What ever happened to the New York Times?

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m a great commenter at that paper. I loved to comment on articles, opinion pieces-you name it, my two bits worth was in it.

Lately, though, I’ve stopped, and it seems that everyone else has as well-totally. Why?

They changed the way the comments are handled. From being loaded with free-wheeling page after page of reader comments, most articles now are just devoid of any comments at all.

Even those that are supposedly commented on by other readers.

It’s a sad sight to see: “No comments” following an editorial or article posted.

Before their ‘editorial change of style’, there would be huge amounts of them-from barely coherent to Shakespearean-style dialogues full of wit and wisdom from ordinary people.

They changed their editorial style back in November-and while they thought they were being wise and smart, I would strongly suggest they stop trying to direct the reader away from saying anything.

Because it’s just too depressing to go into an editorial I’ve commented on and see absolutely nobody else has bothered to write anything-either pro or con, such as this one:
Talking to the Taliban

Now, while it is flattering that my writing passes muster from them, it would also be nice if I read other comments as well, to get the full flavor of other opinions.

Would it be too much to ask them to change it back, I wonder?

Or does that just give them more work than they’re used to?

For a great newspaper that is famous for having their readers engage with them, it certainly seems a one-way street now.

That’s the saddest part of this ‘style change’: that the most famous paper in the United States, well known for its’ reader-friendly commenting accessability, no longer cares to hear other peoples’ voices on their articles.