"Slam" This Newspaper, and "You Will Be Deleted"

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An editor for a small-town newspaper in California is fed up with critical Facebook posts. Apparently, Jackie Kaczmarek at the Hanford Sentinel hasn't read the literature on how to handle social media comments. Rather than engaging customers, he's pushing them away.

Hanford newspaper

We can understand Kaczmarek's frustration: people can be irrational and just plain rude online, but does his approach help matters? As one writer says, "The first rule of digital media is that commenters are often irrational, but those who take commenter's comments to heart are even more irrational."

On the other hand, Kaczmarek has gotten quite a bit of support on the newspaper's Facebook page. And another staff member at Hanford has posted to soften the blow.

Hanford newspaper 2

Discussion Starters:

  • What's your view of the original post: understandable or irrational, just like some Facebook comments?
  • What might be a better way for a frustrated editor to handle the situation?