Comments

A poor, unfortunate decision. It seems to me that heavy pressure was put on you and you caved in. Despite the small handful of commenters, it seems that such a free forum was found threatening by some. You already had editorial control over the comments, and rightly so. Withdrawing this privilege from your readers, will possibly reduce that "pressure" temporarily, but will also relegate you to irrelevance and further decline, as well as desecrating the tradition and heritage of the free press in general and the Leader Herald in particular.

I have noticed lately that not only has the LH stopped the comments on news stories and letters to the editor. but also has limited the number of letters to the editor that are published on a daily bases, most days only one letter is published. This is just another way of taking away the freedom of the public to speak. But then I guess the voice of the local people is not pf any value to the LH.

The road to Gloversville is paved with good intentions.

Some people comment just for the sake of hearing or seeing themselves talk and seeing their nicknames on line. Many posts were hurtful, inaccurate, and a waste of space. Unfortunately, some always have to ruin it for others. Mrs. beck made a responsible decision.

Jennifer L. Miller

Hey Architect, I for one am going to miss your blogs. Hope at least you blog where they let you. The paper should seek you out to provide somebody to check out what they print. Don't know where they get these reporters, and you think someone else would read the stories before they are printed.

I guess I'll just buy a GPS unit and try to find myself.

Good-bye Disco it was fun while it lasted...maybe they can have a Best of Disco one-liners....or maybe a daily calendar!

Thanks...wish I could keep on helping, but the electronic curtain has descended. Besides, I don't think real names would work - most of us don't have them.

Yeah but Disco now we cannot see all your humorous replies to each article. that alone used to get me thru the day :) It is sad that we lose this privilege (yes privlege, not a right) because some people did nothing but post negative/demeaning and attacking statements. Real names would be a prefered start to elminating posting all together.

Peple are making too much of this. Pat has merely gotten rid of a constant headache and I don't blame her. The fact that even those posters most negative about the future here can still afford a computer says much about the hypocracy of the situation. Amen.

ataxpayer - individuals can continue to comment on editorials, on blogs, on polls, with submitted letters to the editor or by calling us directly. People can request to host their own blog on our site.

As I said, I agree with Ms Beck's decision. I'm wondering if the final straw was the ignorant, gutless and idiotic remarks concerning a Johnstown School Official. I hope that the comments can be restored, but for now, it is the right decision.

After the decision that was made, I believe the numbers will be declining - including the subscriptions. Leader Herald has proved itself to be onesided. It attempted to silence the private sector who is justifiably upset with the way our taxdollars are wasted. Our voices will be heard at the polls.

I will be looking into posting a number of our reports so that you are able to see that the numbers stated are correct. thanks.

There are not 8,300 unique daily readers on this web site.

The Google Analytics report posted in a previous blog shows the number of visits, not visitors. Quoting from Google's Analytics Help page, "visits represent the number of individual sessions initiated by all the visitors to your site... Any future sessions from the same user during the selected time period are counted as additional visits, but not as additional visitors." The number you are quoting is overstated.

And while I choose to make this post anonymously, it does not take away from the fact that my information is accurate.

Can anyone tell me how much the Unions are spending on advertising against Governor Cuomo? I believe it's in the millions. So why not do the right thing and put the money back into the schools?? So for me to sit here and appologize would be like me sitting here and supporting the unions wasting more money..

Agreed that there is a fine line between acceptable an unacceptable commentary. However, there are articles written based on either an uninformed reporter or a decision by the Leader Herald to create positional arguments to the benefit of their "friends" that tend to create fact (a distortion) rather than to report it.

The online commentary offers a daily opportunity to correct misinformation in the articles and to quickly provide a different frame of reference. Letters to the Editor are not an viable vehicle for the necessary exchange of information.

The solution is to pull down posts that Ms. Beck and her staff find too offensive, rather than limiting commentary.

If online commentary is not offered, there is no reason to utilize this website.

I can understand why this decision was made. There were too many uninformed, vicious, and malicious attacks on individuals rather than articulate responses to the information being presented. As one who contributed now and then I do hope the comments section can be re-introduced in some way. It's a shame that the ill-informed and ignorant have compromised the exchange of ideas of responsible readers. A real shame.

Thanks Pat

This announcment has nothing to do with the first ammendment right to free speech. You can still say it. You just have to sign your name to it. Somehow, having to sign your name to a thought, makes you follow basic human etticate. This was sorely lacking in the blogs.

Good decision.

Unless you have been the target of one of these mean spirited slanderous attacks, you have no idea the affect it can have on you and your family. To banter, defend or even respond to exaggerations and misrepresentation of the truth is to give life to it. Yes, people are upset about many things right now...taxes, the economy. But that does not give you free liscense to slander someone's character. Chances are...you would never say it to their face in such a mean spirited way. So I applaud Pat Beck for taking a stand and not allowing this type of "bullying" to take place. It is a bold move that I hope other papers will model after. Thank you Pat...it was the right thing to do.

Ms. Beck, it's a shame that the actions of a few have to spoil it for many! Anonymously posting allows for true feelings to come without fear of retaliation by that govt. body, but personal attacks are certainly not needed. You must understand that people are upset with higher and higher taxes, little or no wage increases, or sometimes cuts, with no apparent relief in sight.

This is sad news indeed. It's not about freedom of speech its about hurtful or hateful speech. All forums have rules, if not followed the person accountable is simply banned. I hope this can be resolved so that sensible adults might have a place to debate local issues in a civil manner. Thank you Pat, Mike Yerina

Thank you, Pat. It's about time. I wouldn't restore the comments until such a time as a sobriety test can be incorporated into the software.

A huge thank you to Pat Beck for doing this. I'm not looking at this as her taking away everyone's First Amendment rights here...she's just helping eliminate the vile negativity that is making this country unbearable right now.

I cannot say how WONDERFUL this is. To be honest with you, I woke up at 3 in the morning last night and couldn't go back to sleep for two hours because I was so riled up and upset by what some people were writing about in terms of teachers and how they're "selfish...cut them...make them teach 30 kids...make them work all year...they don't deserve a 45 minute lunch break". I was absolutely heartbroken that people were talking about the profession that I love and work tirelessly over in order to make the community a better place. I'm sure there are other demographics (i.e. firemen, police officers, elected officials) who feel the same way when they read all of the garbage said about their professions, too. The comments section did nothing but bring about rabid people who, I personally feel, were a minority in the community. But they were painting a picture of Fulton County that isn't accurate. Gloversville has A LOT to offer and the comments didn't reflect that. A huge thank y