Thursday, 21 June 2007
L'envoi
With the imminent departure of Tony Blair and the coronation of Gordon Brown, the fault lines in British political blogging will need to be redrawn. Just as a departing President may issue pardons, so this site is drawing inspiration from Blair's leaving office and issuing a pardon to Iain Dale.
To be honest, this micro-site has done about all that could have been expected of it. To prolong its active life would diminish its impact. Hopefully bloggers - Iain Dale included - have learned some positive lessons from this site. If not, well we all know what happens to those who fail to learn from the mistakes of the past.
Labels: housekeeping, iain dale
Posted by Clive @ | Permalink | | Links to this post
Thursday, 12 April 2007
A Comment on Moderation
You may have noticed by now that in order to comment on this blog, you need to be registered with Blogger/Google. You may also have noticed that comments are moderated. Both these points may lead you to think "sod this, I'm off somewhere less strict", and that is your prerogative. You see, this is a blog that intends to debate/discuss the UK's leading political blogger and hold him to account. As a consequence we need to protect both Iain and ourselves from potentially libellous comments. Furthermore, given that what we're after here is reasoned debate, any sock-puppetry would serve only to stifle discussion rather than enhancing it. Also, any failure to implement a clearly defined policy would smell of hypocrisy.
If you run a weblog that contains a significant level of political discussion, you really should have some form of comment registration in place or be ready to moderate your arse off. If you don't do either, you lay fertile ground for anonymous bullies who seek to limit free speech by undermining and intimidating those they don't agree with (while simultaneously screaming about their right to free speech).
With that in mind, here are the rules:
- Only registered users of Blogger.com will be allowed to post comments.
- Comment moderation will be on full-time, and all comments will be read by a moderator prior to publication (or deletion).
- The new version of Blogger.com does not allow for editing of comments, so we will be forced to delete any insulting or abusive comments outright. If ever a situation arises where a comment includes insults/abuse and constructive/intelligent input, the onus will be on the relevant contributor to repeat their comment (minus the insults/abuse).
- As the majority of comments will be moderated in their pre-publication state, not all deletions will be noted/apparent (i.e. no 'removed by a blog administrator' notice will appear). It should be taken as a given that any comment deleted was deleted in line with this policy. If we feel there may be some confusion or if a reason is requested, an explanation will be given.
- Any libellous comments will be deleted as soon as our attention is drawn to them. Please note that proof, either for or against, may be requested in order to substantiate the complaint.
- Sock-puppetry and astro-turfing will not be tolerated. IP addresses will be tracked if we suspect either, and we reserve the right to 'out' repeat offenders.
- The decision of the editorial team is final. You may plead your case by email and we are open to debate, but there will be no free-for-all in the comments.
Labels: housekeeping
Posted by Clive @ | Permalink | | Links to this post
Copy/Paste Text: "The Obligatory First Post"
I can't think of a better way to launch the weblog than with these recent words from Iain Dale:
Iain Dale - Peter Hitchens and His Thin Skin: Hitchens has a very thin skin and hates being criticised. He ought to realise that, as a columnist, if you can't take it, you shouldn't dish it out.
These words come to you from the man who called for the 'blog wars' to end in the classiest way possible when it was clear that his blogging chum Paul Staines could dish it out, but couldn't take it.
These words come to you from the man who regularly insults those who dare to question his accuracy or integrity, and classifies any suggestion or claim that he lacks accuracy or integrity as an insult (oh, and if you dare to produce proof that he lacks accuracy or integrity, he'll call you a 'link spammer').
As for the 'thin-skinned' remark, well, happily one link covers that *and* all of the above nicely.
Speaking of links, here are three brand new static articles for newcomers. They outline what it is about Iain Dale's conduct as a 'blogger' that is so very objectionable, and why every blogger has a right to object to it:
Iain the Blogging 'Expert'
Iain the Spammer
Iain and his Sock-Puppets
I would also like to make it very clear that I have raised the core issue of bullying with Iain Dale directly... months ago. His response was to make use of the same bullying techniques to shut down or disrupt any intelligent discussion about the matter on his so-called 'weblog'... while playing the innocent victim of bullying, no less!
As infuriating as this was, I did my best to remain polite*, but persistant. My reward was a ban. Presumably a permanent one to match his declaration that he would never again answer an email from me... ever ever ever (for ever and ever... plus infinity)!
[*I think my greatest failing was calling him a 'query-undermining distraction-seeking motherfucker' (on my website, not his), but I'm sure that Iain will produce proof if he wishes to suggest otherwise.]
So, knowing that Iain would never allow these matters to be discussed openly on his website, here we are with a brand new microsite dedicated to these matters.
This weblog is for Iain Dale's readers and the victims of the bullying culture he has done so much to promote and encourage in the British blogging community.
Clive will follow shortly with a statement regarding our policy on comment moderation.
Labels: housekeeping
Posted by Tim @ | Permalink | | Links to this post
