A new tool to build relationships with, among readers

Reader commenting makes the news more accessible, and lets you play a larger role in influencing events.

We like to think that when you take your Daily Herald to the breakfast table each morning, you bring us along as a friend and engaging companion, someone who helps you enjoy your community and become an active part of it.

But there has always been an inherent impediment to affirming that relationship. When a good friend and engaging companion sits down to breakfast with you, you can interact immediately, sharing your thoughts and reactions to what he or she has to say. With us, you've had the options to pick up the phone and call or to write a letter by regular mail or e-mail, but those aren't always the easiest ways to get your message across. And, when it comes to sharing your reactions with your broader community, you've pretty much been limited to the letters columns on the editorial page.

This week, we have cleared away those obstacles. Through reader commenting at our Web site, www.dailyherald.com, we've brought ourselves a lot closer to you and we've made your breakfast table -- or wherever you happen to take up the Daily Herald -- as large as your community, indeed as large as your world. Now, when you read something that stirs your intellect or emotions, you can respond immediately by posting a comment. And just as immediately, you may stir the intellect and emotions of other readers, initiating a conversation that can grow in enriching directions you might never have imagined.

The process is simple. At the end of every story or opinion item at dailyherald.com, a box invites your comment. Sign in to the system and submit your thoughts, then watch the conversation grow -- and of course, continue to participate in it along the way.

There are few rules in this process, but you should keep some things in mind. Basically, the comments you add and any information you provide are your own, and we expect you to be responsible for them. So, if you libel someone -- assuming guilt before a trial, for instance, or making inappropriate claims about someone's reputation or business -- not only are you being unfair and irresponsible, you could have to answer for your comments in court.

We will monitor comments to a degree. We don't want to impede the free flow of ideas, but we do want to keep that flow responsible and productive. Says editor John Lampinen: "We won't hesitate to delete comments that use inappropriate language, that get off track, that become mean-spirited personal attacks … I've seen some of these sites where the exchanges get downright threatening. We don't intend to be restrictive with the comments, but we do have a responsibility to keep the discussion focused and within some reasonable bounds."

You'll find a complete review of the rules at our Web site, but in short, we hope you'll show the decorum and respect you'd afford to any guest sharing your breakfast table.

Reader commenting makes the news more accessible and relevant to you, and lets you play a larger role in influencing the events of your community and world. It also is just a first of many steps we'll take this year to upgrade the Daily Herald's Web technology. We'll be creating new ways for you to share your news as well as new opportunities to bring you Daily Herald stories, pictures and videos more quickly and efficiently.

Of course, the Daily Herald is not, as the saying goes, just for breakfast anymore. We're an all-day source of news and commentary, and that broadens our ability to be a good friend, to open the world to you and to stimulate your thoughts and feelings. Now, a previous obstacle to that is removed. The next step is yours, and we can't wait to see where you take the conversations.