Tuesday, June 21, 2005

Desperation yields unintended consequences

In a short-lived mass media experiment, the Los
Angeles Times has closed a Web site it launched
on Friday that allowed readers to rewrite
editorials.

The paper said it made the move after the site
was flooded with obscene messages and photos.

Dubbed "Wikitorial" after the popular Wikipedia
collaborative encyclopedia project, the Web site
was blank on Monday morning, except for a short
explanation:

"Unfortunately, we have had to remove this
feature, at least temporarily, because a few
readers were flooding the site with inappropriate
material. Thanks and apologies to the thousands
of people who logged on in the right spirit."

In a desperate attempt to save itself, instead The
Media steps all over itself.

Without a clue, they are.

Read.