Overington blog: now taking your comments. Caroline Overington’s media blog on The Australian website has always been a one-way affair. While other Australian bloggers happily mingle among their readers, and her editor has urged her to do the same, Overington has maintained a blackout on comments. “Until I’m convinced that posting comments without real names and contact details is a good idea, I won’t be posting any,” she wrote last year.

So we were surprised and pleased to see some comments had slipped through her impenetrable filter this week. Two comments have appeared on a post about Monica Attard leaving the ABC (“Can she take Chris Uhlmann, Melissa Clarke and Madonna King with her?” wrote “Douglas”) and The Oz’s “jubilant” hiring of Gideon Haigh (“I’ll be buying the Oz much more often from now on,” said “Rob”).

So are “Douglas” and “Rob” known to the diarist? Or did media editor Stephen Brook finally get his way? Either way, we’re glad Caroline has joined the two-way web. — Jason Whittaker

Front page of the day. While major newspapers the world over are obsessed with another newspaper — the scandal-plagued News of the World — in Thailand they’re still grappling with a major political shift …

News of the World: Ford leads advertising boycott

“Some of the UK’s best-known brands have announced that they would be reviewing their advertising in the News of the World amid a growing public backlash over the paper’s hacking of Milly Dowler’s phone.” — The Guardian

Anonymous ally ‘leaks’ public election data

“An affiliate of the infamous hacktivist group Anonymous claims to have hacked the New South Wales Electoral Commission, posting data from this year’s state election. According to the Electoral Commission, however, the data had already been made available to media outlets on election night and came from a public FTP server.” — ZDNET

South Africa’s rulers face off against newspapers

“A rift has opened between South Africa’s ruling political party and the nation’s newspapers, stoking a debate over the durability of democratic freedoms in the continent’s largest economy.” — Wall Street Journal

Call for ABC to dump Ellis over Drum r-pe diatribe

“ABC boss Mark Scott is under immense pressure to clean up the taxpayer-funded website The Drum after it published a piece suggesting women cried rape to ‘bring down left-leaning artists and politicians’ while lamenting the imprisonment of small-l liberal pedophiles who might have a contribution to make to the arts. ” — The Australian

Justin Timberlake’s plan to save MySpace

“Justin Timberlake has a minority stake in MySpace, newly acquired by the online advertising network Specific Media. How will he revive the near-dead social network? With a talent competition.” — Gawker