They do moderate comments. To much it seems. First, any vulgarity or swear words that are included in ones' post will prevent the comment from being posted. Truthful statements that have merit and research to back it should NOT be deleted..Second , the people just LOVE it ..
At times we feel the Reg and WTNH can do some more investigative reporting and that way folks wont have to add so much .

Joseph, I have seen horrible racist comments, so I know you are incorrect. Do you need to SWEAR on a family friendly site? Can't you reserve that language for your own home/drinking saloon?

Personally, I want kids to be able to read the newspaper without seeing swear words. I'm sorry you feel your rights are being trampled on, but guess who owns the commenting? That is right--NH Register. As a result, they can face legal liability if someone defames or commits any other crime with their comment.

"David", You meant, does ONE need to swear on a friendly family site !? One never heard me swear
But like i wrote, even if ONE attempted to swear the on-line news site won't allow it to be posted, so ONE has absolutely never read a swear word from ANYONE. Yes the Register does own the news site , not you or any other commentator. Like i mentioned before, pity those with no computer and does not have the means to defend oneself from vicious slander, a Lady in Fair Haven wrongly accused of drug dealing as she sipped iced tea on a hot evening.
- City Hall employees who on the payroll and dime object to on-line commentary that will cause his boss problems, paid consultants who feel and who promised to shut the mouths of activists and do-gooders, and expect an entitlement for their work

Joseph, I don't follow you exactly.

The person who opened this issue is a very nice young lady I know, who works at a restaurant, and does not work for the Mayor.

She--and I--have read horrible, terrible things in the Register comments, written about people who were murdered, people who died, people who are just ordinary citizens. We've read racist screeds against african americans and white supremacy postings.

We want the Register to at the very least not print hate speech. I'm glad that they don't print swears, but that doesn't mean they "moderate". That is an automated program that filters out swear words.

I'd like to see them moderate--as Paul Bass does with the NHI--to ensure that the conversations are neither mean nor hateful, but about facts.

Can you explain why you oppose that? I have no idea what the Mayor has to do with that at all?

I'm not sure if you think Juli/myself are different people? Neither of us work for the mayor nor have taken even a dollar from him. Neither of us are paid consultants, neither of us promised to shut anyones mouth--we both are active citizens who speak out AGAINST the administration, expect nothing in return, and are just here to ask that the Register not allow people to write horrible things about ordinary citizens.

If you discount the comments that are just plain stupid, it's a good outlet to say what is really on your mind without being censored. It shows what is really going on in the hearts and minds of the people. If any moderating is done at all it should be just to route out comments that make no sense at all or are written by a dumb person. If you don't want your kids reading it then restrict their access to it.

You pulled the race card ! Not once did i ever see a minority in the local Environmental Justice league meeting ( a yale group that travels from church to church) Nor have a ever spotted a minority in the bike tirade or brigade.
I do believe you make a point, it's a point that's been made by a few others,a good point nonetheless , but i believe your piling it on a bit in regards to personal attacks, oh wait, i did see a couple of comments directed at a one David Streever.. Is that you ? Yeah someone was slammin your bell boy. Even moi ,of on-line rantarooskie thought that was a bit over the top - just click on Report Abuse and explain, or better yet , answer to the charges by posting a comment

I'm going to take a wild guess that the distinction between the NHI and the Reg is that at the NHI, a human being reads the post to determine if it violates their comments policy, and at the Reg (I'm guessing) software filters incoming comments for profanity and in the absence of that, posts them. Entertaining for Reg readers, maybe...lowering the political discourse to a least common denominator, probably...exposing the Reg to libel suit, quite possibly.

anytime I've seen anything offensive- and by offensive I mean racist, hateful etc.- I've clicked the report button and they remove the post. They will however not delete opinionated comments just because everyone isn't in agreement about something.

Get real. You think they are going to pay another person just to moderate there stories so you can feel sheltered from the real world.

relax, juli.
nothing will happen.

I think I'm wrong about the Reg exposing themselves to libel suit.

http://tinyurl.com/3gan6cc

As far as content, browsing the Reg comments is an interesting look into a reactive portion of the deep subconscious of New Haven county. On the other hand, average middle of the road readers might be mislead, as they are on FOX News, into beleiving that a vitriolic rants of radical marginal commenter's are normal and representative of the majority.

I think I'm glad we have both NHI and Reg but Reg could clamp down a bit quicker on malicious commenting. Their policy right now seems to be electronically filter profanity and review comments for maliciousness only if someone complains.

It is not a "newspaper".
It is a blog.

Most comments at the New Haven Register sites are actual happenings. people ,through real incidents at City Hall and in dealings around the area are reporting their truths on-line. Yes the truth is shocking and almost unbelievable, but so have been the actions of our elected officials.
Truth is stranger than fiction . Good people , we make this up not.
The New Haven Independent relies on contributions, those contributors dictate as to what the staff is supposed to write ,report and think. The New Haven Register's customer base are the lower middle class to abject poverty class - but they buy the paper.
One never sees a red wrapped Reg in front of a developers home/ palace on Livingston st. or West Rock mansion ave.

Joseph, you aren't being very clear.

A. Race card? What the heck do you mean? I don't like reading racist screeds. That is why I want the Register to moderate their comments. How is that the race card? I don't like reading that type of... well, it is a word I can't write here.

B. I don't even know anything about the Yale Environmental Justice League nor do I understand why that is even relevant? Is that a current story? I honestly only read the Register once in a blue moon because I think it is largely an irrelevant paper.

C. There are several african-americans involved in Elm City Cycling, both on the board and at the meetings. I have seen many different people of many different ethnicities on rides, including the Arts & Ideas rides we conduct. We have worked hard to have specific, concrete improvements put in underserved neighborhoods. Again, not sure how this is at all relevant, but the fact that people commenting on bike stories do not identify themselves as minorities and/or you choose not to learn more about a group you say doesn't represent everyone evenly is really not relevant. Opinions are wonderful, and even better when based on actual facts.

D. I don't care if people write mean-spirited things about me in the Reg--as I said, I don't read it. On the few occasions that I do, I've seen some horrible racist nonsense, and I would rather not.

Do you have an actual point? I feel like you are saying, "It is OK if people write awful racist stuff! Who cares?" A lot of people care. That isn't the type of world I want to live in. Racism is no where near as prevalent as it was 50 years ago, and that is because the majority of people don't want to hear that disgusting type of talk and don't stand for it.

Guest:
The New Haven Register is a newspaper. They have a website, which is not a blog, but a syndicated electronic collection of their newspaper stories.

I assume you directed that at me, because I'm the only person who has used the term newspaper on this issue.

Just to clarify for you, a "blog" is short hand for "web log", and is a website in which an individual or individuals post thoughts, opinions, and observations. The New Haven Register is not a blog. It is a newspaper syndicated electronically, which allows readers to "Comment". Commenting is not typically considered blogging. Hope that helps.

WTNH comment section is much worse....

NHR should remove the feature "report as offensive". The comments following referencing the "offensive" one get confusing. Let NHR find the ones they don't like for themselves.

If you don't like what it says don't read it.

Pop wheelies not blood vessels ! Let the biking begin ! c'mon, every Alder and co-chair from ward 1 thru 10 has sat in on the Environmental Justice meetings, a bit extreme for me, but that's where i swore i saw Mr.David, maybe it's another person. They are heavy financers of Pols.
They started their PAC about '98, same time Mr.Dave came down and resided. FYI of course. And the Reg will rock on with the beneficial,informative, and golly gee just the most useful info ..

I was a sophomore in high school in 98 actually, living with my parents in East Haddam CT. I have never been to an environmental justice meeting nor do I know who has or even where/when they hold their meetings. I believe you have confused me with another person?

maybe you were in College, Dave.

Bingo:
is that relevant to wanting the Register to moderate their comments?

You're right, the register needs some serious monitoring of the content they make available. At minimal the comments are offensive and at worst hateful.

[Content removed]

Bingo, I have to report back, I've met the local leader of the Environmental Justice Group. Still haven't been to a meeting, but he is a great guy.

Why the animosity? He just thinks that it isn't cool that as a society we put the most polluting things in the neighborhoods where the poorest kids live.

I mean seriously, what is wrong with that?

They do moderate the comments - all sorts of stuff gets removed. As a matter of fact, I have the opposite issue, that comments are removed in a haphazard and arbitrary manner.

Nearly any race or nationality related post, even ones where you may only be posting statistics the government tracks, is likely to be removed, making any sort of substantive dialogue on issues like immigration impossible. The other thing is if anyone is killed in a traffic accident, forget about discussing the cause of the accident and how to make that road any safer - the board turns into a memorial page for the deceased, even though 99% of the people reading the story never knew the person.

They need to remove only truly hateful or offensive comments, but should not remove any message that only hints at the fact that races and nationalities exist. And the fact that they remove messages discussing how to make roads safer after a fatal accident is almost shameful on their part.

Concerned Local Citizen - thanks, somebody else with common sense in the area.

good news!

http://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/register_to_moderate_comments/

take their survey:

"SURVEY: would you block or allow these comments?"

http://nhregister.com/articles/2011/12/14/opinion/doc4ee7ef2d2f541245778652.txt

i might be wrong, but it looks like they've adopted a better commenting feature? reopen if it becomes a problem again.