Everything in moderation
Its not an easy life being a web editor. Okay so there's none of the danger of front-line combat or the hard work of construction, but it has it's moments.
I'm not talking the 5.30am starts six days a week, or even being on duty 24/7 - that's just the job. If you want to avoid the gut-wrenching feeling of being scooped you have to stay alert.
The price of inner peace is eternal vigilance.
Perhaps the toughest apsect is moderating all the comments that come in on our stories. On an ordinary day the flow of comments, although significantly higher than it was a year ago, is just about manageable by myself and a team of people here in the office.
But when a topic touches a nerve all hell breaks loose.
The campaign to keep the Nigerian family here in Plymouth is the greatest recent example of that, with more than 2,000 comments on the stories in a week, all requiring careful attention.
Usually I try to leave as many comments as possible untouched. I delete only where absolutely necessary and edit as little as I can.
But with this topic it grew more and more difficult through the week. There were the inevitable racist remarks, some of which were easy to spot, others of which required some thought.
Each comment required a bit of perspective, a few moments to stand back, set aside any personal thoughts on the situation and reflect on what the commenter was saying. Was it racist? Was I being oversensitive? Would other people view it as racist? Would a court of law view it as being likely to incite racial hatred?
Of course, in the end, we couldn't please everyone. Any comment which was edited or deleted sparked instant online retribution with claims that the Herald was twisting the story, trying to show more community support for the family than existed and repressing the views of the people of Plymouth.
In fact the majority of comments that were edited or deleted weren't down to racial views, but down to potentially libellous comments being made which could have landed the commenter in serious trouble.
On the other side those campaigning for the family came close to backing out of the debate, claiming the Herald's comment section had been taken over by the BNP who were using it to spread their propaganda. In the end they relented and I believe the debate was vital, healthy and a valuable contribution to the ongoing story. No-one can deny the passion of the campaigners or their opposition.
At the end of the day, as I say, we couldn't make everyone happy. But I think we probably upset most people an equal amount, which has to be some kind of victory.
Of course being web editor is as enjoyable as it is challenging, and despite the Gothic glower it even has me chuckling on occasion.
Take this morning for example, while updating our social network pages, I came across a friend request from Paranormal Devon, who wanted to join our happy band on MySpace.
The psychic investigators sent a personal message with their request 'didn't know you had an account on MySpace otherwise would have requested sooner.'
Not particularly psychic nor investigative.
Sorry Paranormal Devon, couldn't resist, it just tickled my funny bone. Welcome to the family.
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