@Pinot
Well as Sali had appeared at the recent blogfest thingy, I imagine Justine et al didn't want to then piss her off. She may not come and do the next one, IYSWIM. And she may use her column/FB group to slag off MN, and that then may take flight and may affect advertising income.
I've never actually met Sali as it happens but of course I don't want to piss Sali off. Why would I? I don't want to piss anyone off!
I think it's perfectly valid to take issue with something someone says on here. We've never deleted fair criticism of anyone's views or actions, whether they're sitting next to me and doing in a webchat (Naomi Wolf, Maria Miller) or it's a thread about c**nting Sainsbury's and we're talking to their marketing director about advertising with us (that was fun!). We believe in free speech and letting the conversation flow.
It's perfectly valid to criticise what India Knight has written, as many people have recently on here. It's perfectly valid to tell a newbie (Sali) why you're cross with her mate, India. But why the need for all the personal attacks as well? Why the need to belittle her name? That's all I'm saying. You'd (quite rightly) expect us to delete attacks/ unpleasantness to a Mumsnetter if it was reported but if we delete attacks on a someone in the public eye when it's reported, it's because we're worried about revenue, all of a sudden.