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On the day of the 7 July Inquests verdict, The Guardian, with their Orwellianly titled 'Comment is Free' 'discussion' forum, have deleted a short comment left on their live inquest verdict coverage thread by J7: The July 7th Truth Campaign.
A few pertinent points of fact: The work of J7: The July 7th Truth Campaign was referenced at the start of the inquest proceedings, at the end of inquest proceedings, and repeatedly throughout the course of the inquests, to the point that anomalies and questions highlighted by J7 were raised by counsels for the bereaved in the coroner's court. Furthermore, the work of J7 even formed the basis for a series of articles by Guardian journalist Shiv Malik on the subject of Mohammed Junaid Babar, the US State's star witness in every significant 'terrorist' trial in the last few years. J7's work has also been referenced by no less than the Guardian's assistant editor, Michael White, in a piece about UK complicity in torture. J7 were also featured in seven page Media Guardian spread, Seeing Isn't Believing, in June 2006. Oh, and J7 even penned a Comment is Free article.
A few pertinent points of fact: The work of J7: The July 7th Truth Campaign was referenced at the start of the inquest proceedings, at the end of inquest proceedings, and repeatedly throughout the course of the inquests, to the point that anomalies and questions highlighted by J7 were raised by counsels for the bereaved in the coroner's court. Furthermore, the work of J7 even formed the basis for a series of articles by Guardian journalist Shiv Malik on the subject of Mohammed Junaid Babar, the US State's star witness in every significant 'terrorist' trial in the last few years. J7's work has also been referenced by no less than the Guardian's assistant editor, Michael White, in a piece about UK complicity in torture. J7 were also featured in seven page Media Guardian spread, Seeing Isn't Believing, in June 2006. Oh, and J7 even penned a Comment is Free article.
The comment below was previously here.
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| The Disappeared |
Not only have The Guardian seen fit to delete the comment, they have also removed J7's account from their system.
"This user profile is not available."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/discussion/user/j7truthcampaign
Let us all be grateful for the freedom, democracy, freedom of speech, and all the other stuff regularly championed as the cherished way of life in our glorious land, even though it doesn't really exist.
6 comments:
Have you asked them for an explanation of what happened? Please do.
Hi Roger
Not yet, The Guardian were relatively low on the battle list today, but we will endeavour to obtain an explanation.
I'll post an update when there's something to report.
Please could you also get in touch with me by email when this happens.
Not sure I have an address for you so feel free to drop me a mail at antagonised [at] hotmail dot com.
This turned up in the mailbox... #1
Dear Sirs / Madams,
We write to request an explanation as to why a comment placed by J7: The July 7th Truth Campaign was deleted from the Comment is Free / News Blog article '7/7 Inquest verdict – live coverage'[1] of 6th May 2011.
Our comment appeared briefly (timed at 3.15pm) and was deleted within approximately half an hour. A copy of the comment has been archived[2], and the URL 'permanent link to this comment' provided.[3]. Owing to the impermanent nature of the permanent link to our comment, the URL supplied no longer works.
We are unhappy with the abject moderation of what we feel was a legitimate and valuable comment and contribution to an important debate regarding the July 7 Inquests, particularly as the comment did not appear to breach any of the 10 Simple Guidelines[4] published.
The work of J7 since the events of 7 July 2005 occurred has played an important role in the Inquest proceedings: Our campaign and work were both referenced at the start of the inquest proceedings, at the end of inquest proceedings, and repeatedly throughout the course of the inquests. Many of the anomalies and questions highlighted by J7 were even raised in the coroner's court by counsels acting on behalf of the bereaved families. Furthermore, the work of J7 has even formed the basis for a recent series of articles by Guardian journalist Shiv Malik on the subject of Mohammed Junaid Babar, the US State's star witness and Supergrass in every significant 'terrorist' trial of the 21st century. J7 were also featured in a seven page Media Guardian spread by Mark Honigsbaum, Seeing Isn't Believing, published in June 2006 and we have also authored an article for Comment is Free. J7's work has also been referenced by no less than the Guardian's Assistant Editor, Michael White, in a piece about the British State's complicity in torture[5].
This turned up in the mailbox... #2
The actions of your moderators and the removal of our comment has marred what has been welcome and extensive coverage of the 7 July inquests verdict announcements. Could you kindly explain:
1. Why our comment was deleted.
2. Why our comment profile has been removed.
We would suggest, as acceptable gestures of requital, that:
1. J7's comments are reinstated with immediate effect as they are not in breach of the 10 Simple Rules.
2. J7's user profile is accordingly reinstated with immediate effect.
3. We be offered the opportunity to compose another 'Comment is Free' article for publication and comment (see our previous article published in July 2006[7]).
We believe that the excellent Guardian CiF feature provides a valuable -- if somewhat heavily moderated -- forum where important topical debate can occur, all in the cherished spirit of democratic journalism and freedom of speech, etc.
Or have things changed at the Guardian?
We look forward to hearing from you soon.
Yours faithfully,
J7: The July 7th Truth Campaign
::: References
1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/blog/2011/may/06/7-7-inquest-verdict-live-coverage
2. http://preview.tinyurl.com/5r5rv6l
3. http://www.guardian.co.uk/discussion/comment-permalink/10640026
4. http://www.guardian.co.uk/community-standards
5. http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/blog/2009/jul/08/pakistan-terrorist-torture
6. http://www.guardian.co.uk/discussion/user/j7truthcampaign
7. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2006/jul/04/comment.july7
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