The recent death of Washington Redskins’ team member Sean Taylor drew myriad comments to The Washington Post and Miami Herald Web sites. Not all of the comments were polite.

From today’s Poynter centerpiece article, “When Comments Cross the Line”:

WashingtonPost.com Interactivity and Communities Editor Hal Straus said the Taylor story didn't elicit an unusual number of problematic comments, but feedback at MiamiHerald.com turned ugly enough on the Friday after the shooting that editors suspended feedback on Taylor stories into the next day.

"There is certainly value in the comments," said Casey Frank, day news editor for MiamiHerald.com. "It's just sad and frustrating that so many of them are out of bounds."

It’s all too common: A newspaper Web site opens stories for comments for the public, and some readers post rude, crude, racist, threatening or otherwise inappropriate comments. It’s too bad, but it’s also the reality of opening your newspaper Web site.

There’s no one magic solution for newspapers that open the site for comments. Many Web sites have a feature allowing readers to let editors know about offensive comments so the Web editors can remove the post. Other newspapers – most recently The New York Times – moderate comments before they ever appear online, thereby removing most risk of offending readers.

Many newspaper editors have agreed, however, that the benefits of opening the site to comments outweigh the drawbacks. Often, comments boost page views as readers return to articles repeatedly to see what others have written. Some newspapers have reported receiving article ideas or tips through the comments. With those benefits in mind, the following are articles from NAA and other sources packed with lessons-learned and advice from newsroom editors who have dealt with this.

Online Community at the Racine Journal Times (NAA)
Blogs at the Spokesman-Review (NAA)
IndyMoms.com Draws Busy Parents with Discussions, Niche Content (NAA)

Libel and User-Generated Content (CNet and the Citizen Media Law Project) 
Civil Discourse, Meet the Internet (The New York Times) 
Raising the Level of Online Conversation (The News & Observer)
How Much Should You Moderate Comments? It Depends… (MediaShift)

SacBee Changes Commenting Requirements (The Digital Edge)
Bloggers' Code of Conduct: Wikia's Wales, O'Reilly Post Blog Ethics Wiki (The Digital Edge)

This week, we’ll release the latest Digital Edge report, “Newspapers as Networks: Redesigning Around Social Media.” The report, by Mark Toner, focuses on the results of recent experiments in social media, including commenting and sharing, by newspaper Web sites.