NPR ending online comments
The news organisation says it made the decision because NPR’s audience is more engaged on social media
National Public Radio’s (NPR’s) comments section is going off the air.
NPR announced on Wednesday that comments on NPR.org will be disabled beginning August 23. The feature has been part of the site since 2008.
Scott Montgomery, NPR’s managing editor for digital news, says the news organisation made the decision because NPR’s audience is more engaged on social media. He says about 19,400 commenters were active in July compared with the more than 5 million on Twitter.
The news organisation says it does not have any legal obligation to provide a comments section because NPR indirectly receives federal funding.
Other news organisations that have ended online commenting in the past include Reuters, Popular Science and The Week.
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