Editor’s Desk

Commonwealth The

October/November 2020 Volume 114, No.5

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VICE PRESIDENT, MEDIA & EDITORIAL

John Zipperer

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John Zipperer, Vice President of Media & Editorial, (415) 597-6715, jzipperer@commonwealthclub.org

The Commonwealth (ISSN 0010-3349) is published bimonthly (6 times a year) by The Commonwealth Club of California, 110 The Embarcadero, San Francisco, CA 94105. Periodicals postage paid at San Francisco, CA. Subscription rate $34 per year included in annual membership dues. Copyright © 2020 The Commonwealth Club of California.

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EDITOR’S DESK

A Troll in the Park

Photo by Efraimstochter

The first time I encountered a troll was in a children’s book decades ago. I think the troll lived under a bridge or something, either scaring people or turning out to have a heart of gold despite a fearsome appearance. Trolls were rare things in those days. Alas, the modern troll is ubiquitous and evinces no heart of gold.

The modern troll I’m referring to of course is the person who posts inflammatory comments in chat or comments sections of online discussions—whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or elsewhere.

In this issue of The Commonwealth, you’ll find an excerpt from a recent program featuring Suzanne Nossel, the head of PEN America. She discusses defending free speech from challenges across the political spectrum, and she describes how she approaches it by trying to understand what the challengers are really after, how much they understand about free speech, and how communication itself actually works. (If you’re talking to an audience, you have to understand how that audience is hearing what you’re saying.)

Which brings us back to trolls of the digital kind. We are, by definition, a free speech organization. We feature discussions and interviews with people from a broad array of political, economic, social and racial backgrounds on a wide range of topics. The Club itself does not endorse a speaker’s views, but we hope to assist the development of better policies and practices—whether in government, business, culture, or just our own homes—through the exploration of problems and possible solutions. When we have a speaker who might be controversial speak on a Club program, we are offering a platform for civil dialogue, something that’s sorely lacking elsewhere these days.

During most of our live-streamed programs, we have a chat feature on the YouTube or Facebook video windows, where people post questions for the speakers or just make comments on the topic. Some of those conversations are wonderful, and they show our members’ commitment to really digging into issues, whether it’s something as serious as nuclear deterrence or something as fun as good food.

If a viewer thinks a speaker is completely wrong and wants to make that statement in the video chat section, they’re entitled to do that, misspellings and all. But if they are profane or they attack a speaker or others in the audience, or if they continually bring up completely unrelated topics in an attempt to smear a speaker, they can expect their comment to be deleted and possibly themselves to be banned from the chat. And they can also expect Club members to chime in, telling them to be civil and stop ruining the party.

JOHN ZIPPERER

VICE PRESIDENT OF MEDIA & EDITORIAL