Comment Sections Are Essential for News Sites. We’re Making Changes to Improve Ours.

From the start of online news and political blogs, vibrant comment sections have been a central means of distinguishing new media from its older, more traditional predecessor. They have been critical for building online communities, ensuring that journalists participate in a two-way dialogue with readers rather than monologues, that media outlets are compelled to answer to their readership (who often provide valuable challenges and correctives to stories that serve as healthy checks), and hav...