When did the Graun’s “Comment is Free” become “Opinion”?

by BlackCatte

Some time over the last few months, while the hated new version was coming out of Beta, a funny thing happened at the Guardian.

With almost no announcement or explanation the famous, vaunted “Comment is Free” section changed its name to “Opinion.” It kept the old URL, and even kept Scott’s proud declaration (in smaller type), but the name itself vanished like the erstwhile ethical reputations of it’s journalists – without ceremony or acknowledgment.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk/commentisfree

Here’s the old site, screencapped last autumn:

And here’s the new improved version:

What does this IngSoc style rebranding imply? Are they sending a message? Or is it just a pragmatic acceptance that you can’t allow Comment to be Free any longer when you’ve allied with the Kyiv Post and Radio Free Europe and are openly propagandising for neo-nazis, WW2 revisionists and the military industrial complex.

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