Community is at the center of so much of what we do at DCist — and at WAMU more broadly. It is what powers our journalism, it’s reflected in our membership rolls, and it’s what enabled us to relaunch DCist with such success in 2018.

Engaging with our community is one of our top priorities. But sometimes our efforts at engagement are not successful. And absent a certain level of investment, they can sometimes work to the detriment of our broader audience. That is why we are making the difficult decision to end comments on DCist.com.

This might come as a surprise to long-time commenters, many of whom stuck with DCist through the transition to WAMU in 2018. And it’s why we wanted to share the reasoning behind this decision.

On any given day, the number of people commenting on DCist stories represents just a tiny sliver of our tens of thousands of daily readers — around one-tenth of 1%. Even so, we have not been able to commit the resources necessary to properly moderate the comments and foster the kind of community dialogue we’d like to see in that space.

Too often, spam slips through the cracks, and personal attacks, toxic comments, and racist vitriol create an unwelcoming — and at times, hostile — environment for readers. To create the kind of comment section that better fits our values requires considerable time and a deft human touch. But this business is demanding and our staff is being pulled in other directions.

We have high aspirations for engagement at DCist. We are working to make sure that our coverage is a better reflection of the communities in which we live. We want to open new avenues for people to interact with us digitally. And we want to meet more residents where they live when pandemic conditions allow for more in-person events. In order to do those things with the staff we have, we have to make hard choices about resources and how we spent our time and efforts.

There are still numerous ways you can interact with DCist, respond to the news, and get in touch with our journalists.

Facebook:

  • We keep a close eye on the comment sections of posts on our Facebook page. That’s a great place to offer feedback on a story.
  • You can also message us directly on Facebook Messenger.

Instagram:

  • You can see our best visual journalism in this space and get news updates right in your feed.
  • Instagram also offers a great space to ask questions in the comments, and you can send us direct messages.

Twitter:

  • Follow @DCist as well as your favorite staff journalists. You can interact with us there, and you’ll never miss the latest news.
  • Reply to our tweets, quote tweet them, or send us a direct message.

You can also submit story tips, corrections, or other comments to dcist@wamu.org.

We look forward to finding new ways to interact with you moving forward.

— DCist Staff