I’m stuck with dial-up. Could you write something that conveys what happened?
O’Reilly claimed that his staff found posts on FR staying stuff like “I hate blacks”, “gays are dogs”, etc. He recommended that every message on FreeRepublic should be pre-screened before publication. He also said that Daily Kos had an even greater volume of outrageous comments.
Kristinn reponded that those posts O’Reilly claimed to find represent only a tiny fraction of the messages posted here, that they violate the posting guidelines, they don’t represent the official position of the website, and that a staff of volunteer moderators remove those posts when they are reported.
Anyone who has spent enough time here has probably seen those posts on rare occasions, and they should be rightly condemned. But O’Reilly was trying to portray FR has a hate site by grossly exaggerating the number of hateful posts.
O’Reilly fails to understand that this site is not advertiser-supported - and moreover, he lacks a fundamental understanding of the Internet culture or technology. This site relies solely on member contributions, and operates on a modest budget that cannot afford to hire professional moderators to pre-screen each message. Furthermore, many large commercial web companies like Yahoo have no pre-screening function, and probably have a much greater number of vile posts. As disturbing as some of the occasional posts are, it would be more disturbing to totally shut down the free exchange of information and opinions - even the reprehensible and deplorable ones.
I quit watching O’Reilly a few years ago after it emerged in court papers that he was running around the Fox News offices telling his co-workers about his wife’s vibrator. A guy who would betray the most intimate secrets of his marriage doesn’t deserve any respect.
(Having said all of that, it would probably be a good idea to crack down more aggressively on rule violations - especially with a big election coming up.)
I’m stuck with dial-up. Could you write something that conveys what happened?
I just watched it, and Free Republic was soundly chastised for a few excessive posts, and the guy from FR agreed that those posts should not be online. He also made the point that some of it is posted by phony leftists trying to embarrass the site.
Then O’Reilly really tore into the Daily Kos, who is receiving visits from all Dem Presidential candidates except Biden.
O’Reilly was mainly trashing the Dems.
All agreed that profanity, personal attacks, racism and violence dilute the message and are counterproductive in the long run.