Blogs on polling day
Readers of ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ News blogs might have noticed that they are today unable to leave comments on posts about political matters. This is because of the elections being held for the European Parliament and English local authorities, and it will remain the case until the close of polling in the UK at 2200BST on Thursday. You can find out more about the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ's policies on broadcasting during elections from this Editorial Guidelines document [172Kb PDF].
Giles Wilson is the features editor of the .
Comment number 1.
At 5th Jun 2009, mediahustler wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 2.
At 5th Jun 2009, SiriusWonderblast wrote:I'm confused on two levels by Giles Wilsons note above.
1) If blogs on political subject are banned on polling days, isnlt that defeating the very point of them? The zeitgeist might be pretty feral, because many people ar every angry, but that is what si there and should be reflected. Not to do so is extreme censorship of a most totalitarian sort.
2) If what is said is true, why does the main Have Your Say front page lead with "What now for Labour?"
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Comment number 3.
At 5th Jun 2009, Steve Bentley wrote:SiriusWonderblast - it's pretty much the only option the beeb have to make sure they comply with the Representation of the People Act. It's a lot less draconian than it used to be, with people sitting in TV studio galleries with stopwatches making sure each party got an equal amount of airtime.
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Comment number 4.
At 5th Jun 2009, forensix wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 5.
At 5th Jun 2009, uh10029 wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 6.
At 5th Jun 2009, chiptheduck wrote:The EU elections were the most important event of the week yet I was unable to comment on Have Your Say.
Internet Explorer 8 (latest version) does not show the map so I was firstly excluded as I was unabe to post.
Then when I finally accessed it through a PC running IE7 my comments were rejected for no obvious reason and without explanation of any kind - certainly it did not break house rules.
The level of censorship is now so severe that HYS offers a biased ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ view on any important topic.
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Comment number 7.
At 5th Jun 2009, lizzylite123 wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 8.
At 6th Jun 2009, emtycee wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 9.
At 6th Jun 2009, someoneordinary wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 10.
At 7th Jun 2009, meltonmark wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 11.
At 7th Jun 2009, forensix wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 12.
At 7th Jun 2009, Disolutioned wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 13.
At 7th Jun 2009, quietoldinthetooth wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 14.
At 7th Jun 2009, ikamaskeip wrote:Just one Question for you Mr Wilson:
If ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ cannot allow Public contributions and debate on EU/UK Politics on Election day how is it ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ manages to Publish Johnny Dymond's EU Tour guide including his personally very positive comments on how good the EU is???
It seems there's one rule for the UK Citizens and an entirely different one for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, so long as it is pro-EU!
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Comment number 15.
At 7th Jun 2009, lordBeddGelert wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 16.
At 7th Jun 2009, lordBeddGelert wrote:ikamaskeip
How right you are, I saw a similarly ra-ra-ra film by someone from ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ South West [I think] with absolutely no 'sceptical enquiry' or independent viewpoint.
What disgusts me more, is that it is not even explicable by the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ wanting to give an alternative viewpoint to the right-wing media by being a bit lefty, since people like Tony Benn are anti-EU.
It is the fact that the EU is anti-democratic we detest - why can't the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ be far more inquiring of their motives ??
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Comment number 17.
At 8th Jun 2009, 20vincent wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 18.
At 8th Jun 2009, ObsoleteExocet wrote:#14,#16
I agree that the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ seem unable to maintain a "neutral" perspective on EU matters. Peter Hain MP, on radio late last night kept on about the poor election results being an "anti-expenses" rebellion, not even challenged about the failure to hold a referendum on the Lisbon Constitution, and systemic failure of democracy via EU Directives.
It is also worth noting that the Representation of the Peoples Act is not clear about media balance when it comes to "public comments" rather than those made by candidates or their parties. Isn't a report such as "it has been very quiet here" outside a Polling Station just as "sensitive" as someone posting on here "I am not going to vote"?
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Comment number 19.
At 8th Jun 2009, CJBOREHL wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 20.
At 8th Jun 2009, dotconnect wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 21.
At 8th Jun 2009, UKIPNorthfield wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 22.
At 8th Jun 2009, ObsoleteExocet wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 23.
At 8th Jun 2009, SEGALB wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 24.
At 8th Jun 2009, Alexandralivia wrote:There is one comment i would like to add regarding your article "In pictures: EU elections quiz" and the pictures you chose to use for describing the electoral outfit of various countries inhabitants. Im wondering, do you( the author of the article) happen to know how the romanian traditional costume looks like? If not I could help you out with this by sending you pictures and movies or recommend you some sites you could visit on internet. Or maybe there is something personal you have with the people living in this country... but its hard for me to believe that when im thinking that you are a respectable journalist working for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ UK and one of your most precious qualities should be based on the impartially point of view.
So, yes. Im upset..Im upset because you've never came here to see how does a transilvanian costume looks like, because you've never visit the bucovinian churches and never met the romanian people living in this country, im upset because you've never listened to the music of George Enescu or Gheorghe Zamfir and never seen Nadia Comaneci perfoming at the Olympics and most of all im upset because you take the picture of the poorest gipsy woman in the smallest village in Romania and use as an emblem for the romanian people. In the end... its just something you cant do as a journalist because its just like you wouldnt be capable to realize that even for the british emblem there are some faces who could represent very well your nation nowadays, the indians and pakistani.
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Comment number 25.
At 9th Jun 2009, Wherewhich wrote:#24
I cannot answer for the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ journalist concerned, nor those responsible for the page containing the article you refer to, but I can assure you that I have listened to the infectious rhythms of George Enescu's wonderful music and watched and marvelled at Nadia Comaneci performing in European, World, and Olympic championships, courtesy of the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ.
However on your main point I do believe that our media, including the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ, tend to use lowest common denominators when expressing views about many things including descriptions of some of our European colleagues. This patronage is not limited to those outside the UK; the UK media is often guilty of doing the same to its own citizens. I hope your comments will lead to the ³ÉÈË¿ìÊÖ showing us a much more accurate picture of Romanian life.
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Comment number 26.
At 9th Jun 2009, emtycee wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 27.
At 9th Jun 2009, impassive wrote:So I see HYS is back in a to normal - though we still have no idea of
the problems.
And by normal, I mean normal; extraordinary moderation decisions,
extraordinary moderation delays and despite a plethora of excellent suggestions, very little sign that any of them will be taken up.
You, like the government, need to do better.
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Comment number 28.
At 9th Jun 2009, WebNewsReader wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 29.
At 9th Jun 2009, Wherewhich wrote:Given the supposed amount of time and effort devoted to identifying and correcting HYS problems it does seem a little strange that you are still doing the same things as before. Was there a fault or was the "breakdown" a convenient way of avoiding having to release sensitive information via a FOI request?
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Comment number 30.
At 9th Jun 2009, pongabit wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 31.
At 10th Jun 2009, ThePoliticalGuru wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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Comment number 32.
At 10th Jun 2009, pongabit wrote:This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the house rules. Explain.
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