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Seven months after StarNet launched a feature allowing readers to add comments to stories, Star editors are rethinking the whole idea because of the coarseness of those online postings.

This is the second time since StarNet launched in 1995 that the Star's online forum has forced management to rethink allowing online interaction. The last foray, the Community Front Page, was yanked completely in 2000 after attempts to maintain civility failed.

Over recent months, comments at the bottom of stories were removed occasionally. In the last week, postings have had to be removed daily.

Executive Editor Bobbie Jo Buel added her own note Monday:

"All reader comments have been removed from a few stories today.

"The Star created the comments feature to give readers a place to exchange ideas and information that would make us all smarter and build community. We hoped for tough but respectful debate. We posted guidelines prohibiting certain kinds of comments, but for the most part, we stayed out of the way and let readers speak.

"In the past month, though, more and more comments are violating our standards. Instead of offering constructive criticism, too many posts are just plain coarse.

"While we added the reader comments feature to give readers a place to talk, StarNet is still our house. And our editors and staff simply do not want guests who make vulgar, abusive, obscene, defamatory and hateful comments. If you want to live in that kind of neighborhood, go create your own online forum.

"Meanwhile, we've removed large chunks of comment today while we consider the future of the reader comments feature."

Buel continued to monitor the comments last week. Currently, readers can post to any story on StarNet, the newspaper's Web site. Editors are considering limiting the number of stories that readers can comment on as a way to help maintain civility. Any change could take place as soon as this week.

Review review

A steady stream of readers called with the same question: Where is the review of Sunday's André Rieuconcert at the Tucson Convention Center? Jane Martin said she had seen the Dutch violinist on KUAT and had been looking forward to this concert for a year since she bought "good seats, 10 rows back.'' Priscilla Walker, who could not attend, wanted to know what she had missed.

Reporter Cathalena E. Burch e-mailed that "We didn't review the concert because we had so much going on that we decided instead to cover the TSO and Invisible Theatre's concert with Ann Hampton Callaway. We tried to get an interview with Rieu and we ran into brick walls. At the last possible minute, they said they could do it and I waited by the phone three hours and he didn't call.''

Wrong chart, twice in a row

Last Sunday an outdated money market and CD rates chart was printed in Business. The same outdated chart ran Wednesday as a correction in Business. Finally, a current version of the weekly chart ran Thursday as a correction to the correction.

By Thursday afternoon the executive editor had posted a note to the staff saying that "As of this moment, all graphics and maps need to have a date on them. … Adding the date gives everyone in the editing process an easy way to spot outdated material.''

New look

Readers woke up Dec. 13 to a retooled Star. Most noticeable was a bolder headline typeface. Body type did not change. The new fonts give copy editors a little bit more space to write headlines that are more noticeable at the newsstand. Maybe a dozen readers weighed in. Bernard Ury said "You snuck it through. It was like having a stranger show up at the breakfast table.'' Berni Briefer said she found the headlines easier to read.