Publishers should rebuild comments for the readers who never post

The Financial Times tried a small intervention with a large ambition: ask readers a better question before they reach the comments. Its account reports more people opening the discussion, including readers who had ignored it the previous month. That is a useful starting point for publishers trying to build a reason to return.

This week’s publisher playbook from Discourse, the community software company, makes the opportunity more immediate. Automated spam checks and easier integration promise less friction. Its push towards discussions that AI tools can read adds another audience to consider. The priority should still be the person paying attention to the journalism.

Publishers should fund a focused experiment in useful reader exchange. Readers gain somewhere to test an idea or contribute experience; publishers gain a chance to build a direct relationship. Editors and moderators carry the cost. The decision is whether that exchange is valuable enough to deserve their time—not how cheaply a website can collect replies.