OTR readers: Thank you for the new information! One of the unique advantages of internet journalism is that it’s interactive and can be easily revised when new information surfaces.

Of course, this interactive quality also permits readers to tell me exactly how worthless they think bloggers are, by saying, for example: “internet journalists aren’t worth a damn.” Tear, tear.

In any case, new information has come to OTR's attention via comment on a previous post--a number of eyewitness accounts substantiate Officer Mallo’s police report. So in the name of journalism, OTR must ammend its previous statement: Officer Mallo might not be a liar, and her pants are not necessarily on fire.

I would like to make it clear, however, that I discredited Mallo's report in the first place because the available evidence indicated that it was fabricated. And because of the plasticity of human memory, it’s often appropriate to rely on video footage (or DNA evidence) over eyewitness testimony--this is currently a big issue in criminal law.

Free speech and argumentative discourse are fundamental to universities--and college blogs.

People aren't always polite when they express their opinions freely (*ahem*, Anonymous Commenters 1 - 17), but there are ways to deal with disruption that don't involve tasers.