Dear Lexington Community –
This morning we decided to turn-off commenting on a recent article, and I want to explain why.
The Lexington Observer is a small non-profit focused on serving our community, the town of Lexington. Our commenting policy is simple:
- Common sense civility: we’re all neighbors, but we can disagree.
- Full name required: no anonymous comments.
- Assume the best of your neighbors.
A recent article we published has been overwhelmed with comments, many of them not directly related to Lexington. In addition to comments, our two paid staff and our volunteers have received a number of emails. Most, if not all, of the negative comments and emails appear to be coming from people outside of our community, and many are highly politicized, some containing slurs and misinformation. We stand by our reporting and remain focused on serving the community of Lexington.
Given the volume of incoming emails and comments, it seems we have been targeted by people outside of our community with the intent to cast doubt on or manipulate our reporting. We have made the decision to turn off commenting on the article in question as well as a letter to the editor on a related topic. We will leave published comments up as posted.
As a small mostly volunteer operation, we do not have the resources to manage the comments and our priorities are elsewhere. There is a lot going on in Lexington that needs reporting – including this week’s public meeting about the proposed new high school.
Thank you for your support and consideration.
Nicco Mele
Publisher, Lexington Observer
Comments are closed.