Turkish bloggers strike

Bloggers in Turkey are rebelling over a court ruling that mainstream sites must not carry content that is either immoral or insulting to the founder of the modern Turksih state Ataturk.

The bloggers are closing their websites in protest and so far more than 450 have replaced their sites with a message expressing support for the protests.

Websites including You Tube have already been blocked by the courts,The You tube ban was the result of a sophomoric video claiming Ataturk was gay and the site has expressed alarm at the Turkish authorities banning of content not just in Turkey but across the world.

When should a paper run an international lead

The Spectator's blog is rather critical of the news values of the Times this morning.

The paper ran as its main lead this morning yet another report about the nation's health
Parents of fat children to be given a warning rather than what the Spectator believed should have been its main lead,a scoop interview with Turkey's Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan

According to the blog,this represents its tabloid credentials

when The Times chooses to lead with an insignificant development on child obesity in Britain rather than with its own scoop on globally-significant events in Turkey, then you know Rupert Murdoch's tabloid values have won, not just when it comes to the paper's size but, sadly, to its content as well.

It is an interesting point.As mentioned on this blog lkast week the papers have been obsessed with health stories over the last couple of weeks.An imminent outbreak of hostilities in Northern Iraq you would think would take precedent,at least in a quality paper