Got an opinion? Say it loudly (but just say it carefully)

It's never hard to find an audience for an opinion.

Internet message boards are bustling with anonymous truths, lies and everything in between. Chat rooms are the perfect place to pop in, make your case and log out, never to be heard from again. Radio call-in shows and Jim Rome-inspired, in-your-face TV programs are powered by listeners with nothing more than a first name and a point to make.

In any case, the more outrageous the comment, the bigger its audience. The more powerful the statement, the more lasting its impression.

And then there's FanSpeak and similar newspaper call-in lines all over the country, all designed for readers to leave a message and watch it appear in ink -- and on the Web -- for thousands to see and argue, agree with or scoff at altogether.

The difference between newspaper call-in lines and Web chats and message boards is accountability. Chats and message boards are routinely unmonitored. Anything goes.

Newspaper call-in lines are monitored. Carefully monitored.

Libelous statements are filtered out. Pointless personal attacks are no-nos.

Calling fans at a local high school "losers" is out. Saying that a high school's star athlete is a cheater doesn't make the cut, either.

All that's been tried in FanSpeak, which appears on our pages and online each Sunday. It's usually been left out of print. That's what a handful of callers were told in the past few days when they complained that letters and FanSpeak calls never appeared in print or were carefully edited.

For better or worse, there will be things that appear in print again at some point that, on an otherwise pleasant Sunday morning, will make somebody cringe. After all, everybody's entitled to an opinion, even if we don't agree, and even if it's not popular among the masses.

Tips from the FanSpeak bible of dos and don'ts:

1. Keep your messages brief. Short e-mails and messages usually don't have to be trimmed.

2. Libelous statements don't get in. Maybe you want to say that the parent of a basketball player told you this or that, but the parent's name will never see print. Even message boards and chat rooms are cracking down on what posters can and can't say in personal attacks.

3. Sound criticism of professionals in the sports business isn't a bad thing. Singling out student athletes for criticism is a different matter.

4. Positive messages always get in. Period.

Happy venting.

Jamie Hall is the sports editor of the Southeast Missourian.