BBCNI - The Devenport Diaries - Role of Moderators

I'm an occasional contributor to Mark Devenport's blog on BBC Northern Ireland, The Devenport Diaries. Just recently I was subjected to some personal abuse by a fellow commenter so I submitted a brief complaint to the blog moderators. My complaint was based on the values expressed in the BBC mission statement. Here are some of the relevant ones:

• Trust is the foundation of the BBC: we are independent, impartial and honest.
• Audiences are at the heart of everything we do.
• We respect each other and celebrate our diversity so that everyone can give their best.
• We are one BBC: great things happen when we work together.

The initial moderators' response included the following:

Further to your complaint about some of the content on a BBC blog (reference number ******), we have decided that it does not contravene the House Rules and are going to leave it on site.

I then said: Why do you allow this poster to use a term like '**** ... ****'? Would you publish such a remark if it were directed against Mark or any other member of the BBC? I don't think so.

The moderators' response changed:

Further to your complaint about some of the content on a BBC blog (reference number ****), we have decided that it does indeed contravene the House Rules and have removed the offending material.

Thank you for pointing this out to us.

Now why couldn't the moderators have said that first time round?