The Very Strange World of The New York Times

hello Bob? Hello? Are you there? Hello Bob?

OK

So on Sunday I read Bob Herbert’s column in The New York Times, and I posted a response.

It was the normal, predictable kvetch about how people on blackberries and PDAs are so annoying when they text at the table or in the middle of a conversation blah blah blah.

I didn’t agree, so I posted a response in the ‘comments’ section.

You can read my comment yourself, but it basically says that, no, texting and use of the Internet is really a social activity, not an antisocial one, and that I do it all the time and often incorporate ongoing f2f conversations with what is happening online.

As it turns out, I was the only one to disagree with Mr. Herbert. Everyone else said, ‘how true’ or stuff to that effect.

OK.

Later in the day, I was delighted to get an email from The Times saying that my comment had been posted, #55, and a link. But when I went to number 55, I was astonished to see that it had been removed for:

“This comment has been removed. Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.”

Hmm.

Well, as you can see, there was nothing abusive or off-topic in my comment.

So I tweeted that I had been removed for no reason.

Then, to my astonishment, I got an email from something called nytpicker.com asking what I had posted that had been deleted.

So I told them.

And they posted the story on their website.

Then, they wrote to Diane McNulty who apparently deals with these things to ask why my comment had been deleted. Diane declined to answer them, so I wrote to her myself.

A few minutes ago, I got my answer.

An email from The New York Times, informing me that:

Thank you for participating on NYTimes.com. Your published submission can be found at this link:

http://community.nytimes.com/comments/www.nytimes.com/2010/07/17/opinion/17herbert.html?permid=55#comment55

No explanation.

No nothing.

So now, while I am happy that my comment has been deemed ‘inoffensive’, I am curious as to how many other benign comments The New York Times elides, just on a whim. And what is the basis of their censorship policy?

Bob Herbert, are you there?

Maybe you can tell me.

or, you can ask him yourself if you get a sec.

http://twitter.com/BobHerbert

About the author

mrosenblum - For more than 20 years, Mr. Rosenblum has been on the cutting edge of the digital ‘videojournalist’ revolution. During this time, he has lead a drive for videoliteracy, and the complete rethinking of how television is made and controlled. His work has included: The complete transitioning of The BBC's national network (UK) to a VJ-driven model, starting in 2002. The complete conversion of The Voice of America, the United State’s Government’s broadcasting agency, (and the largest broadcaster in the world), from short wave radio to television broadcasting and webcasting using the ‘VJ” paradigm (1998-present). The construction of NYT Television, a New York Times Company, and the largest producer of non-fiction television in the US. Rosenblum was both the founder and President of NYT TV, (all based on the “VJ” paradigm – 1996-1998). The President and Founder of Video News International, a global VJ-driven newsgathering company, with more than 100 journalists around the world. (1993-1996).