COMM 150: 'News Sites Rethink Anonymous Online Comments' - NY Times

A story in yesterday's New York Times says news websites are moving away from anonymous comments on stories they post to the Web. In other words, they're acting more like gatekeepers and keeping a lid on the nastiness we so often see on the message boards.
The money graf (in more senses than one):

No one doubts that there is a legitimate value in letting people express opinions that may get them in trouble at work, or may even offend their neighbors, without having to give their names, said William Grueskin, dean of academic affairs at Columbia’s journalism school.

“But a lot of comment boards turn into the equivalent of a barroom brawl, with most of the participants having blood-alcohol levels of 0.10 or higher,” he said. “People who might have something useful to say are less willing to participate in boards where the tomatoes are being thrown.”

He said news organizations were willing to reconsider anonymity in part because comment pages brought in little revenue; advertisers generally do not like to buy space next to opinions, especially incendiary ones.

An important consideration, and one I hadn't seen before.