Talk of the Sound Year-to-Year Traffic Jumps 250%, Breaks 50,000 per Month, Page Views over 140,000 per Month

Talk of the Sound has become, far and away, the largest media outlet in New Rochelle, reaching over 50,000 unique visitors in the month of March, up 250% from a year ago. Page views are now close to 150,000 per month. To our readers, thank you! While we are considering the ever growing number of readers on Talk of the Sound we would like to make them aware that we have a few basic policies on posting articles and commenting here which have been combined with commenting guidelines from Pajamas Media and Huffington Post to make out own policy (see below).

There was an article written by a California newspaper about the government corruption scandal in Bell, CA — Why the Bell Scandal Happened and What Can Be Done. It makes the best case I have read for why a news outlet like Talk of the Sound is so necessary. If you are not familiar with the Bell case click the links below.

…the Bell spectacle is what happens to communities without their own old-fashioned diligent news coverage by veteran newspaper reporters, or at least smart reporters led by veteran newspaper editors. The result need not be on paper, but it must be done with the community memory and professional savvy almost unique to newspaper-trained journalists with experience watching small-town politics.

The Story Of How The Bell Scandal Broke: An Account From LA Times Reporter Jeff Gottlieb

Chaos at Bell council meeting delays action

8 current and former officials from Bell, California, arrested

Talk of the Sound Policy for Commenting and Posting:

0. Articles must pertain to New Rochelle; that can be because they are about some New Rochelle topic or because they are on a topic involving Westchester County or New York State that has some direct application to New Rochelle or its residents. If you wish to submit and article and are not sure whether it meets this requirement contact us first rather than spend time writing only to have the article removed.

1. No use of ALL CAPS, it is considered shouting and thus rude.

2. No use of profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.

3. Remain on topic, no hijacking of discussions for some other purpose. There is a forum for those who want to raise new discussion topics.

4. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.

5. We do not tolerate threats; they are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.

6. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.

These are general guidelines. Talk of the Sound editors will apply their own judgement as to when behavior crosses the line from spirited debate to troll behavior and mete out punishments as we see fit. For those who don’t like that, they are welcome to start their own web site and make their own rules. We do not pre-moderate comments but we reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion.

A minor infraction may result in a week ban at which point it is up to the commenter to contact Talk of the Sound and request re-instatement. A more serious infraction or series of infractions, usually involving troll behavior will result in a dropping of the “banhammer” at which point the account is blocked for one year. The account holder may request re-instatement although this is unlikely given the nature of infractions which result in bans on Talk of the Sound.