links for 2009-01-26

"The original story told of a girl fighting for her life. The comments came in. Then, sadly, the girl lost that fight — and so the story was altered. But now the comments come across as rather haunting. I’ve stuck a picture of the comments on Flickr in the event of them being removed. Presumably the Mail would have wanted to keep the most up-to-date information on one article page, rather than several new articles whenever a story develops. That makes sense. But surely a development as serious as the death of the subject shouldn’t just be edited?"

"The BBC's impartiality is subject to wider tests by bodies such as the BBC Trust and indirectly from Ofcom, Parliamentary committees and Government. It was right to consider those greater responsibilities. Mark Thompson and Chief Operating Officer Caroline Thomson were doing their jobs by making the bigger political calculations. Their decision was very brave. Unfortunately, I think they got the call wrong."

"Nevertheless, I personally believe that on this occasion the BBC has made the correct decision". Melanie Phillips in hell freezes over shocker ;-)

"Unlike some other UK broadcasters, Sky News is widely viewed across the Middle East. In order to continue to serve all our audiences, we must ensure that our journalists can continue to operate effectively in difficult conditions. This must remain the first priority for any news organisation."

"Every Web site that allows users to write comments should also have a mechanism to allow users to subscribe to comments...if your CMS can’t handle it, get one that can — for free". I really, really, *really* must find the necessary time to upgrade the creaky old version of Movable Type running this site.

"We thought long and hard about the use of this picture. It is clearly a disturbing image but, ultimately, the only way you can appreciate the full extent of this police officer's courage and dedication is to see the extent of his injury," he said. "Simply saying he had a stick in his eye does not give a true impression."

"As a result of being asked to read one too many this week, I am launching a new two-part campaign. Five online skills you must master BEFORE you start a blog - community, commenting, connectivity, collaboration and content."

"Whatever you think of Geert Wilders politics - and here at MWW his hypocritical call to 'ban the Koran' put him in the clown corner a long time ago - his prosecution by the Dutch government is an affront to the ideals of free speech and democracy."

"So he gained 8/10 followers by conversation, word of mouth and social networking, and just 2/10ish by broadcasting on the biggest national TV station in the UK". Dan doesn't factor time in this equation - the first 8/10 took months - the sudden rise after the BBC One exposure took a couple of days.