[LINK] It's Queensland - (sorry to Qlders)

Jan Whitaker jwhit at melbpc.org.au
Thu May 19 14:17:04 AEST 2011


At 01:45 PM 19/05/2011, Richard Chirgwin wrote:
>Trying to (a) invent a new crime on the spot, (b) slip under the radar
>because the person you're interviewing is 20 years old and doesn't know
>how to do the police, and (c) acting this way because you've already
>made a mistake - well, "as a taxpayer", I expect the police to be
>competent, and to do their jobs within the law, neither of which appear
>to be the case here.

Someone at Fairfax didn't do their cub training - either Ben or the 
company, who knows which. I was shocked when I read that transcript. 
With all the hullabaloo over protecting source material, he screwed 
up the first principal of journalism. Perhaps he's not a trained 
journalist, but a techo who could write? Anyone know? Stil? He's 
awfully young, and obviously inexperienced. He obviously doesn't read 
newspapers as it pertains to current events in his industry. AND he's 
Gen Y, so he probably doesn't watch enough TV to even be aware of 
common knowledge of the protective principles of journalism or at a 
minimum, never trusting the police to tell you the truth. They lie. 
Period. One keeps one's mouth shut until a lawyer is present, even if 
it's one appointed by the court. In this case, all he had to do was 
pick up the phone. They told him his rights. He should have exercised them.

The police took advantage of that. They should be ashamed of 
themselves. But I really doubt they will be. As I put in the subject 
line, It's Queensland.

Jan


Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
jwhit at janwhitaker.com
blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
business: http://www.janwhitaker.com

Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
~Madeline L'Engle, writer

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