Online comments – help us beat the media manipulators

Have been working through a book about the dark side of my industry. Written by self-confessed media manipulator Ryan Holiday, "Trust Me I'm Lying," exposes the tricks and deception he used to get clients favourable airtime. He is deeply cynical, saying his job is easy because most websites prioritise eyeballs above truth.

In that context, an email arrived last week from Himanshu Tanwar, an employee of the Gupta-owned Oakbay. He loves Biznews, but is disappointed at the anti-Gupta slant taken in most community comments. So asked us to publish his counters which were submitted under the nom de plume of Aurrel Phumelo. In the interests of fairness, this is being done.

I have no idea whether Mr Tanwar has read Holiday's "playbook for the dark arts of exploiting the media" or why he doesn't use his own name online. His contributions have been sensible, so no quibbles with him. But with manipulation apparently so rife, Stuart and I will be keeping a closer eye on comments posted. If you'd like to help us maintain standards, please flag those that are off-colour. None of us like being manipulated, do we?