Indy Media Watch

Further to the previous spam attack on this site, which resulted in the current suspension of comments, comes this piece on UK Indymedia - Indymedia Watch Censors Comments.

The self proclaimed watchdog of indymedia sites has disabled comment [sic] on his blog in response to comments criticising his hypocritical campaign against the indymedia - criticism which he described as a 'spam attack'.

I'm not sure how else to describe the same comment, posted over a dozen times to various pages on the site.The fool continues:

The comment which obviously struck to close to home can be found in google cache and reads;

No, it can't be found in any Google Cache at the time of posting, and the author of the UK Indymedia piece is a liar and obviously the spammer, with access to a local copy that was used in the attack. However, for the record, here is the comment:

"Indy Media Watch is run by a unaccountable elite of one who allows complete lies and fabrication to be posted on the blog or deletes posts without adequate explanation. There seem to be no clear rules and they are applied inconsitantly.[sic] People are regularly allowed to post comments while pretending to be many different people yet the owner of the site makes no effort to expose the such dishonesty even though it is within their [sic] capabilities. However, the owner is quite happy to trawl through logs to expose the IP address of posters who point this out.

Your point? Attack each other in comments all you want, I really couldn't care less. Attack this blog with spam however and we have a problem.

The Indy Media Watch blog is a travesty of inconsistancy [sic] and hypocracy [sic]

At least it's not a travesty of English.

a den of misfits banned from indymedia sites around the world and huddling together like a little self help group for the terminally stupid.

Again and again the blog cherry picks something from the hundreds of posts to indymedia open newsires around the world and tries make [sic] them representative of the collectives who admin the sites. The double standards expressed by The Watcher and the rest of the deluded fools posting on this blog as if they are exposing some great travesty, is something to behold.

Yes, welcome to Indy Watch [sic] Blog - where disruptive trolls banned from Indymedia come to play."

As if to prove the point, the owner of the Indymedia Watch blog acted out the very act of censorship that he and his cohorts regularly accuse indymedia sites of. The irony is too much to bare [sic] and has obviously not been missed by at least one comedian who set up the Indymedia Watch Watch blog - apparently a spoof of the watcher.

While there is no doubt much that could be improved within indymedia, it is farcical that this 'watcher' likes to pretend to be beyond the contradictions inherent in open publishing, only to end up censoring his own site at the first hint of criticism.

What an ass.

As I said before disabling comments, I have no problem with criticism (although it would appear that someone on UK Indymedia does).

I hav no problem with criticism, however posting the same comment dozens of times, is (as the English might say) taking the piss. Going too far. Unacceptable. Spam.

Had he posted it once it would have stayed. But that wasn't good enough. Of course now that I have reprinted it in full, is our loyal moron going to continue to believe I am somehow terrified of his comment and trying to censor him?

Hardly. I simply have no time for complete acts of stupidity, of which his was a gem of an example. Sadly, in the UK Indymedia post, our 'friend' didn't even have the common courtesy to link to this site.

I don't need to respond to why the rest of his comment is wrong, as someone on UK Indymedia has done it for me (highlighting my own):

Thanks for the publicity

Thank you to this contributor for the publicity about the Indymedia Watch website.

Indymedia Watch was created because the author was concerned that the original concept of Indymedia had been hijacked by individuals who were pushing an agenda of their own which was at odds with the original wish to see non journalists empowered with the ability to publish news. Indymedia Watch is part of the tradition of progressive journalism in that it allows individuals with alternative viewpoints to voice those opinions in a way that is free of the control of groups like those currently controlling various Indymedia sites.

Indymedia Watch has already been succesful in bringing to wider notice concerns shared by many about the direction Indymedia has taken and its increasing isolation from the broader activist and progressive community. Those of us who have worked hard to try and return Indymedia to its roots and save it from the desires of a few to be their own mouthpiece are already seeing the results of that activity with the incredible amount of support Indymedia Watch has received from individuals who share that wish.

Indymedia UK is an excellent example of this problem which is probably why certain persons associated with the UK Indymedia operation have worked so hard to try and close the Indymedia Watch site with a campaign of Trolling and Spamming. Perhaps we shouldn't be surprised as the number one reason for no longer contributing to Indymedia UK is the censorship policy and the heavy handed way it is enforced, an attempt to shut down a site that illustrates clearly the various failings of Indymedia UK is a logical next step for those who fear debate.

The controller of the site has indeed temporarily stopped comments on the site as a result of this spam attack but I understand will be reactivating comments in the near future.

Those persons who share the concerns of us may wish to take the time to read the archives of the site, it contains excellent writing on issues of interest to anyone who cares about Indymedia and its future.

That entire post has been hidden by UK Indymedia.

Can you guess why? The subsequent comment might give some idea:

THIS POST AND ALL THE COMMENTS SHOULD BE REMOVED. THE LAST THING WE NEED IS ANY MORE PEOPLE READING THE INDYMEDIA WATCH SITE

IMC REGULAR

As for this "Indymedia Watch Watch" blog - Until now, I've never heard of it. Nor has it sent a single hit here, according to the referrer logs. Must be awfully popular...

Finally, I could predict a hundred miles away, that responding to the spam attack by turning off comments would result in claims I had 'fallen for' the 'clever trap' set for me, I was a hypocrite. etc. etc.

To claim there are double-standards, or that:

As if to prove the point, the owner of the Indymedia Watch blog acted out the very act of censorship that he and his cohorts regularly accuse indymedia sites of.

is rubbish.

Here's the thing: I am not "censoring comments" at all as I am under no obligation to provide space for you to leave them. This is a blog. It is not an "independent news source". It is not an experiment in "open publishing" (although Blogger may be). It is not a "discussion forum". It is not a "bulletin board". If you want to respond, go and start your own blog (hey, good luck with getting people to read it) and I won't stop you.

Indeed, I am setting an example for Indymedia. As soon as I saw things here were out of control, I stepped in, and as much as it upset me, did the responsible thing to stop the problem.

The. Responsible. Thing.

Much of Indymedia on the other hand, refuses to even consider that there is a problem, much less do anything about it.

Way to prove a point. Fool. How sad that that energy couldn't be channelled toward fixing Indymedia. After all, as you said:

there is no doubt much that could be improved within indymedia