[MineralMan]

"Posted articles sometimes contain the author's email address,
and I assume they must sometimes receive emails from our forum participants.
While it hasn't happened often, I can recall instances where the author has registered and entered into the discussion of their article. (I vaguely remember this happening with one of the Pittsburgh papers, but can't recall whether it was the P-G or the Tribune-Review.)"

That makes sense. It seems to me that FR is going to get moved to a position where posting excerpts is the only way we'll be able to deal with it.

I have no problem with that, although I do dislike excerpted stories where the originating site requires a subscription.

Still, I think that excerpting is finally going to have to become the standard here.

[Willie Green]

Still, I think that excerpting is finally going to have to become the standard here.

In the long run, that appears to be the most pragmatic compromise.
Like most, I prefer the convenience of fully posted articles.
But realisticly, the original media outlets can't afford to publish this information for "free" on the Internet forever, they have to generate supporting revenues somehow. So posting excerpts offers them a reasonable opportunity for increasing traffic at their own website (and advertising). It sounds pragmatic to me, anyway.