On 3/28/07, James Farrar james.farrar@gmail.com wrote:
Indeed, but just because _some_ blogs are full of rubbish, doesn't mean that _all_ blogs should be ignored completely (which is, AIUI, the current BLP policy).
So let's formulate a more sensible policy:
1) Blog posts can be used to substantiate the opinion of their authors at the time of posting. 2) Respected, widely used blogs can be used in the same manner as other types of publications where defamation of living people is not concerned. Of course, proof of "respect" and "wide use" must be demonstrable.
But what do you really want to do when a respected, widely used blog claims that some living person bribed a member of parliament, and provides some kind of "proof"? I don't see how we could publish that. Can anyone name a blog they would feel comfortable citing directly for something really contentious and defamatory? If the claims are that important, surely they will be picked up, verified and repeated by newspapers or other media?
Steve