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Victoria Ayotte Brown: It's a zoo out there

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Tuesday, Oct 28, 2008 - 12:45:33 am CDT

Response to the story “Three sponsors back out of Boo at the Zoo over religious rule” was nothing short of overwhelming, with more than 350 comments submitted and more than 240 published. Readers finally could not even load the story page on JournalStar.com; an editor had to delete the comments just so people could read the story.

It’s a testament to a period in history when people are very polarized, and that’s showing up in a number of areas. And of course, there’s nothing like religion to stir up a good debate.

“I for one am glad to finally see someone, especially a business, stand up against all of this PC garbage! DaVinci’s and Champions Fun Center, you have just earned a customer for life!” OMAR said.

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But So much for altruism wrote:  “Good for the zoo! Everyone has a right to their own beliefs, but trying to tempt children to follow yours by using candy and free food at a public event is kind of sleazy. Think of the outrage if a less mainstream group tried this tactic; Muslims giving out candy with verses from the Koran on the wrapper, or gay people handing out brochures explaining why their lifestyle is cool, along with a candy bar.”

Perlman: Ayers visit posed safety threat; 120 comments published.

The invitation and cancellation of a speech by William Ayers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln continued to be controversial during the week.

“So now the radical extremists are good old Nebraskans,” MarkyMark commented. “Those threatening are as bad as Ayers himself. This is embarrassing. Anyone else see the hypocrisy and irony of this?”

Scott said: “So you’re saying that had there not been a security threat, you still would have allowed him to come?! Shame on you, Harvey! This is very disturbing!”

Nation needs McCain’s leadership; 99 comments published.

The Journal Star’s Sunday editorial evoked strong reactions from online commenters left and right.

“I am disappointed that the Journal Star has endorsed McCain. I have been disillusioned by McCain’s leadership style in most recent years and believe Barack Obama’s calm, thoughtful, mediator leadership style is what is needed to lead our country back on track,” Cindy Goeller wrote.

Karwied said: “Thank you, LJS … if only the rest of the country would wake up and see that the other option (Obama) is not the answer to our country’s problems. We need proven leadership and not just empty promises that cannot possibly be kept.”

Support for Obama overwhelming in Student Vote; 80 comments published.

Surprisingly, the student vote was quite a hot topic, with people accusing teachers of liberal indoctrination among other things.

“We have finally reached a point in our history where there are more takers than givers,” afraid commented. “It figures that a candidate that will continue the process of bankrupting us with entitlements excites this generation of entitled kids. We will deserve what we get.”

Mike wrote: “It’s time we let the kids vote for real. I think a lot of them are more informed than a lot of adults. Cookie monster for president!”

Proposal would require everyone to have health insurance; 73 comments published.

All but a handful of posters didn’t think the medical association’s plan to mandate coverage would work. If I’ve noticed a theme of public opinion, it’s that Nebraskans hate mandates.

“This measure isn’t realistic. Forcing people to have insurance when they can’t afford to pay for it shows ignorance …. In our case, we would have to give up necessities like food, gas for the car, and paying for our utilities,” An uninsured Nebraskan said.

Going nowhere wrote: “Sounds like a sensible, forward-looking attempt to answer a complex, long-term problem (skyrocketing health care costs) that will help future generations and improve our international competitiveness. The report accurately captured the cost of doing nothing and shows that we must act or we will all face impossibly high health-care costs in the future. Sadly all of these are the reasons why this would never work in Nebraska, where ideology trumps reality.”

Reach Victoria Ayotte Brown at 473-7338 or vayotte@journalstar.com.


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als wrote on October 28, 2008 9:55 am:
" Victoria, I enjoy your roundup of online comments but hope you might consider a little more nuance in the reporting of same. On the LJS editorial supporting a McCain presidency the online response criticizing that choice was about 10 to 1 and really contradicts your statement that strong response came from both left and right. I don't think it is much of a service to quote one of each side when the response on this or any issue is so obviously weighted. Thanks. "

 edgar wrote on October 28, 2008 12:07 pm:
" Good point above by als. The online responses to the McCain endorsement were overwhelmingly negative. I am curious, Victoria, about who exactly made the decision. I see that there are four of you on the LJS editorial board, yourself included. Does that mean a majority of you picked McCain? Does the editor decide? The publisher? Based on their comments, some people think this endorsement came from your corporate office. Can you please clarify? "

 Victoria Ayotte Brown interactivity editor wrote on October 28, 2008 2:41 pm:
" Edgar: What happens in editorial board meetings is confidential, but I can say the corporate office was not involved. "

 jg wrote on October 28, 2008 5:41 pm:
" confidential? what are you the mob? "

 fred wrote on October 28, 2008 7:08 pm:
" JG (sorry for the typo)


Sounds more like Vegas to me. What happens in a journal editorial board meeting stays in a journal editorial board meeting. "

 Sammi wrote on October 28, 2008 11:30 pm:
" Wow! My family just completed our visit to Boo at the Zoo. This year my child's bag was not full of paper, it was full of what any child wants - CANDY! Revelations: daVinci's you were not missed, the Zoo still looks out for all species in their best interest and bottom line contributes to our towns sales tax purse. Zoo keep up the great work! "

 Ed resending wrote on October 29, 2008 10:29 am:
" Confidential? Are you electing the pope? I thought newspapers were supposed to be about transparency. Your answer sounds like something that would come from the Bush administration. "

 Maybe percentages of posted comments... wrote on October 30, 2008 6:43 am:
" ... would be good Victoria. I agree with als that the overwhelmingly negative response to the LJS support of John McCain should have been recognized in your piece. Maybe a reflection of what percentage was pro and what percentage was con would have been more enlightening. I understand that the LJS is a business, but part of that business should be accurate reporting. And if the LJS supports and follows the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics the LJS should probably be a bit more transparent in its reporting.. "

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