Here is a comment from Spection that I thought was worth elevating to a post of its own.
I have found the censorship of criticism at HuffPo to be appallingly egregious! I've had many scores of comment posts removed completely, most of which were non-personal, non-offensive scientific criticisms of the woo-ers' grotesque scientific misinformation. Let's face it: When it comes to science at least, Arianna Huffington is one of the most anti-scientific and gullible human beings alive, and she despotically censors any honest criticism of her belief system as well as any attempt to point that fact out.
But we are faced with blind dismissals from those wishing to deny the extreme censorship of comments and instead focus on merely trying to launch a science section at HuffPo, such as Landgon Ross and J. Vernon. Here is a direct quote from an email from Langdon Ross:
"While I am not going to discuss the housekeeping behind the scenes of Huffpost, I will say this... their practices seem to be entirely fair, and I have never had comments censored on any of my posts that I know of (or even so much as referenced or insinuated by my most avid critics)." [Quoted verbatim. Ellipsis in original - nothing omitted.]
What good would a science section be from such people who refuse to see how common and adamantly despicable the censorship is at HuffPo? The censorship is a far more severe situation than the lack of a science section, a section that most at HuffPo would ignore anyway.
I think we need to acquire more powerful allies -- such as the MSNBC hosts and the major liberal bloggers -- then apply strong public pressure on Arianna to stop the grossly excessive censorship on her site. We should shame her for her extreme contempt of the single most fundamental of the ideals of the Enlightenment and the ideals of the liberal worldview: Free Speech!
What say you?
Friday, July 30, 2010
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@ "Spection"
ReplyDelete2:15 PM CST
My sentiments precisely, spoken more eloquently than yours truly could say. I will start bird-dogging next week, burn'in down the phone wires (well, OK, antennae then) for influential sources that may be willing to sign our petition.
There's one tenet in my life that has always worked : Persistence. Always. No one, has ever defeated my record of persistence. No one.
One of my crest family mottos :
"Dum Spiro Spero"
("While I Have Breath, I Hope") ...
J.B.
8/1/10
@ "Spection" & "RedDogBear"
ReplyDelete4:55 PM PST
Re: (e-mail from "Landon Ross")
Here is a direct quote from an email from Langdon Ross:
"While I am not going to discuss the housekeeping behind the scenes of Huffpost, I will say this... their practices seem to be entirely fair, and I have never had comments censored on any of my posts that I know of (or even so much as referenced or insinuated by my most avid critics)." [Quoted verbatim. Ellipsis in original - nothing omitted.]...
This e-mail doesn't make sense.
Spection, I hope you've got the full data on this e-mail (When ? To Whom ?)...
I'm sending you and Red Dog a FaceBook e-mail Landon Ross sent me in March of this year, in direct contradiction of the assertions in the above e-mail.
Langdon Ross WAS censored by Lanza, and I'm sending the complete thread where he discussed this with me (including his posts that were censored, copied by Ross himself !)
J.B.
8/1/10
I submitted a post a few months ago which was critical of anti-vaccine activists. It took eight days for HuffPo editors to approve it. Meanwhile, anti-vax posts are fast-tracked.
ReplyDeleteAs an HP blogger, I am able to delete comments if they are in queue awaiting approval. I can also approve a post. But once they are approved by the HuffPo editors, I am unable to delete. I've only deleted two comments, but only because they were abusive and/or demonstrably untrue. So it is easy for an HP blogger to delete comments if he/she catches them in time.
HuffPo editors are very sensitive to criticism. I've been told to "play nice" if I expect to continue to blog there. It was clear from the context that "playing nice" means not talking about HP's appalling double standard that makes it easier to post anti-science tirades than it is to post evidence-based material. I actually had a post disallowed because I was "giving medical advice without benefit of a medical license." My crime was telling readers that vaccines prevent disease. Meanwhile anti-vax loons regular exhort readers to treat children like lab rats in a foolhardy and dangerous attempt to cure autism.
Thanks for this website. Keep up the good work.
The level of idiosyncratic censorship on HuffPo is astounding, in my experience. Polite and well-stated comments are banned, while primitive personal attacks get sent through.
ReplyDeleteI have seen it repeatedly and with a growing dismay, especially since this is a purported liberal site (and I'd hoped "liberal" still meant what it was supposed to mean).
Their New Age-y Living section in particular is populated with oversensitive(?) moderators who, for some strange (or not) reason, do not want to hear not only negative comments, but also those that may be supportive of their blog posts and their authors.
Last weekend's arbitrary censorship fest that took place under Dr. Lanza's post on the non-existence of death (or something akin to it) really took my breath away. I participated in the discussion, only to see comment after comment -- mine and others -- removed with no apparent justification.
The posters' responses to others often register on the site even though they do not make it to the official comment list, so I could see many perfectly reasonable, polite and well-stated arguments (written in response to some of my own) that were not allowed. I wanted to respond to many of them, but couldn't, since these comments were never posted on the thread.
Yet primitive and abusive personal attacks get through. Go figure.
Shame on HuffPo.
(Cross-posted at "Respectful Insolence")
@ "HuffPo blogger"
ReplyDelete11:15 AM CST
Quote :
"...HuffPo editors are very sensitive to criticism..."
Ahh...You're making me weep !!...
Would you please explain to us the difference between "Huffpo editors" and "moderators", and so-called "senior moderators"...or is there a difference ?
We only get cryptic notices from "senior moderators" Who is "Jolene H." or "Rob S.". Are they real ?
Please give us their full names. This is where the rubber meets the road.
J.B.
8/3/10
Can someone create a table or list--posted on the first page of this or another related website -- where people could list each incident of censorship by HuffPo? The list could include:
ReplyDelete• their screen name
• title of the article involved
• date they were banned/profile deleted from Huffington Post
The list would become longer and longer, and the issue of HuffPo censorship
could become even more visible in the media.
Posting such a list would let the facts speak for themselves!