The introduction of Rants and Raves late last year opened a fresh avenue for readers to access the newspaper and be heard, even anonymously.
It quickly became popular and now runs three times each week in the Metro section.
But given the nature of libel laws and given that people say the most outrageous things, especially under the cloak of anonymity, the task of assembling and editing the feature presents special challenges.
Rants and Raves, along with a weekly question on the front of Sunday’s Insight section, and other reader-participation features are intended to make the paper more open to readers, according to Editor Pat Yack, “to give them a chance to have a conversation with themselves and the community at large.”
While the anonymous comments may not elevate the level of discourse, they do put into the public arena – unvarnished, mostly – what people are saying. A reader comment last Sunday illustrates the ease with which things can go wrong.
In response to an Insight question an “anonymous female” said, “I feel our politicians, congressmen and senators should be on Medicare and the Social Security system instead of free health benefits.”
Unfortunately, her premise was wrong. It amounted to “a propagation of the urban legend … that members of Congress do not pay into Social Security and yet receive free health benefits,” said Steven Kruer of Jacksonville.
“Is there a purpose to be served in printing readers’ comments containing facts that are demonstrably false?” Kruer asked.
No. But in my quest to find out how this misinformation got into the paper, it became apparent that the submissions from anonymous readers receive more attention than some might assume.
Rants and Raves generates some 150 entries each week, according to Cindy Holifield, the editorial assistant who spends five hours or so reviewing and “fixing” submissions.
About 30 are published in the newspaper; most of the others appear on Jacksonville.com.
Really interesting, to her, is how passionate people are about the things they care about. “They actually yell into the phone,” she said.
The primary editor for Rants and Raves is Stuart Aase, assistant metro editor, who fact-checks and edits the submissions before sending them to the copy desk for further review.
“Some of the opinions about The Da Vinci Code, and similar works of fiction that have been published since then, required some verifying research involving the Holy Bible, the Knights Templar and other (sources),” Aase said.
He calls Rants and Raves “a funny animal” as journalism goes and observes it could easily “devolve into an endless stream of obdurate complaints about smokers, litterbugs, tailgaters and people on welfare.
“We have tried, instead, to keep the feature timely, topical and lively enough so that readers feel they can offer informed opinions about important issues and important people” he said.
Generally, the rules preclude name-calling, personal attacks, curse words and lying. Just about anything else goes.
Those that do get published are eclectic, even charming at times. Thursday’s included:
# Suggestions for reducing crime.
# A short treatise on the perils of having furniture delivered.
# A demand for some sheriff’s employees to be fired for stealing.
# A plea to silence chain saws on Sundays, and a sure-fire way to make politicians accountable.
Also, some preschoolers publicly thanked the mayor for visiting their class and reading If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. And there was praise from someone who came up short of cash at Publix, but was rescued when “a very kind lady in line behind me took money out and paid what I needed.”
If you would like to join the fray, call (904) 366-6373; send e-mail torantsandraves@jack-sonville.com; or go to www.jacksonville.com and enter “T-You” in the keyword search.
As for the inaccurate assertion that appeared at the top of Sunday’s Insight section, the copy-desk editor who allowed that to slip by shall remain anonymous.
“Obviously,” said News Editor Mike Marino, those who edited the responses “didn’t know about the federal employees’ health plan.”
Nor did they check it out, unfortunately.
