Is it ever OK for news sites to delete information?

A response to an essay in today's sfgate.com:

As many have said in arguments about hate speech, the answer to the problem of unwanted speech is not censorship, but more speech.

It is ok with me for there to be "negative" news or commentary about me in the public record, if there is an equal opportunity for me to rebut or to tell my own story, presenting myself in the way I would like to be viewed by others.

At the same time, though, there is a closely related issue: too many pundits and ordinary people tend to see others one dimensionally. It is possible for a sex offender to also be a good tax accountant, for a white collar thief to be a good mother and soccer coach, or for a dominatrix to be an excellent kindergarten teacher. Until we can hold others as multi-faceted and we can repress the urge to judge others based on a single action or quality, ignoring all others, we will continue to suffer unwarranted character assassination in the public sphere.

Yes, a photo of me picking my nose may appear on the web, but it is not the only thing I do all day. Until the public is intelligent enough to know that I am more robust a person than that without being told, there will be a valid desire to have content removed from the public record. It is a mistake, however, to think that removing so-called negative information will solve anything.

Wake up! We all have negative qualities. They are what make us interesting. Embrace them. Even if you do manage to squelch a negative image of or sentence about yourself, I will still know that you are not perfect.