The Rivard Report prides itself on being a place that fosters discussion on San Antonio and the people who live, work, and play in the city. And now we’re changing how we do that in the comments sections of the articles we publish.
Thanks in part to a grant from the Community Listening and Engagement Fund, we are partnering with the Coral Project to create a safer and more robust space for our commenters to talk about our articles. As part of this initiative, we’ve hired a Community Engagement Editor and trained our journalists to provide greater interaction on our commenting platform.
We believe comments are part of the fabric of our publication because many of them come from people who are passionate about our city. However, there are some who intimidate, obstruct, and push the more civil and intelligent voices out of the conversation. It’s time to correct that.
Our commenting platform will be a safe space with enhanced moderation tools available for our staff and you, the reader, so we can all have an experience that allows our voices to be heard while also fostering a productive dialogue.
We hope this change will encourage more of you to engage in spirited, diverse, thoughtful, and engaging dialogue on rivardreport.com.
Five Most Significant Changes
All Users Must Register, Verify Their Email
Even if you’ve commented in the past, you’ll need to register for this new platform and then verify your registration with a valid email. You can still maintain your anonymity through your username. Please review our privacy policy.
Respect Your Fellow Commenters
Instead of the traditional “Like” button that is common on other interactive platforms, we’re using “Respect” because while you might disagree and therefore not “Like” the premise of a comment, you might still “Respect” it.
Featuring Strong Commenters
As we go through our moderation process, we’ll be able to highlight comments that are most productive to the conversation. This is our way of saying we appreciate your contribution.
Email Alert System
In the interest of transparency, commenters will immediately be notified whether a comment has been approved or rejected.
You Have Time to Take It Back
We all have moments where we type something we instantly wish we hadn’t or we send something with a typo or error. With our new commenting system, you’ll have a small window to edit your comment to make sure what you want to say comes across clearly.
If you have any other questions about what we will and will not allow on our commenting platform, please see our Comment Policy.
