been taken unedited from the articles' comments sections:
standup of skowhegan, ME
Dec 18, 2008 12:30 AM
[Comment removed by the newspaper's comment column for punctuation suggesting profanity]
dennis arsenault of rumford, ME
Dec 17, 2008 8:32 PM
[Removed by the newspaper's comment column for punctuation suggesting profanity]
Denny of Portland, ME
Dec 17, 2008 9:59 AM
First it was 200, now it's 300. Soon it will be 1,000 and more. If these people cared about their own country and took the action necessary to change it, they wouldn't have to come here to live off our welfare. Our country went through a devastating civil war to cement our values and principles that remain to this day; the Iraquis need to do the same... take charge of their own sorry country (yes, I've been there), fix it and stay there, rather than bailing out and living a good life at our expense.
Here's a question: Why don't they move to New Hampshire? The answer: Because New Hampshire does not give away the store to freeloaders. The message: As long as Maine continues to be excessively generous to those who won't carry their own weight, we will continue to import them from less generous states. If the Iraquis (and Somalis, etc.) were truly sincere about becoming productive residents, they would stay where the U.S. Government settles them and make the most of the benefits that are provided in those locations. Their migration to the states with better benefits is nothing more than a money grab, and we're paying for it.
CRD of Southern, ME
Dec 17, 2008 9:46 AM
Should we erect a huge statue of Baldacci in Portland harbor with an inscription that says send us your poor, unemployed, criminals, single moms, drug addicts, etc. ...............
SL of SP, ME
Dec 17, 2008 9:46 AM
How many of you bleeding hearts actually believe the stories? The first one...they would have shot the males first, not a girl... The nightmares comment guarantees a PTSD diagnosis for the wife and kids, this makes them disabled and gathers more hand-outs. Then the tale of being a sunni..sunni's did the same thing to shiites.. Great movies he is watching and exposing his young kids to...this is how you do things in America..I have an idea, they are called adult ed english classes...id you take any in Atlanta?
These stories are coached to many of the refugees because they hold the buzz words that will give them status over others trying to get a free ride to America or Europe.
You applied to 30 jobs in Atlanta, how many have you applied for here, it's been a few months? Soon enough we will see what happens when you bring a large sectarian group of people to a foriegn place...you should see how they treat females in the work place, I have seen this first hand...you're fired!
Back to work so I can pay for the next 300...
tax payer77 of kingfield, ME
Dec 17, 2008 9:08 AM
I have spent considerable time in the mid east. Plain and simple...they truly hate us and they do not support most of what we value. They kill women and children to make a religious point. If things are going so well back in Iraq, why not send these folks home. If welfare bennies are not so good in other states then we can expect to see a continous flow of the welfare savy arriving in Maine until we stop this madness.
Anti Liberal of Taxland, ME
Dec 17, 2008 8:58 AM
"After four months in Georgia, the family had seen a sharp cut in local benefits, he said, so that they couldn't afford rent."
Well...let mainers pay your rent, food, clothing, education, medical bills, take care of your kids, and while we are at it...what the hell, let us give you a new car and a plasma tv!!!
If there is anything else your little heart desires, please let us know, baldi, the governor just slashed some spending so we need to waste,ahhh spend, it elsewhere.
Welcome to Maine!
Biddy of Arundel, ME
Dec 17, 2008 7:08 AM
Merry Christmas people! We're in the good 'ol US of A! If you're born here you get to struggle to survive and get the third degree if misfortune strikes and you need help. If you're a refugee you get red carpet treatment and help with everything.
I think it's absolutely appalling that we have 50 million plus Americans without health insurance yet can offer health care to non Americans.
Look at the food this lady is preparing. How many Americans can afford fruit and vegetables? Some of our Seniors eat cat and dog food so they can afford their medicines and heat.
Of course we shouldn't turn our anger toward the refugees. They are just taking advantage of what is offered them by OUR OWN KIND!! They are looking to make a better life like we are.
My anger is directed at those who bring these people here and provide them with everything. We should know WHO they are. My bet is they are the same people who refuse to help their own American citizens who need help. HOW can we do this considering the state and Federal budget cuts that are hurting so many?
Ford1600 of Canaan, ME
Dec 17, 2008 5:44 AM
Where are these jobs coming from that this group is going to get these people.
Why hasn't this group gotten jobs for the people here in Maine that are out of fuel and food for their kids???.
Is this group blind to deaths of their own neighbors kids deaths due to crime here in their own country,,,,.
Send all of them back to their own countries to tuff it out just as we do!!!.
THAT GOES FOR ALL IMMAGRANTS
Jack of nowhere, ME
Dec 17, 2008 6:49 AM
You guys are pathetic. Spoiled rotten brats, even. You're whining about 200-300 people moving to your state because you might have to shell out a couple of extra bucks in taxes, and want to see these people sent back to be raped, shot, forced to see family members killed, have acid thrown on them.... You people disgust me. You don't know what hardship is.
jack of nowhere- you really hit the nail on the head. So what was the point in posting those comments? To prove how utterly pathetic, white, racist, and ignorant the state of Maine really is? Please- no matter who you are or what color your skin is, if you weren't born there you will never belong. I feel sorry for the "exports", "transplants", "outsiders" & "tourists" that live/come there. But I especially feel sorry for all the ignorant fools who employ such hatred towards them.
Posted by NYC December 19, 2008 05:43 PM
I cannot agree with the blanket statement posted by "NYC" that labels "the state of Maine" as being "utterly pathetic, white, racist and ignorant". Such a description certainly does not apply to most of the people that I know and encounter on a daily basis. We are not, as a group, a mass of haters eager to vent our spleen on "exports", "transplants", "outsiders" and "tourists".
Many Maine people are somewhat reserved toward those "from away", particularly if someone comes into this state with an attitude toward the "pathetic", "ignorant" natives. As a people, we tend to be closeknit with families and helpful with friends and neighbors, traditional in our social and economic viewpoints, hardworking and accepting of new faces who respect our ways.
I see a common thread in the comments that Mr. Hayward has chosen to highlight and that is an anger and frustration toward the limited opportunities available for Maine residents and the perceived special treatment afforded those who come to our state and receive immediate benefits that in some cases exceed the minimal gains won by hardworking Mainers.
No, I do not see "racism" as the prime motivator for these comments and I would challange readers to review them carefully and see if perhaps there is some validity to the statements that are being made.
Mr. Hayward does the population of Maine a disfavor when he carefully selects only comments that will buttress his theory and "NYC" makes no effort to conceal his own predjudice - if he (or she) has encountered unpleasantness in Maine it is not hard to speculate why.
Yes, we are a mostly white population here in Maine. So what? We have no guards on our borders to turn back those who do not look like us. It is not a matter of deliberate selection over who gets to live here.
If anything, Maine's acceptance of refugees (when our state is among the lowest in median income and employment potential) could be considered as open and generous.
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