Thank you also Mango.

Thank you for your comment Dr D!

Come on, GV, that’s unworthy of you. That’s the old “when did you stop beating your wife” trap for the military. Journalism (whether by citizens or cliched hacks) should at least attempt to have a fleeting relationship with facts and verifiability.

If you can’t do that, create a ‘fiction’ section on GV or all the good work you’ve done risks being undone by this, frankly bizarre descent into Mervyn Silva-land.

Is the debate and discussion that GV wanted to create about what was more likely, blood rituals or human sacrifices?

Please clarify what exactly the thinking was behind publishing unsubstantiated rumors and superstitions, and how you hoped to create debate and discussion around that.

Other media reports (DM, ST and Leader) have all stayed away from the mumbo-jumbo of the story and reported on the breakdown in law and order and created discussion and debate about the underlying causes for this mayhem. In this regard they have responded with a much more professional and ethical manner than GV.

This is not an external writer’s contribution. This was information that came in to GV and someone made an editorial decision to publish it. Therefore GV is inextricably bound to verify and ensure the accuracy of the story.

Yes, you can defend this in many ways. You could even invoke your right to free expression. You could say this is your website and you can damn well say whatever you want, but the we-never-said-it’s-the-truth stance lies at the start of a slippery slope towards tabloidization.

You could on the other hand admit that someone made a mistake, say that it is not your editorial policy to give weight to such superstitions and rumors, pull the story or run a retraction or correction, and generally come out looking professional and serious.

Your call.

Going by PresiDunceBean, the Monkey man madness in Mumbai (since disproved as without foundation in fact) must have been caused by the Hitlerian Sinhala government!

Running this story in the manner you’ve done it is hugely damaging to your credibility and is a gift to anti-GV crowd. I’ve often accused GoSL of not being under adult supervision. The same accusation can be made against GV.

For a fact-based report on the grease yakas, an infinitely better account’s provided here:

http://pcolman.wordpress.com/2011/08/15/the-beast-of-badulla-copy-cats-and-mass-hysteria/

We have not stated that the content of this article should be considered as gospel. The model of GV and our approach to citizen journalism is to publish content for open debate and discussion, and not that any one published version is the absolute and unquestionable truth. As we have stated in the past, anyone is free to comment, including the military. To date, the military has not done so.

Thank you.

GV.

What is it with you guys? Deaf, dumb and blind? Can’t you see what is happening? No smoke without a fire…just like no grease devils or white vans without the tacit support of the majority. The Germans turned a blind eye to what Hitler was doing…under Rajapaksa and Brothers and Sons, business might be good…but it’s just that. Don’t delude yourselves. Let’s not be another North Korea.

If you want something with more than sensationalized, unverified and ‘possibly inaccurate’ claims from anonymous sources read the Sunday Times: http://sundaytimes.lk/110814/News/nws_15.html

Notice how the Sunday Times manages to actually put together a news story with all the details and a coherent timeline of incidents, without going into the mumbo-jumbo. They convey the confusion and the complexity of the responses without talking about blood rituals and human sacrifice.

Even the Daily Mirror, which I constantly criticize for a lack of ethics and inability to produce good journalism, have on this occasion been very careful about what they publish, sticking only to well sourced material and not giving any space to rumors and fantasy.

Groundviews should hold themselves to the same high standards that they demand from mainstream media. When you’ve got to the point where you’re saying ghost stories have not been checked for accuracy, it’s just hypocrisy.

You should have made an effort to do some basic fact checking before publishing the account of your correspondent in the East. I don’t know if it is true or false – but it certainly appears far-fetched and does nothing to help the whole ‘Grease Yaka’ situation.

For example, at the very least you should have waited to check in Hansard if Anura Dissanayake actually made the statement alleged in point (1) of your correspondent’s write up.