When opening up too much leads to chaos
Maurice Cardinal interviews Debbie Kornmiller from the Arizona Star via telephone, May 18th, 2007
Debbie Kornmiller has been in the news business professionally since 1981 – 26 years. She is currently responsible for the “comments” section, which as she describes, is regarded by her employer, the Arizona Star, as “customer service.”
Her official title is “Reader Advocate.”
How did it come about that you are in the position of being responsible for the “commenting” segments?
The customer service position has been in existence on and off at the Star newspaper since the 70’s, and during times of “budget cuts,” it is the first department to be retired and then brought back when the economy looks rosier. Ms. Kornmiller feels that their readers need to be heard in the newsroom in a consistent fashion and that nothing makes them madder than when they are ping ponged through the system and no one listens. She is the one stop shop. As she explained, her role is to “listen and help, and either fix it, have it fixed, or explain why it will never be fixed.”
She held this “customer service” position way before online commenting on articles came into existence. Although not personally responsible for setting policy, Kornmiller has spent considerable time deciding what to do with online comments, how to monitor people who comment, and how to give them freedom of the Web while maintaining decorum and remaining civil, which of late has been a challenge for her newspaper. For clarity, others within the organization set policy and monitor the comments sections while Ms. Kornmiller manages operational responsibilities.
Q: How long has the Arizona Star been involved in “commenting?”
The Arizona Star newspaper launched online commenting in 1995, but dropped it in 2000 due to civility challenges. They resurrected it in 2005, when, as Ms. Kornmiller describes, “it became fashionable again.” They brought it back as “unmonitored conversation,” which again quickly grew out of control.
5/18/07
