WorldNetDaily is now basing entire stories around clipping anonymous commenters on others’ websites.
A Sept. 27 article by Brian Fitzpatrick is about how a comment thread on Beck’s new website The Blaze has been overrun by birthers. Of course, that’s now how Fitzpatrick puts it, saying instead that “those concerned about Obama’s unwillingness to document that he is a ‘natural-born’ citizen, as the Constitution requires, running 9-to-1 over those who believe it’s a non-issue.” Fitzpatrick goes on to quote apparently authoritative commenters like “TR68GT” and “Burnthills,” presumably for their ability to regurgitate WND’s own talking points on the issue.
This was followed by a Sept. 28 WND article by Bob Unruh quoting anonymous commenters at a newspaper website to support his assertion that Obama’s claiming to be a Christian “doesn’t necessarily make him one.” Unruh treats us to comments from folks like “griffin 76” and “ceegee.”
This is the epitome of laziness. Anonymous commenters are hardly newsworthy, they’re more likely to contain vitriolic opinions since they’re hiding behind a cloak of anonymity — indeed, such angry comments are what WND seems to be looking for — and all that’s required on WND’s part is little more than copying and pasting.
The irony is that WND doesn’t allow such anonymous comments to appear on its own “news” articles — they’re confined to the daily poll question and to separate forums.