# 2226
If you run a website, or a blog, or any other information portal on the Internet, or anyplace else for that matter, you make them.
Yesterday ProMED Mail made the following editorial policy announcement:
Until further notice, ProMED-mail will not report suspected human cases of avian influenza in Indonesia until they have been confirmed by the Indonesian Ministry of Health.
While this decision has garnered a certain amount of dismay in the Flubie community, I believe I understand some of the difficulties that ProMed has in reporting unconfirmed cases.
Knowing, in advance, that the Indonesian government will be slow to confirm cases - or worse, may elect not to confirm them at all - it becomes very difficult to maintain credibility when reporting these `suspect' cases.
Often, cases briefly appear in the Indonesian media, but are never followed up on. They simply disappear.
What then?
At some point you end up with, for lack of verification, nothing more than a string of unconfirmed rumors. Some may be true, but you can't tell them from the rest.
So I understand ProMED's dilemma.
For well over a year, I've struggled with this issue myself.
I don't try to cover every suspected bird flu case, particularly from Indonesia. I've learned, the hard way, that too often we never hear how they turned out.
Generally, I wait until I see multiple news sources carrying a story before I'll mention it. Sometimes, even then, unless there is something unusual about a case, I wait.
Admittedly, I often will delay mentioning a report until the newshounds on the flu forums, who are all better at translating and analyzing these stories than I am, can weigh in with their opinions.
I don't have a hard and fast policy on such things. And I certainly won't wait on any story I feel has merit until the Indonesian Health Ministry confirms it.
But I am selective.
And of course, every day, I pick and choose what stories to run based mostly on my interests, and my sensibilities.
This is, after all, a blog. Not a newspaper.
That is why you won't see `We're All Gonna Die!' type essays, personal attacks on policy makers (their policies are fair game, however), or worse, the latest wild government conspiracy theory grace these pages.
For those interested in such things, there's no lack of places on the net to find them.
Call it a matter of style, you just won't find them here.
Of course, I may miss a big story along the way. That's always a danger.
But no one should be relying on any one blog or news outlet for all of their news about bird flu, or any other issue.
Not even this one.
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