News-Record.com

As with all political polls..

Please include the numbers for those who are likely voters as opposed to just anyone...

Also, please make clear the percentages of registered Democrats vs. Republicans in the poll sampling... that is a typical issue that is overlooked in that Democrats end up being oversampled but just the "raw results" are reported in the headlines with no mention (except in the very fine print of how many were Democrats).. never fails...

Good luck...

I never ever respond truthfully to polls -

John, I apologize, but I wanted to make one more comment on something you said in the last posting you did, but you had "closed" the comments section.

You said that you disagreed with the act of publishing comments anonymously or using a pseduonym.

As I was the one who posted the question about who Jim Wilson is and I really don't know who Rodney Overton or Ayers is either, I have no stake in whatever disagreement exists between all of you. Not being a N&R employee, I can't tell what's going on there.

However, I think your statement that anyone who makes their opinion known should also make their identity made public as well is a very dangerous statement.

Did publisher Benjamin Franklin use his own name when writing letters to his own newspaper that criticized the government?

Did Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay use their own name when they published the Federalist Papers?

Did the source for the Washington Post that led to the fall of Nixon in the Watergate scandal put his name in the newspaper?

For that matter, does your newspaper insist that every News & Record editorial have a name attached to it, even those that are written by a single person but appear on the opinion page as a board editorial?

The answer to all of these questions is "no" and for good reason.

Personal attacks aside (just delete them if they are personal and anonymous), people are more willing to speak their minds openly when they feel they can speak "truth to power" without having people disdain them at work, church, or in their neighborhood for feeling a certain way about an issue or endorsing a candidate.

I've seen people in the same family almost come to blows over issues like religion, abortion, and even NCSU-UNC basketball (kind of a religion, I guess).

In this age of the Internet and endless electronic archives, anyone can do a search for someone's name and find a comment they said a year ago or even several years ago, which I think makes the need for anonymous commenting even more important.

Would you also have protesters wear name tags and voters also write their names on their ballots so they can also be held accountable for those views? I think not and I feel that asking people to put their names on legitimate comments is dangerous as well.

What I actually said in that comment thread was that I think "little of people who attack but are afraid to use their real name." The people you mention had good reason to be anonymous, I suppose. (Deep Throat doesn't count. His comments weren't published. Our editorial board doesn't count either. Their names are published every day and if you really want to know the writer of a specific editorial, call us and we'll tell you.)

If you read the comments on this blog, I doubt you will find many anonymous commenters writing the Federalist papers. My point is that if you truly want to be taken seriously, use your real name. There is accountability in standing up for what you believe.

There is nothing in your comment above that suggest to me that you will be punished or ostracized for what you said. So, what's your reason for anonymity?

Thanks John for your reply and comments. I'm glad to know that people can call and ask who wrote which News & Record editorial and so forth, but my point wasn't to say that I think that every editorial necessarily needs an "author." Newspapers should indeed publish such unsigned opinions and take a stand as an entity when they are about issues that affect the public.

As to your other comments, I'm not sure that any of us measure up to the standards of the great minds that wrote the Federalist papers. At least I know I don't. However, I do believe that everyone's constructive criticism (i.e. -- thoughtful debate) is important, even if they are not qualified to write books that may be read centuries from now. Just because they prefer to comment using a nom de plume does not preclude them from having a valid opinion.

The right to privacy should not be lumped together with one's right to express their views -- nowhere in the First Amendment does it say that one's freedom of speech is accompanied by a duty to make one's identity known to the public.

As to why I am posting anonymously, I'm somewhat surprised that you would ask that after your previous comments about people who choose the web to write personal attacks. As I'm sure you have seen in the news business, there are lots of people out there (I believe the correct term is "whackos") who can read something into even the most innocent of comments.

For the same reason that I don't have a Facebook profile or MySpace page that pushes my private and personal info onto the Web, I don't wish to get strange calls at home or emails from people from people I don't really know just because of a simple posting on your blog.

Also, although I post only on my breaks, while I'm at work, I'm supposed to be slaving away on some extremely boring paperwork instead of posting on newspaper blogs, so I prefer not to give the wrong impression to my employers.

That may be a legitimate reason for being anonymous (keeping my job), wouldn't you say? It's a good enough reason for me.

Maybe someday I will start my own blog, but I don't know who'd want to read it, so until then I will just keep reading yours! :) Thanks.

Since most of the JIm Wilson comments were posted I had only been gone from the N&R for 7-8 years (escaping in May 1999). Erika Bolstad, who gave me a great deal of first-hand information about the N&R even after I left, stayed nearly another two years.

So, I'd say my information is maybe about 5-6 years old -- and it's about people who were in high level positions who were able to make policy decisions that don't change overnight...

And, you would also assume I never talk to anyone at the N&R anymore... how could that never occur to your JR?

That's a little different from 10 years ago... nice...