I wrote an article for blogcritics.org entitled "Sun Microsystems' Bright Shining Lie".  It ran for a few days under that title, and it was commented on by Marten Mickos, the former CEO of MySQL and now a Senior VP at Sun.  He presented his views in relationship to my editorial, and all was good.

And then suddenly, inexplicably, without any warning whatsoever, the title of my article was changed to "Sun Microsystems and MySQL".  I was never notified.  This may seem minor, but it's huge.  Blogcritics claims that I retain all the rights to my material, yet they changed that material willy nilly without so much as an email saying "Ooops, sorry, we have to change it."

So I sent an email to the mailing list asking why it was changed.  Response:  Email the editor.  What????  So you do some dirty underhanded trick, and then expect me to deal with it in the darkness of private email?  Hells no, I want this in the light for all to see.

I've worked in publishing.  I've done freelance work for several print publications.  NEVER, EVER has something I've written been changed after it was accepted in its final form, and I was getting paid for that stuff.  Why these so-called editors believe they can change my work without so much as an email is beyond me.  This is unacceptable.  I'm trying to get in touch with the publisher.  I want the article pulled.  Changing the title changes the tone of my argument, and it is no longer my original material. 

I'm sure that the end result of this will be my ejection from blogcritics.org.  I'm too loud and too vocal, and I won't take "deal with it" as an answer.  I'll keep raising my voice until I get an explanation.  It's pretty clear to me that the reason it was changed was that Sun Microsystems requested it be changed.  There's no other reason it would have been changed.  If they violated the fabric of my article in order to appease the target of that editorial, I am going to more than just a tad bit angry.  I understand that blogcritics is not a magazine or a newspaper, but they bill themselves as  "an online magazine", which means they should be held to the same standards of journalistic integrity as any other magazine.  That means not being bullied by bigger entities, and publishing the truth at any cost.  I guess I'm just too damn idealistic to deal with cowards.