3/21/01 -- I think all of us in the cranberry industry have come to rely on the Cranberry Stressline as valued source of unbiased information on the latest happenings within our business. As we all know, before the Stressline, we all had to frequent the local coffee shops to hear the latest goings-on. If ever a cranberry service award was deserved, it is definitely deserved in this case. I applaud Hal Brown for his efforts in making this web site a reality.

Recently I have become very concerned with the content and the tone of the comments placed on the forum. It is no longer a place where people can freely exchange ideas and concerns in a constructive fashion, but rather has become a stage for personal attacks on anyone who holds an opinion that differs from our own. It has become a destructive force pitting growers against handlers or growers against each other. Anyone who voices an opinion or takes a stand or votes in a particular way is fair game. Honorable people are slandered with labels such as "liars" or "sell-outs". Worse yet this can all be done in complete anonymity.

This is certainly a difficult and stressful time for all of us in the cranberry industry. Our livelihoods are at stake and years of hard work seem to be disappearing before our eyes.

Emotions are running high. We may not agree with each other on the best course of action, but can’t we agree to listen and respect each other? Isn’t this the time when we need each other the most?

Is it time to unplug the forum? I am reluctant to recommend such a step, but without some sort of revised guidelines, how can the forum serve a productive and useful function? Maybe it is time to require that all comments be signed in order to be posted. Should all comments that could considered slanderous be deleted? Hal, I don’t wish to put you in the position of becoming a censor, but short of some limitations, the forum I believe, must be shut down.

Ed. note: What do you think? Should the Forum be configured to display IP Address or to require posters to sign their names? What degree of censorship do you think is appropriate? Post your opinions. 

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