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November 3, 2008

Andrew Gilligan: more sock-puppets found

Further reports are coming in of Andrew Gilligan making comments about his articles while pretending to be someone other than himself.

I'm waiting to see a firm denial from Gilligan. When you're ready, Andrew....

Meanwhile, bloggers who suspect that they may be a victim of these shenanigans may want to check their stats/back-end for visits from 'Associated Newspapers Ltd' (and/or the IP range 195.234.240.0 - 195.234.243.255).

UPDATE - Dave Hill challenges Gilligan on sock-puppeting on the Guardian website, prompting this 'denial' involving comments made under the 'kennite' profile, made using Gilligan's usual profile:

andrewgilligan
Nov 03 08, 4:06pm

Dave,

Kennite is my partner. Is that allowed? I've always been perfectly happy, as you acknowledge, to point out the shortcomings in your journalism under my own name. Even by the standards of the Ken Left, it strikes me as more than usually bizarre to accuse me of concealing my true views about our former mayor and his online fan club.

It's also good to see such a sure sense of priorities. On the day of a major mayoral policy launch about a trivial subject like knife crime, you're focusing on the issues that really matter.

Andrew

The 'fascist' tag is pretty subtle, but there's a clear attack on Hill, and the "Don't you have anything better to do (than catch me cheating)?" tactic is textbook.

And, of course, there's the statement that 'kennite' is a partner, which isn't quite a denial.

Life partner? Business partner? Did 'Kennite' post the comments or did A.G. post the comments using their profile?

And this does nothing to explain the trail of anonymous comments he has left in his wake elsewhere.

UPDATE - Behind the bluster you will find long silences, careful words and few denials from Andrew Gilligan. This thread is now officially interesting. Beware of trolls.

Posted by Manic on November 3, 2008 10:30 AM in the category The Political Weblog Movement

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A partner who happens to talk the same, share the same views and write the same articles? I don't know about you, but my missus certainly doesn't do any of those.

Of course, this is really an admission of sock-puppeting, since if we'd *known* that kennite was umbilically linked to/actually Gilligan, we'd have been in a better position to argue than where we actually were, which was having the false impression that he was an entirely separate individual. Channelling his attacks through 'kennite' therefore puts his opponents at a disadvantage, which was presumably the point.

To take one rather mundane example, I took 'kennite' to task on Boriswatch for misinformation on Routemaster fleets and capacities. Knowing what I do now, I'd have written a different article.

Gilligan is a piece of work, though - this story came out last week, the blogs covered it then with nary a peep out of him. Dave Hill was actually away and, given where his stuff appears, has to be far more careful of legalities. To see that delay as a cause for attack is despicable.

Posted by: Tom at November 3, 2008 5:23 PM

"A partner who happens to talk the same, share the same views and write the same articles?"

Lucky man; he appears to have married a clone of himself. Roll on, Rimmerworld.

(Avert your eyes from her great beauty!)

Posted by: Manic at November 3, 2008 5:40 PM

This would be the same Gilligan who's been nominated for the Paul Foot Award for Campaigning Journalism?

Nice to see investigative journalists holding themselves to such high standards.

Posted by: chickenlittle at November 3, 2008 11:12 PM

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	« Election night: a few notices \| Main \| Isn't anybody going to help that poor woman? » November 3, 2008 Andrew Gilligan: more sock-puppets found Further reports are coming in of Andrew Gilligan making comments about his articles while pretending to be someone other than himself. I'm waiting to see a firm denial from Gilligan. When you're ready, Andrew.... Meanwhile, bloggers who suspect that they may be a victim of these shenanigans may want to check their stats/back-end for visits from 'Associated Newspapers Ltd' (and/or the IP range 195.234.240.0 - 195.234.243.255). - UPDATE - Dave Hill challenges Gilligan on sock-puppeting on the Guardian website, prompting this 'denial' involving comments made under the 'kennite' profile, made using Gilligan's usual profile: andrewgilligan Nov 03 08, 4:06pm Dave, Kennite is my partner. Is that allowed? I've always been perfectly happy, as you acknowledge, to point out the shortcomings in your journalism under my own name. Even by the standards of the Ken Left, it strikes me as more than usually bizarre to accuse me of concealing my true views about our former mayor and his online fan club. It's also good to see such a sure sense of priorities. On the day of a major mayoral policy launch about a trivial subject like knife crime, you're focusing on the issues that really matter. Andrew The 'fascist' tag is pretty subtle, but there's a clear attack on Hill, and the "Don't you have anything better to do (than catch me cheating)?" tactic is textbook. And, of course, there's the statement that 'kennite' is a partner, which isn't quite a denial. Life partner? Business partner? Did 'Kennite' post the comments or did A.G. post the comments using their profile? And this does nothing to explain the trail of anonymous comments he has left in his wake elsewhere. - UPDATE - Behind the bluster you will find long silences, careful words and few denials from Andrew Gilligan. This thread is now officially interesting. Beware of trolls. Posted by Manic on November 3, 2008 10:30 AM in the category The Political Weblog Movement Pings (Trackback) For trackbacks, this is the URL: http://www.bloggerheads.com/cgi-bin/mt-tbbh_20x07.pl/2100 Comments A partner who happens to talk the same, share the same views and write the same articles? I don't know about you, but my missus certainly doesn't do any of those. Of course, this is really an admission of sock-puppeting, since if we'd known that kennite was umbilically linked to/actually Gilligan, we'd have been in a better position to argue than where we actually were, which was having the false impression that he was an entirely separate individual. Channelling his attacks through 'kennite' therefore puts his opponents at a disadvantage, which was presumably the point. To take one rather mundane example, I took 'kennite' to task on Boriswatch for misinformation on Routemaster fleets and capacities. Knowing what I do now, I'd have written a different article. Gilligan is a piece of work, though - this story came out last week, the blogs covered it then with nary a peep out of him. Dave Hill was actually away and, given where his stuff appears, has to be far more careful of legalities. To see that delay as a cause for attack is despicable. Posted by: Tom at November 3, 2008 5:23 PM - "A partner who happens to talk the same, share the same views and write the same articles?" Lucky man; he appears to have married a clone of himself. Roll on, Rimmerworld. (Avert your eyes from her great beauty!) Posted by: Manic at November 3, 2008 5:40 PM - This would be the same Gilligan who's been nominated for the Paul Foot Award for Campaigning Journalism? Nice to see investigative journalists holding themselves to such high standards. Posted by: chickenlittle at November 3, 2008 11:12 PM - Post a comment Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out) (If you're new to Bloggerheads, you may need to be approved by the moderator before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.) URL: Remember me? YesNo Comments:

Andrew Gilligan: more sock-puppets found

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