Somerville News approves of blog-comment forgery

[ron_newman]

On June 21, a blog comment was posted on this Somerville News story, falsely claiming to come from a friend of mine:

http://www.thesomervillenews.com/archives/16266 (deliberately not a hotlink to discourage Google from finding it here)

Two days later, after I called this to my friend's attention, she posted a blog comment saying "I did NOT write nor agree with the comment above attributed to me and therefore would appreciate my name being erased from it promptly, as well as a public retraction of it. Thank you!" The News approved and published this comment but did not remove the earlier false comment.

She also phoned the paper's editor, [name deleted]*, at least once. I complained to the editor face-to-face at the Jazz Fest on June 26. I also posted to the News's Facebook Wall (post is still there), and posted three of my own comments to the news story, all of which are still sitting unapproved and unpublished in the moderation queue:

Hey, Somerville News! When someone writes in to say that their name was forged on a blog comment, the proper and decent thing to do is to remove the comment. It’s been eight days now.

Hell of a way to run a newspaper.

(A personal note: the same thing happened to me there in 2006.)

ETA, 10 pm: The offending comment has finally been taken down. A pity that this LJ post was necessary in order for the News to do the right thing, 13 days late.

* ETA 9/21/2014: The editor in question has long moved on from The Somerville News, and has sent me the following note: "I took your plea immediately to Don [Norton, the newspaper's owner at the time], and he refused to take it down. I asked him over and over again, and finally, he did so. I do not, nor ever have, approved of blog-comment forgery. I did everything in my power to get ride of Brandon's fake post." In response, I have deleted the editor's name from this post.

Comments

[real-green-tea.livejournal.com]

Wow, that blows massive chunks. Eight days?

[ron_newman]

As of right now, 13 days and counting.

[turil.livejournal.com]

I think the old school folks need to learn about the new reality of information and physics. People used to be able to control information, such as names, ideas, stories, etc., but now that we have near instant global communication networks, information simply flows chaotically, regardless of what one individual, or a group, wants. Physics isn't a democracy. We just don't get to vote on what information does, at least not very effectively.

The best we can do is to put out the best information we have, and wish it well as it traverses the universe, while finding ways to use all the other information other people are putting out there to get more of what we want in life.

I have had the dis/pleasure of being one of the first brave souls to have to face a community full of information that makes me look bad, and the only way I've found to work with that reality is to, well, accept that as a reality of our present world. I realized that fighting it, is, at least most of the time, the wrong thing to do, because it both rewards those who do it, and because I have far more important things to do with my life. If a few people have weird beliefs about me, then that's dealable.

Of course, I think it's fine for Brandon to speak up about it, and even to spread the word reminding people to not believe everything they read without testing it out for themselves, but in the long run, Ron, you're fighting against physics and reality, and you will lose. But don't believe me, test it out for yourself! :-)

[veek.livejournal.com]

My comment, awaiting moderation:

"Holy cats, really? You people STILL haven’t heeded Brandon Wilson’s retraction request? I love my Somerville; your newspaper, however, is a shameful ugly blotch on it. Get some journalistic integrity, already."

[pywaket.livejournal.com]

"Shameful ugly blotch" - I love it! That's the best description of that right wing hack job of a "newspaper" I've heard yet.

You win The Internet today.

[squirrelitude]

Gone now, I think.

[ron_newman]

Yep! Looks like this LJ post worked. A pity that it was necessary.

[oneagain.livejournal.com]

It is a pity. I think they should be fined something hefty enough to discourage this negligence in the future. $ talks. Maybe that will make this kind of post unnecessary.

[anyee.livejournal.com]

I am excited to destroy your already tarnished reputation...with your blessing and complacency, of course.

[turil.livejournal.com]

Obviously, I don't appreciate it, and I think you're fucked up if destroying people's lives is exciting to you, but it's pretty much a given that people are fucked up these days, and I certainly can't stop everyone from being sick. At least not yet. :-)

But I'm working on it. I've come closer to healing the whole world than I ever imagined possible. Which at least makes me happy enough to deal with the shit that gets flung around by the rest of us monkeys.