What is Webdiary?

Margo Kingston founded Webdiary for the Sydney Morning Herald in July 2000, took it independent on August 22, 2005, and retired from it in December 2005. She related her view of the saga in a lecture to the South Australian Governor's Leadership Forum [0] in February 2006. More detail is referenced in Webdiary History [0].

What was once 'an open conversation' between Margo and her readers became an open conversation between the readers, based on articles written by readers (and from time to time by Margo). It isn't really a blog, since there is no single editorial or authorial voice, and it's rare for two entries in a month to come from the same Webdiarist. The mission remains as set out by Margo in the Webdiary Charter [0]:

The mission of the Webdiary is:

- to help meet the unmet demand of some Australians for conversations on our present and our future, and to spark original thought and genuine engagement with important issues which effect us all

- to link thinking Australians whoever they are and wherever they live.

- to insist that thinking Australians outside the political and economic establishment have the capacity to contribute to the national debate

- to provide an outlet for talented writers and thinkers not heard in mainstream media

- to participate in the development of a rapidly growing and increasingly important independent media harnessing the talents of citizen journalists working in collaboration with professional journalists.

Another thing that distinguishes Webdiary from a blog is the ongoing attempt to keep conversations and debates on the site relatively civil at the same time as censoring as little as possible. This ongoing balancing act is maintained by a team of volunteer editors who check each submitted comment before publication. The rules they work by are set out in the following statements:

1. Webdiary Ethics [0]
2. Editorial Policy [0], and
3. Comment Moderation [0].

All and any complaints about how we operate the site are treated and responded to seriously, and if anyone is still unsatisfied after the first-line response, then they can appeal to Margo as Webdiary's ombudsman to investigate their complaint. Added Aug 2008 at Margo's request: however, there will be no response to 1) repeated allegations that have already been investigated and ruled upon or 2) complaints from former Webdiarists who have been banned from Webdiary for harassing the editors.

You can Contact Us here [0].

Articles stay on the front page of the site as long as they are active - which currently means that they either were written within the last four weeks, or have had comments submitted within the last ten days. You can also access the site Archives by date [0] of publication, or search for all current and past articles by author [0], or select and search content relevant to the issues (denoted by the 'Category' marking under each article):

• Australian Society [0]
• Federal politics [0]
• State politics [0]
• Politics abroad [0]
• Indonesia, Timor and Papua [0]
• Regional affairs [0]
• United Nations [0]
• Economy and Globalisation [0]
• Environment and Resources [0]
• Science and Technology [0]
• Media [0]
• Education [0]
• Health and Medicine [0]
• Refugees and Immigration [0]
• Crime and Corruption [0]
• Work Changes [0]
• Defending Democracy [0]
• Anti-Terrorism Laws [0]
• Terrorism and Defence [0]
• - Iraq [0]
• Philosophy [0]
• Religion and spirituality [0]