I have written in the past about the ongoing challenge of reader-generated postings to our Web site. Most of them are responsible, some nose right up to the line of good taste, and others try to leap over that line into the zone of utter mean-spiritedness.

Anonymity, in my view and the view of many of my fellow editors around the country, is the driving force. People sitting at a keyboard, figuratively if not literally in a dark basement, will say things anonymously they would never think of saying in the full light of day. We try to police the worst by reviewing comments before they are posted, and eliminating those that are clearly in bad taste.

So it’s interesting to watch the dust fly in Wausau, where the Daily Herald has been embroiled in controversy for handing over the identity of an anonymous poster to the person the postings criticized. The Daily Herald had honored a public official as its “Person of the Year.” Subsequently, the official’s critics were brutal in Web postings. The official protested, demanded the identity of one particularly tough commenter, and the paper handed it over. The official sent the person a cease-and-desist letter, on official letterhead. That was viewed as a threat, and sparked quite a controversy in the Wausau area.

The incident resulted in considerable news coverage in journalism trade publications, also made a few headlines around Wisconsin. The Daily Herald has clarified its policies now, and states it will only disclose the identity of posters in cases where the postings are viewed as threatening, or if the information is subpoenaed.

Here at the Daily News, we have tried to take a responsible path. We require users to register with us, so we have some sense of their identity, at least through their email address. We moderate the site, and refuse to post comments we believe cross too many lines. Even then, we have taken down comments a few times when readers have objected and made a good case that we should not allow something on the Web site.

Our policy has mirrored practices now in place in Wausau. We will not disclose the identity of a poster just because somebody calls us up and asks for it. On the other hand, we do not consider it our obligation to protect the identity of a poster like, say, we would protect the identity of a confidential news source. If a poster threatens someone or seems potentially violent, we will contact the police. And if presented with a court order or subpeona, we do not feel an obligation to resist or protect user identities. We will abide by the law.

The Web has opened new opportunities for citizens to express themselves and carry on a meaningful public dialogue. But it also has opened opportunities for nasty, mean behavior. Newspapers are struggling to find a balance, while maintaining our own obligations both to free speech, public forums and good taste.

Let us know how we’re doing.

You know, unless you get out there and roam around, it’s easy to forget just how beautiful Wisconsin is — summer-only, for this fair-weather traveler; I’m not so fond of snow.

Anyway, four highlights for us:

• Hwy. 35 (Great River Road) from Prairie du Chien to La Crosse.

• Hwy. 108 through coulee country from West Salem to Monrose.

• Hwy. 49, through Iola and Waupaca.

• Hwy. 70 from St. Germain to Eagle River.

The scenery is different for each one of these, but lovely in its own right. We highly recommend it, on two wheels or four.

What scenic roads get your blood pumping around Wisconsin — or Illinois, for that matter? The old stagecoach route from the Stateline Area to Galena through Northern Illinois is spectacular riding along the ridges.

Let’s hear your favorites. Without a doubt, tips on great roads help other travelers enjoy the scenery.

One of the most fascinating stories has been taking place in Boston, a city I dearly love. The largest and best paper in the Northeast, the Boston Globe, is owned by the venerable New York Times, arguably the best paper in the world. The Globe has been losing money (so has The Times). The NYT company has demanded deep cuts at the Globe, under the implicit threat of closing the paper. Meanwhile, other big city papers — The Post-Intelligencer in Seattle, the Rocky Mountain News in Denver — have ceased publication. There’s even considerable speculation that The New York Times itself is vulnerable. Recently the company was forced to negotiate an infusion of $250 million from billionaire Carlos Slim, a rather unsavory business character who mostly operates monopolies in Mexico.

Here’s my question: Does that worry any readers out there? I’ve been at this business long enough to know the heavy lifting of journalistic reporting always has been done by print newspaper reporters. Usually, what you see on TV news or the Internet is a follow-up to stories originally published by newspapers. What happens to “news” as a commodity if the trend of troubles at newspaper companies continues? A lot of the trouble stems from the current recession, but not all. Signs of more systemic problems had been evident for years.

Reporters have to be employed and paid by somebody to do that deep gathering of facts and information. And don’t say bloggers will do it. Look for yourself. Most blogging is just noise, commenting and opining on material originally gathered by professional news reporters.

Smaller town newspapers, like this one, are experiencing tough times, too. Most, however, are in better shape than their big-city sisters, whose costs and overhead are enormous. That doesn’t mean, though, that the circumstances threatening metro papers cannot also consume small-town journalism, eventually. It might just take longer.

So, what does the opportunity to read and know the news mean to you? To a free country? To future generations of Americans? To your community? What’s it worth to you?

How cool! Beloit is a great sports town, and it’s a terrific achievement for Kyle Weaver to take his talent all the way to the NBA. The Bucks won. So what? File that one under double the pleasure — we got to watch a hometown guy play in the NBA and the home-state favorite won the game.

Kyle played a good game, starting and getting a lot of minutes. He didn’t force anything in front of the hometown crowd, and played within the pace of the game. He scored 12 points, knocking down two three-pointers. The highlight for Kyle’s fans came when he caught his defender napping and streaked to the basket for a high-flying alley oop dunk. That one rocked the house.

Afterwards, fans got to go on the Bucks floor to attempt one free throw each. My older son swished his; the younger son’s attempt rimmed out; and, well, we won’t discuss my shot.

Readers will find several new blogs authored by the newspaper’s staff writers. There are at least two factors in play. First, we have talented people with something to say, and we’re giving them that opportunity. Second, we hope our readers enjoy these new additions and build an audience around the topics covered by our bloggers.

The format for our online operation allows more opportunities for two-way conversations between the paper and the readers. Audience members are able to weigh in with their own thoughts and experiences, establishing what might be called a “virtual community.” Our bloggers will be writing about many things, including the trials and joys of motherhood; the positive activities and events around the Beloit area; sports topics; and more.

We encourage you to join in as often as you can.

That does, however, bring me to another side of online commentary.

As the Editor of the Beloit Daily News, I will be writing now and then about a variety of subjects, including how and why the newspaper does what it does. That might involve the reasoning behind a controversial story, content changes in the paper, or some other topic. Or, if the spirit moves me, I may write about local politics or economic issues or, well, just about anything else.

But, today, the topic is about blogging and two-way conversations with readers.

Here’s the good and bad of it. On the good side, it’s a terrific new opportunity to add many new voices to community conversations about both important and not-so–important topics. On the bad side, some people can’t seem to restrain the urge to be nasty.

Here’s a paradox. In the print edition, the “comment” equivalent is the Public Forum, or letters-to-the-editor feature, which has existed about as long as there has been a newspaper — more than 150 years. The standards have been set pretty high. Letter writers must submit their names, addresses and telephone numbers for verification purposes. The names are published (not the addresses or phone numbers). The content of the letter must be civil and factual.

The online environment, however, has developed very differently since the dawn of the Internet. All across the ‘net, people posting comments expect to be able to do so without revealing their identities. For the most part, newspaper Web sites have allowed it. Some, like the Daily News, require posters to register. Even then, though, we realize it’s kind of an “honor” system. The names could be phony.

The majority of those posting comments do so with civility and stick to the issues, rather than sliding toward the sewer with personal attacks and nasty remarks.

But some prefer to attack from ambush, using anonymity to hide behind while slashing and burning without concern for fairness or their target’s humanity. We try to police the worst of these and remove them from the Web site, but it’s a never-ending battle.

Here’s the dilemma, from our industry’s standpoint. Newspaper sites worry about these ambush artists. Some papers have tried to deal with it by requiring posters to follow the same rules as letters-to-the-editor authors in the print edition — give us your name, address and phone number, and the names are published. But those papers usually discover their online posters disappear overnight if their names are published. In some ways, it’s a damned if you do and damned if you don’t scenario.

So we came down somewhere in the middle. We require registration (and get fewer comments than we did before the requirement), but we will post comments without revealing the writer’s name.

All we ask is that writers follow the high road. Keep it clean and civil. Be polite. Stick to the issues and do not be mean and nasty toward individuals. Don’t put anything in a comment that would offend your mom. Most comments fall acceptably within that standard. Some do not, and we try to take them down as soon as possible.

I’d like to hear our readers’ thoughts. Do you think we’re handling online comments the right way? To get rid of the ambushers, should we require that writers’ names be published? Would you change anything in the way we police the comments? Should standards be applied at all, or should the commentary be as free-flowing as writers want it to be?

Your turn.