From the editor's desktop: Your response

Pete Clifton, editor of the BBC News website, takes a look back at a busy week in the newsroom. Read a selection of your comments below.

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Your comments:

A lot of excellent stories, always something interesting and topical Adrian McDermott, Uster, Switzerland

A lot of excellent stories, always something interesting and topical. One comment about style. I know the occasional typo or grammar error is unavoidable, but this one occurs consistently, so I think it gets under the radar: "may have" instead of "might have" for hypothetical past rather than speculative past, for example, "if the authorities had done their job properly, this may not have happened".
Adrian McDermott, Uster, Switzerland

Could you improve stories by including more photos? Thanks.
Nathan Formosa, Zabbar Malta

When I see a picture loading on the front pages, there is a text appearing in that area before the picture is loaded. But afterwards you have no idea what the text was. Surely, you put it so that the image becomes clearer. How about still showing that text after it's loaded? Can't it be shown in the tooltip so that when one hovers the mouse on it, it can still seen?
Anil Kumar, Champaign, IL, USA

You know what? I think the website is great, actually it is the best. I have it as my home page and I check it out every time I log on. Thank you very much for keeping me in touch, and keep up the good work.
Mark Hawkes, Bangkok, Thailand

Re. the new ticker: It seems pointless spending effort on creating a ticker exclusively for Windows XP when anyone on XP as well as those of us on non-Windows systems can already just use the RSS feeds with the reader of our choice.
Ewan Mac Mahon, York

Just once, please look at your webpage from a text-only browser. I don't do it often, but when I do, it's impossible to separate the images' replacement text from the flow of the story, making it hard to read.
Ian, Cambridge

I have not bought a newspaper since using the site as my homepage Chris McGourty, UK

This site is pure brilliance and everything associated with it. Ignore the deadbeats; keep pushing ahead! I have not bought a newspaper since using the site as my homepage.
Chris McGourty, UK

Very often new articles have very interesting pictures, and it would be great if, where possible, they could be thumbnails to allow us to see higher quality versions. Perhaps this could be automatically incorporated into your editorial procedure? Thanks Jon
Jon Hulatt, Bedford, UK

On the subject of images. I think you should stop trying to get free content from amateur photographers and you should pay professionals. It is about preserving a record of life for the future. How many amateur digital shots are going to survive?
R. Stafford, Northumberland

On the matter of images, can you make larger images available in your galleries? Those of us on resolutions over the prehistoric 800x600 would like to look at the "In Pictures" section, but it's like looking at postage stamps.
Michael S, UK

I was looking at your UK election coverage and couldn't find the current parliament seat distribution anywhere obvious. Seemed like something that should be easy to find. Cheers, Ben
Ben Reynolds, Berkeley, CA

Thank you for a witty insight into the BBC newsroom. I follow the BBC every day. It helps me in my job in publishing and also keeps me up-to-date with the situation overseas, where my family and most of friends (and customers) live. It is interesting to compare the time of delivering breaking news via e-mail. BBC is often beaten by Czech idnes portal but just by minutes. Thank you for your sensitive approach when reporting on Pope's health and funeral.
Lucie Petrickova, Leamington Spa, UK

Re: IN THE PICTURE - Do you have a list of pictures you need? It wouldn't do for people to send you everything they have on the off chance they'd be useful.
Angela Gilroy, Telford, UK

A photo of Condoleezza Rice affectionately titled 'Condi' AK, London

Re: IN THE PICTURE - I have always marvelled at the strange filenames of the pictures used on the BBC News website: the story of an African transvestite in trouble illustrated by a picture of said transvestite called simply "Transvestite"; the stock image of tablets spilling out of a bottle called "Arty pills"; a photo of Condoleezza Rice affectionately titled "Condi"; one of Charles and Camilla (elsewhere known as "BowlesCharles") called "Couple grab"; but my all-time favourite, one of Camilla Parker-Bowles out riding, simply called "Horse".
AK, London

Oh thank you so much for helping to restore my sanity after a busy working week! I so enjoyed the blog pages - can we have more please? If this is what I pay my licence fee for, it really is worth it! Many thanks!
Margaret Lea, St Leonards on Sea, East Sussex

Re: SOAPBOX - While we're on changing the way comments are presented, can they also be searchable? If you search the BBC website, you won't get the comments that are posted. This is purely to appease my ego: I want to be able to see how often I get picked by the editors!
Alan Davidson, London, UK

Yet you appeal that we send us your stories, but when I do - as I have recently about issues in Grantham - they are not used David France, Grantham

Re: IN THE PICTURE - My own view on your pics is that if you are going to use pictures to illustrate stories then you should follow the lead set by newspapers and make them factual not fictional. I emailed recently because on a story about a fire on a train in Fareham you used a pic of a train that couldn't possibly run on the third rail system there.

One call to the train operator would have had them emailing an accurate picture for you... better still you could try to use stills from TV or contributed pix whenever possible rather than bland library stock such as the much-over-used picture of police tape for police etc. In other words stop trying to play at journalism and enforce real journalism¿ but that's my real grouse.

There is strong evidence that the Beeb - which has no mandate from anyone in the government or from the licence payer to divert licence fee funds to on-line publishing - is recruiting on the cheap and further dumbing down its previous rigorous standards. I am a daily invigilator of local pages, for instance, and what I see depresses me. Stories several days old, stories not appropriate to that locality, stories badly written, stories that miss the point... and stories (and broadcasters themselves are getting worse here) which are plain contempt of court.

The list is endless. Yet you appeal that we send us your stories, but when I do - as I have recently about issues in Grantham - they are not used. Frankly, if you cannot do it properly you should not be doing it at all.
David France, Grantham

I love Pete's general attitude to any suggestions/complaints. It seems to be - you do it! You don't like the pictures, send in your own; not happy with the constituency coverage, do it yourselves, etc etc. Now he's even getting someone in to do his job!
Ben M, London

Re: SOAPBOX - Where you suggested that users will; be involved in moderating the comments made by others, I am concerned that instead of getting a balanced debate on issues, we may all just get to read what the most active moderators want us to read.
Jack

Re: IN THE PICTURE - I saw one about a year ago in a story about gay rights, it was two guys holding hands and my mouse was over it which then revealed the title, "gay men generic". Ha ha ha.
Ruadhr, Dublin

Re: SOAPBOX - Just interested to know how those people who feel soapbox is a waste of time communicated this. Did they use Soapbox?
Stephen Barker, Norwich

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