AGAINST DOUBLE-SIDED ANONYMITY IN JOURNALISM. Last spring I was
briefly involved in an unpleasant blogstorm for making the case
against double-sided online anonymity, but the sorry case of Lee
Seigel revives my concerns. Let me be clear: I have nothing
against people using pseudonymns to write in comment threads
(except when, as in Lee's case, they're writers working under
the expectation that they always take public responsibility for
their work), or who author blogs while cloaking their
identities. It's a free country, and pseudonymous speech has a
long tradition in American politics and a strong legal basis for
continued protection. However, I was and remain disturbed by the
way newspapers and magazines quote from bloggers and commenters
whose identities they do not even make an attempt to determine.
So far I have lost this battle, and badly -- even The Washington
Post quotes anonymous blog commenters without always confirming
their identities -- but I do believe journalists will eventually
have to come ar