We are sad to report an outbreak of pain and recrimination in the brave world of the new media. Last week, it was sullied by accusations of editing, cutting, cobbling and massaging, those grand old skills which those of us in Big Media thought were all our very own. The blog, held up as the purest form of debate, allowing anyone to post his or her views without the interference of a meddlesome editor, has been brought into disrepute by the discovery that commentator and socialite Arianna Huffington ghost-wrote an entry on her Huffington Post website, an entry purporting to be by George Clooney, yes, that's right, the lovely, saintly George Clooney.

If there is one thing a blog entry should do, it's inspire debate, so is the Clooney incident, which has spawned some 300 replies - a huge response - in fact a great success? Huffington thinks so. She writes, on the site, that the response is 'a testament to the power of blogging, and it's why I remain an unrepentant evangelist' for the medium.

Others are less sure. A poster called NYCBear notes: 'Your lack of honesty in this case became part of the message, which has saddened your fans.' Another, going by the name of jurrasicpork - what's with the names in the blogosphere? - writes: 'No matter how much you try to rationalise it, Arianna, you still fucked up', which seems to be a widespread view. Mickeleh says he (or is it she) is 'heartbroken and angry'.

Those sad people stuck in the old media world might feel that these are terribly strong feelings to be brought on by a few words found on the internet, which is full of unreliable information anyway. But blogging inspires strong feelings and it attracts those who take their views pretty seriously and want them to be heard.

'I'm convinced you did the right thing for yourself in getting publicity for the site,' writes a commentator called screenname. 'But I think you sold a bit of your integrity to do it. The only question is how much you have to left to spare.'

Will the anguish ever end?