The Guardian has launched an ethics investigation after its US-based blogger Emma Keller wrote a critical opinon piece on a cancer patient tweeting her experiences of living with the disease.
The article filed on 8 January has been pulled by The Guardian pending investigation by the newspaper’s readers’ editor.
The controversial column concentrated on mother-of-three Lisa Adams who was diagnosed with cancer more than six years ago.
The original story can still be viewed on an online archive.
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According to Keller’s original column, she had serious concerns about her reason for following Adams’ constant tweets.
She said: “I even set up a dedicated @adamslisa column in Tweetdeck – but I felt embarrassed at my voyeurism. Should there be boundaries in this kind of experience? Is there such a thing as TMI?[Too Much Information] Are her tweets a grim equivalent of deathbed selfies, one step further than funeral selfies? Why am I so obsessed?”
Keller’s husband Bill also wrote about the issue for the New York Times.
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Both articles have resulted in a significant public backlash with The Guardian removing Emma Keller’s piece entirely.
A spokesperson said: “The Guardian’s independent readers’ editor is still in the process of investigating the article in question, and will report on his findings at greater length in due course.”
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