BBC Blogs Now Require Registration

Anyone wanting to post a comment on any BBC blog will now have to be registered in order to do so.

BBC Blog Editor Giles Wilson says the corporation has introduced the change to iron out technical problems, reduce levels of spam and to maintain the “standard of debate”.

Wilson writes on The Editors blog that the move is also intended to introduce standards across the board for blogs, improving on the previous situation where some required registration and some didn’t.

He maintains that the BBC has “got a pretty strong stomach for comments” and has in the past published plenty of comments which have been critical of the organisation.

The editor adds: “In a matter like this there are always competing interests - no doubt some people will feel cheated that they now have to register to leave a comment.”

He concludes: “But we’ve thought long and hard about the best thing to do, and believe that this is likely to be the most effective and efficient way of publishing as many comments as possible.”

Wilson also notes that the BBC is continuing “to strive to do better” in relation to blogging journalists responding to comments more often.