There was quite a lot of reader feedback to last week's column criticizing the "knuckle-draggers" who frequently make anonymous and offensive comments at sacbee.com.

Not surprisingly, several dozen comments about the topic were posted online, attached to my column.

The debate there was lively, with some defending the practice as an exercise in free speech. Others argued that free speech is not an absolute freedom and has its limits, not withstanding the more pedestrian standards of decency and civility.

A few called me an idiot and a hypocrite. A handful agreed my criticism was wise. And a couple lobbied for the elimination of all anonymous online comments.

Yes, I'm aware of the irony of writing about and acknowledging the very comments I railed against last week.

Not to do so would pretend they don't exist. I and many other readers may not like them when they veer to the fringe and attract their brethren like flies to garbage, but they are there nonetheless – in spades.

I also received many e-mails from readers with strong opinions on this subject and who – shockingly – identified themselves by name.

Don't they know that's not hip?

"If you intend to keep the system as is, hire or retask staff to moderate comments, and/or separate comment sections from articles," wrote R.B. Alexander. "As an alternative, I'd suggest creating weblogs that mirror and are crossed-linked to – but separated from – The Bee's paper sections."

E-mailed Roseville's Greg Pompetti: "I read your column in the Sunday Bee expressing your concern about the impact of anonymous comments on the Web. Your concern is valid and needs to be addressed."

There's another way at looking at this, too, one that's evolved parallel with the explosion of online comments the past two years. It goes something like this: Maybe the best model to follow is television.

Nowadays, the number of TV channels and choices seems infinite. There are many programs we don't like because they are disgusting, repulsive and downright stupid. Yet someone is watching, if not us.

Instead, we click the remote and move on to something we like and leave the other stuff to those who revel in it.

The same with online comments. Just click and go somewhere else at sacbee.com or on the Web, and leave the sewer to the rats.

As someone who finds anonymous online comments next to worthless, yet facing the reality that the powers that be here at The Bee aren't likely to abolish them, more and more that works for me.

Maybe that's just the easy way out because it ignores the obvious. No matter how you cut it, The Bee is responsible for sponsoring and providing a platform for the "knuckle-draggers."

Then again, like the commercial and cable networks, the Holy Grail is attracting the most viewers and readers, no matter how you get them.

More on the new format

Feedback to The Bee's month-old redesign has gone from a torrent to a trickle.

The volume of about 2,500 readers who called or e-mailed the first week with complaints or compliments has dwindled to a handful a day, and sometimes not even that.

There is still some tinkering going on in response to some of the feedback. Here's a sampling as provided by Robert Casey, the assistant managing editor who oversaw the redesign.

• The "Fun & Games" heading for the comics is now smaller, meaning the comics on the "Doonesbury" page are larger and easier to read. The previous smaller page was hard to read and was gripe No. 1 from readers.

• The smaller heading also frees up more space for the crossword puzzle, making it square again rather than a rectangle, which caused puzzlers to complain.

• The background tint on the new and ubiquitous digest rails on Page 1 and some of the section fronts has been lightened. This makes the digests easier to read and addresses yet another hard-to-read complaint.

• The subheadlines written in all capital letters are now easier to read too, because the spacing between words is now slightly wider. Again, readers said they found the headlines hard to read because the words were too close and seemed to run together.

Casey also said there's an effort to make the headlines shorter because many are too long, and that should help make them more readable.

• The paper publishes many Web links and addresses. Those addresses are now larger.

• And finally, after some stops and starts to satisfy reader requests, two final U.S. cities were dropped from the weather page because of the new, narrower format. Each dropped city elicited a single complaint.

Here's a quiz: Can you name the cities that were dropped?

The Public Editor deals with complaints and concerns about The Sacramento Bee's content. His opinions are his own. You can contact the Public Editor by mail at P.O. Box 15779, Sacramento, CA 95852; or by calling him directly at (916) 321-1250.