Posts Tagged ‘blogging’
Google’s Tameside Hospital web search page censors an image of the Grim Reaper
A SEARCH for Manchester’s Tameside General Hospital on Google delivers a picture of The Grim Reaper lurking outside the building.
The image was created for the website Tameside Citizen, a blog about the area which has focused on the hospital’s death rates. The accompanying story tells readers:
Tameside is one of five hospitals to be subject to a probe in light of today’s Francis Report – which found that there were hundreds of avoidable deaths at Mid-Staffordshire NHS Trust between 2005-9.
Sir Bruce Keogh, medical director at the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB) will launch an immediate investigation into Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust – as well as Colchester Hospital University NHS Foundation Trust, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Basildon and Thurrock University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust – immediately.
The hospitals were chosen because they had the worst mortality rates according to the so-called Summary Hospital-level Mortality Indicator (SHMI) for two successive years to 2012.
This ends with a link the a full story at the Manchester Evening News. All fair and proper, then. It’s a worthwhile story:
Between October 2011 and September 2012, 18 per cent more patients at Tameside died than would be expected at a similar hospital, according to statistics.
But no. The MEN says the image rose to the top on Google’s for searches for the hospital. It does not name the blog that published it. It offers no link to it. It reports:
Google has now stepped in to take down the image – which was revealed to anyone typing the name of the hospital into the search engine – after being alerted by the M.E.N
A Google spokeswoman admitted the automatically-generated image had been ‘inappropriate’ and confirmed it had now been removed from its image database.
Why admitted? Is it a crime? And who decides what is and what is not appropriate? The Google worker, whose name is not given, says to the MEN:
“In this particular case, we have now updated the panel with a more appropriate image. All of our panels include a link so you can tell us when we may have an inaccuracy in our information.”
So. The natural search on Google – all those keywords and links – is a fix.
Tameside Citizen follows up:
M.E.N. attempt to censor Tameside Citizen.
The Image “THEY” want to ban!
The Manchester Evening News has claimed that they have succeeded in having the above image removed by Google after it was used by “a BlogSpot”.
“A Blog Spot”. Don’t they mean TAMESIDE CITIZEN, the blog that brought you the news that “The Advertiser” had meetings with local politicians with a view to “Suppressing sensationalist reporting” The same Advertiser which is owned by the Manchester Evening News!
Yet again it is the small independent Blog which shows the big business newspaper the meaning of the phrase “Free Press”
What’s so bad about the image? A fee commentators write back:
* The hoody pictured near the hospital does not look well.
* I have an interest in this issue. My father died in Tameside Hospital last year. My mother died six months ago in Willow wood hospice, 4 days after transfer from Tameside Hospital. The patients were clearly not getting the best treatment they deserved. The staff were giving the best they could. The big problem I could see was that there were not enough nursing staff. Even the best most dedicated nurse can not be at two bedsides at the same time.
* My own mother died in TH and there was one nurse running the ward. She told me she also served the patients meals as well.
Not exactly a death cult, is it? But because Google and the MEN don’t like the image or the messenger, they want to make it harder for readers to find the story. Local news is vital. It’s where the big stories start. You’d think the MEN and Google, which takes you content for free, would know that…
Spotter: Karen
Posted: 28th, June 2013 | In: Reviews, Technology | Comment
Backbiting causes Iain Dale to quit blogging
In a rather surprise move top Tory blogger Iain Dale has decided to call it a day. Dale has been blogging for five years now and his blog is regularly cited as one of the most read in the UK.
If you read the post announcing the move on his blog, it is clear that Dale has had enough of blogging for personal reasons.
Dale says
The truth is, I no longer enjoy blogging and I think that this has been evident for a few months now to my readers. I hate the backbiting that goes along with it. I hate the character assassination that is permanently present. I no longer enjoy the pressure of feeling I have to churn out four or five pieces every day. I used to enjoy sitting in front of the TV at home in the evenings and writing blogposts at the same time. I can’t do that any longer as I am on the radio every weekday evening. And when I am in the office during the day I have two companies to run. Something has to give.
And if I am honest, I now feel that my blogging is having a negative effect on various aspects of my business and broadcasting life.
Dale will now focus on his media work and running a publishing company. We wish him well. It is actually quite moving to read the comments on his blog and he clearly has played an important role in UK politics over the past few years. If you want the dirt on UK politics we can heartily recommend this fella
Posted: 14th, December 2010 | In: Politicians | Comment
Autralian Hacks Teach Indian Slum Dwellers How To Blog: LOL
THINK of the most useless thing you can think of . Then double it. Then read this story of Australian bloggers teaching LOL and trolling to Indian slum dwellers:
Two Australians are being sent to Bangladesh to teach slum dwellers how to blog. Joel Katz, an English teacher and Sharna Bremner, a university student, will be based in the capital Dhaka, where they will teach youths living in poverty how to use social media, including blogs, Facebook and Twitter.
iPhones all round!
Bloggers’ Bash 2010 And Drinks At Adam Smith Institute
ANORAK’S pal Tim Worstall and one-time breakfast date Guido are speaking at the Adam Smith Institute. Fancy it?
Dear blogger,
On Thursday, 29th April, we will be holding our annual Bloggers’ Bash.
Details are as follows:Bloggers’ Bash 2010
A plague on all their houses?Speakers:
Paul Staines—Guido Fawkes’ blog
Tim Worstall—It is all obvious or trivial except…
Perry de Havilland—Samizdata.net29th April 2010, 6.30pm to 8.30pm
Plentiful beers & lagers will be served
23 Great Smith Street, London, SW1P 3BL
RSVP: events@adamsmith.org
Be there…
Posted: 11th, April 2010 | In: Reviews | Comments (2)
When A Blogger Dies: Marc Riddler
MARC Riddler has died from cancer. Marc was blogger.
No mawkishness. No cause. Just as it is.
His blog is here.
John Prescott Fist Bumps Iain Dale
JOHN Prescott has started blogging in the run up to the UK general election.
And quite entertaining it is too. His latest post takes up Tory blogger Iain Dale for suggesting that Prezza doesn’t write his own posts.
Appealing to a blogger’s vanity works. Dale notes the reply – and recognition – and offers:
As I say, respect to JP.
Watch out for the fist bump…
Posted: 5th, February 2009 | In: Politicians | Comment
Your Old Media Light Bulb Is The Same As My Blogged Green Light Bulb
HOW the media works: light bulbs. Richard North investigates:
As it stands – and the numbers vary from hour to hour – there are 28,595 individual media stories posted on Google News covering the Gaza conflict. But how many of them are genuine, individual stories, based on accurate, reliable first-hand information?
That the media indulges in group-think and plagiarises each others’ stories is hardly new, but it is a useful corrective to remind ourselves of how prevalent and blatant this practice really is.
Step away from Gaza for one moment, and look at a completely different issue – one we tackled yesterday, the great light-bulb story. Go to The Daily Mail and you will see a follow-up story by David Derbyshire headlined, “The low-energy bulbs that won’t fit your light sockets”. It is datelined 11:03 PM on 07th January 2009.
Go on:
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Bastard Old Holborn Is Gone: Blogger Undone By War
OLD Mr Anorak has long enjoyed the work of Bastard Old Holborn and is dismayed to read this on his blog:
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Posted: 7th, January 2009 | In: Politicians | Comments (3)
Reuters Deploys Weapons Systems In Arab-Israel Fight
DO you know your weapons in the latest Arab-Israel conflict?
Reuters does. And its editors display their knowledge with captions.
Caption 1: An Israeli F-16 fighter jet flies over the northern Gaza Strip after deploying a weapons system January 3, 2009. Israeli forces bombed the Gaza Strip from the air and sea on Saturday, and desperate residents of the Palestinian enclave sheltered in their homes as the offensive entered a second week.
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Former Falcons Star Michael Vick Earns Like A Blogger
MICHAEL Vick, the disgraced American football star, is is choky. He has a head for figures. Whe he gets out he can run an investment bank, or a blog:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution examined former Falcons quarterback Michael Vick’s bankruptcy documents and found that the former NFL star squandered $18.2 million and now makes only $12.98 a month off an investment. He spent more than $200,000 just hours before heading off to a 2-year federal prison sentence for his role in a dog-fighting ring.
$12.98 a month.
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Harriet Harman’s Blog Goes Bust
HARRIET Harman has been purged from the internets. Dizzy writes:
I’ve just been corresponding by email with Jon Worth, the Labour blogger who looks after Harriet Harman’s personal website and blog.
It would appear the site is offline and I was curious why. Jon has let me know, presumably so I wouldn’t speculate it had something to do with the ongoing Speaker story.
Apparently the hosting company has gone bust which I found particularly ironic as it probably happened due to the recession caused by the Government to which Harman is essentially deputy leader.
Probably. But still, it’s a frist.
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Posted: 6th, December 2008 | In: Reviews | Comment (1)
The Death Of Blogging Author Has A Blog
THE death of blogging, says the Economist’s blogger:
The Economist has a proud tradition of anonymity. But in case you wondered who wrote the piece on the death of blogging – it was this gentleman, and he has a very entertaining blog.
Irony…
Bloggers And Media Law
THE dangers, laws and pratfalls of blogging. Robert Cox is the founder and president of the Media Bloggers Association. This in the NY Daily News:
When Peter Robbins, a retired homicide detective from Barnstable, Mass., was asked to blog for the site CapeCodToday.com, it never occurred to him that he might face a libel suit. Lucas Lechuga thought of his blog about the Miami real estate market as a fun diversion from selling condos until he was slapped with a $25 million lawsuit by a local developer. Alana Taylor, a student at NYU, found herself in hot water after she “live blogged” about her journalism class for the PBS MediaShift Web site.
Anorak knows about the pitfalls of writing on the web. See lawyers letter aplenty:
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Posted: 8th, October 2008 | In: Reviews | Comments (4)
Survivalist Blogger Does Not Survive
“M.D Creekmore” had been running Survivalist Blog. He used it to warn Americans to prepare for a repeat of the Great Depression and Zimbabwean-style hyperinflation.
He worked out of a from a 26ft caravan parked on a strip of wasteland.
The site details how he forages for food in the surrounding countryside, enjoys light from a home-made solar generator converted from an old lawn mower and supplements his income by doing odd jobs.
But despite carrying advertisements to help cover the running costs, he has now lost his internet connection after funds dried up.
Those damn Yankees:
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Posted: 2nd, October 2008 | In: Money | Comment (1)
