Nascent

Mainstream media and blogging are often portrayed as opponents, and each on its own has been accused of promoting ignorance over truth. So how heartening to see them working in concert to promote that most worthy of causes: saving innocent people from prison and death.

The man behind this story is Declan Butler. By day a science journalist for Nature, by night a blogger and hacker out to save the world (not least through his amazing work on avian flu).

Declan the journalist wrote a news article (which led to an editorial) in today's issue of Nature. This reported on six foreign medical workers in Libya who have been wrongly accused of deliberately infecting children with HIV. They have been incarcerated in appalling conditions and tortured, and now they face possible death sentences. Outrageous, but their nationalities (Bulgarian and Palestinian) mean that their case doesn't come high up on the agenda of international realpolitik.

So enter Declan the hacktivist, who is calling on fellow bloggers and scientists to speak up. And, boy, they have. See, for example, here, here and here. There's a much longer list of coverage under Declan's Connotea tag "tripoli six".

This is great. The traditional publication provides the original reporting and thought-provoking editorial, while the blogs convey the widespread outrage and desire to right this wrong. All within 24 hours. For the sake of the Tripoli Six, let's hope it works.