National Sports Journalism Center

Colorado University is taking steps against anonymous commenting on Web sites — and apparently, it has been doing so for some time. Stories on Colorado football appearing on INDenver Times currently end with the following line: "Comments have been turned off on football stories involving CU to meet the university’s requirement for giving media credentials to Web site reporters and photographers." Michael Roberts reports that the "line means precisely what it says." Citing Colorado Sports Information Director Dave Plati, Roberts writes,"The university will not provide press passes to Web sites lacking a print or broadcast component unless they disallow pseudonymous posts or anonymous comments." Says Plati, "Credentials are a privilege, not a right, which a lot of people don’t realize." Roberts writes that the policy has been in place much of the decade. He also writes that Plati acknowledges that Colorado credentialling the Denver Post — which allows anonymous commenting — creates "a little bit of a gray area." || A link to an INDenver Times Colorado story carrying the comment line. Here.