I am done debating the importance of user comments on news stories. I am an advocate of comments and I do feel that news organizations should provide resources to moderate those comments to keep out the pure trash but with the goal of promoting civil discourse and debate.

And, I think it should be done it real-time.

I’ve written about this quite a bit on my blog and as the Managing Editor of User-Generated Content for one of the top news organizations in North Carolina which receives monster traffic and visitors, I have a bit of experience in this arena.

During a focus group today, one of the participants made a comment that sealed the deal for me. I tweeted it and I will probably say it to everyone I meet for the rest of the year. Especially as I head to the Knight Center for Specialized Journalism at the end of the month to discuss community building with foreign correspondents.

Here is what she said:  "News comments are just as much part of the story, as the story itself."

Did you hear that comment haters? This came from a user. This user also went on to say: "Sometimes I don’t know what to think about a story until I read the opinions of others. "

So there you have it.   Those opinions in the comments section do matter.

Told you!