Posted on 02/19/2008 7:21:41 AM PST by ddtorquee
How big do you have to be to earn the wrath of the United Nations and Internet giant Google?
If you're journalist Matthew Lee, all it takes are some critical articles and a scrappy little Web site.
Lee is the editor-in-chief, Webmaster and pretty much the only reporter for Inner City Press, a pint-sized Internet news operation that's taken on Goliath-sized entities like Citigroup since 1987.
Since 2005, he's been focusing almost entirely on stories that deal with internal corruption inside the U.N., posting several stores online almost daily.
He's been especially interested in the inner workings of what could be called the practical-applications arm of the international organization, the United Nations Development Programme.
Many of Lee's stories were featured prominently whenever Web users looked for news about the U.N. using the powerful Google News search engine, a vital way for media outlets both large and small to get their articles read.
But beginning Feb. 13, Google News users could no longer find new stories from the Inner City Press.
"I think they said, 'If we can't get this guy out of the U.N., let's disappear him from the Internet,'" Lee said.
It began with an innocuous-sounding yet chilling form letter from Google to Lee, e-mailed on Feb. 8:
"We periodically review news sources, particularly following user complaints, to ensure Google News offers a high quality experience for our users," it said. "When we reviewed your site we've found that we can no longer include it in Google News."
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
They just took him of of “news”. He’s still in the “web” search.
I just did a Google search on Inner City Press, and came up with about 460,000 hits, including a link directly to the site. If Google was blocking searches, I would have a problem, as they present themselves as a neutral search engine. As far as what they include on their news page, I think that’s a corporate decision, and although I might not agree with it, it’s their choice.
Well- here’s a twist- the very article you just posted shows up here- wonder if they’ve already had a change of mind :)
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=matthew+lee&btnG=Google+Search
In fact, Inner City Press is indeed back on Google. Should have been MUCH higher in the story.
He’s back on news.
Found the “Inner City Press” website via Dogpile.
Good.
At first, I thought this thread was about the woman who jumped/was pushed out of the UN building this week.
Re: Google refuses to reveal who sent the complaint against Inner City Press, citing privacy concerns.
And their motto is “do no evil”?
What a crock.
Google has been practicing scrubbing the news in China.
US out of the UN
UN out of the US
AMEN!
With other search engine choices available, I have wondered for a long time why google or yahoo get used to the extent they do. These companies do not operate in the best interest of freedom loving peoples anywhere around the world.
If you search google news for the UN you will not find any stories published by Inner City Press. That’s what the article is about.
Two contradictory statements from Google here:
“We acknowledged our misunderstanding ... but it takes time for the restoration to occur,” Stricker said. “The glitch will be resolved as soon as possible. We’re working on it.”
“Google refuses to reveal who sent the complaint against Inner City Press, citing privacy concerns”
Banned by glitch or complaint? Get your story straight Google.
Google,being run by leftist move on types, is well known for 1984 like "memory hole" tactics of making someone disappear if they don't like the politics of a given site or someone
bump
And Google's claiming it was a boo-boo...
A Week's Exclusion from Google Raises UN-answered Questions a
No more UN for US-list
If people want on or off this list, please let me know.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.