The temptations of MySpace journalism: the Ipswich killings investigation

Mr Tom Stephens of Ipswich was arrested early this morning for further questioning in connection with the killings of five women whose bodies were found in the Ipswich area.

The news have been awash with this gripping story for weeks now, and as Mr. Stephens's house was being cordoned off and covered over with a tent this morning, News 24 showed us the police activity using a camera sneakily positioned in an upstairs window of a nearby house. Sky had to make do with peeking round a corner from street level...

The Telegraph quotes from Mr Stephens's profile liberally in addition to describing it in some detail. This actually makes it rather easy to locate his profile, a privilege I am glad to see has not yet been abused. This raises the issue of whether personal profiles, which in theory list the personal friends of their authors and allow direct contact to be made, should now become as closely guarded by journalists as the addresses of private individuals.

And the three little marketing consultants said "Wii? Wii? Oui!"

The Beeb are thankfully never short of stories that put an amusing spin on tired material. Quoting Nintendo president Satoru Iwata today, the BBC site explained Nintendo's reponse to the news that some users were hitting objects - such as television screens - during their frantic playing sessions:

‘Some people are getting a lot more excited than we'd expected.

‘We need to better communicate to people how to deal with Wii as a new form of entertainment.’

So... the Wii is so packed with entertainment goodness that it has gone totally out of Nintendo's control, and gamers have been transformed into sweaty beasts, content to destroy house and home as the price for a gaming ‘fix.’ And the advice they so badly need to communicate? ‘Nintendo also cautioned players to stay at least three feet away from the TV and to make sure people and objects were safely outside their range of motion.’ What would we ever do without them?