twopointouch

I don’t normally do gossip - skip right past if you’re here for information. Ermm yeah, past the next one, too. But WTF?! And for once, these are people I actually know.

So you know about the Techcrunch UK Fiasco, which followed the Le Web 3 Fiasco? Sounds like madness, right?

Time to cop a bit of reality. Mike Butcher, co-editor of Techcunch UK&IRL (go there for the comments), is a level-headed sort of guy. He has now posted his own take on the proceedings. As a professional journalist, you’ll note that Mike B is a tad more fussy about the ethics of deleting posts and deleting comments than his erstwhile boss Michael Arrington appears to be. To my mind, it is wrong to do either of those things. Sam Sethi, the incumbent editor until yesterday, did well to stand his ground. I would have done the same. Mike B rightly says:

There are a couple of very interesting themes here… The first is the gradual emergence of a kind of ‘cigar-chomping, controlling proprietor’ behaviour amongst some of the most successful blogs. I’m thinking “Citizen Kane 2.0” here. The second is the “Read/Write… and Delete Web” where blogging and user generated content is coming under attack from those who want to control or lock down the conversation.

In addition to deleting Sam Sethi’s last two posts on Techcrunch, as well as the Loic Le Meur ‘asshole’ comment (though not his retraction - yet), Mike A has also deleted his own ‘Holy Fuck‘ post on his own site, bemoaning the terrible woes that are the awful consequence of being a millionaire - poor wee lamb. Even the digg post referring to that has been mysteriously buried. Is Techcrunch aiming to become the new Ministry of Truth?

Mike Butcher’s post is well worth a read for an insight into web politics and the last week’s events.