It was supposed to be a safe space for informed discussion, somewhere for readers to discuss issues related to the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the comments below the line on most sites are bogged down by off-topic discussion and abuse. heraldscotland.com addresses this problem by only allowing subscribers to comment. We do this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfill its promise as part of Scotland’s conversation with itself. We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories. This is priceless. We’re making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don’t want the site filled with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse. In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the public. Technology means readers can shape a conversation. We look forward to hearing from you at heraldscotland.com
