I'm not sure if this is a good idea or not.
Kalilla is awesome about posting FFXI news and information from the official forum (and other stuff as well)... a lot of it does not appear in the PlayOnline News section (which is correct, as not everything is posted on the official POL News part, etc). Kalilla also stay on top of adding to her posts with updated information, developer comments, etc.
What seems to happen in controversial updates is a flood of people arguing about whether it's a good idea, then arguing with each other (because of course everyone else on the internet is wrong, etc).
I was wondering a forum section could be created in which Kalilla (or whoever else approved by FFXIAH staff) could create and update threads with the news information, which would also contain a link to a different thread for discussion. News threads themselves wouldn't be derailed or risked being locked (the linked discussion thread would have the same issue, but that's the nature of forums anyway).
All of the news posts would be located in one place, perhaps with a link on the left hand side under the "Community" section. (I imagine one or more of the other sections could be retired if space became an issue., i.e. xNM/Assault/Campaign/Conquest).
Anyway, just a thought.