Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati

Photo courtesy of here.

Effective immediately, the following rules will be enforced as it pertains to comments here at The Cincinnati Beacon.  Recently, an onslaught of flaming trolls have seen fit derail the threads, reducing them to nothing more than absurd insult sessions.  I admit that, as administrators, some of us have succumbed to the temptation and engaged in mudslinging, too—and so these rules apply to us as well as to our guests.  At the end of the day, however, we hope that these rules will raise the level of discourse on the site, and that they will encourage us to pursue the truth through debate.

Commenting rules

1.  Your comment should pertain to the subject of the article to which it is attached.  Off-topic comments are subject to deletion.

2.  Your comments should not attack the person.  Make argumentative points, but there is no reason to insult anyone while making a point.  Insults subject your comment to deletion.

3.  No racial slurs.  Language that is deemed racially offensive will subject your comment to deletion.

4.  Comments which just make personal attacks will be deleted.

5.  Do feel free to disagree, and to debate thoughtfully the issue.

6.  Please be critical of our reporting, but do not repeat yourself endlessly.  Continuous repetition of the same points may subject your comments to deletion.

Pretty simple stuff, really.  We may continue to tweak these rules as necessary, but at least this is a place to start.

Thank you for reading (and printing from) The Cincinnati Beacon.