Allan McVie (amv2f@udcf.gla.ac.uk)
Fri, 07 Apr 2000 12:48:33 +0100
At 10:14 07/04/00 +0100,Paul Murphy wrote:
>No, I rang the press to get the information about what had happened, since
the >local Portsmouth newspaper isn't generally available in Cambridge, and
the web >version was 100 words in length. I got a considerable amount of
additional >information, and so I got what I wanted out of the conversation.
>
>When asked to comment, I declined - knowing that if I commented I would be
on >dodgy ground for two reasons:
>
>1. I didn't know the full facts of the case, and had no idea who the
person >or group involved were, even after being told their names
>
>2. I had no prepared statement to give (see below), and doing something
off >the cuff is never a good idea.
It seems strange that you phoned the press for info regarding this.Would it
not have been better to contact the site involved and through them the
group involved.
>1. Now get this straight - I AM NOT THE NAReS PUBLICITY OFFICER - I can
>repeat that for you if it fails to sink in. I _am_ the chair of the Edged
>Weapons Sub-Committee, and since that sub-committee is tasked to keep
abreast >of events and legislation to do with edged weapons and
hand-to-hand combat, >and due to (2) below, I had no choice but to call
them up myself.
>
>2. NAReS does not currently have a Publicity Officer, since the last one
>resigned a few months ago, and the stampede of volunteers has failed to
>materialise for some reason. Fortunately, I have no doubt that any
>application from you would be rejected.
As you state you are not the Publicity Officer for NARes then why contact
the press if you only wanted info (see above). The only person who should
talk to the press is the publicity officer (if it is in his remit) or as
is the case here there is no one in the post, the chairman of NARes.
In you original post you write
>And how is it that I rang the same guy at PPP (Portsmouth Publishing
>and Printing Ltd, publishers of "The News") 10 minutes later (he was
>very open about talking to you), introduced myself as calling on behalf
>of NAReS, and yet managed to stay out of the press? Perhaps it was the
>way that I gave him no information, no quotes, and stated that we had no
>comment to make on the incident and our discussion was not to be
>published....
Intoducing yourself as calling on behalf of NARes suggests that you hold a
post in
NARes higher than the chair of a sub-committee.The fact that none of your
discussion was not published could be because it was after the story was
written.
Just saying no comment to the press will not stop them fabricating a story
with quotes from you.
As an example a friends mother had an operation cancelled for the third
time (she lived on Lewis and the Hospital was in Fort William)which her
local newspaper heard about. They contacted her husband who told them no
comment and put the phone down.The next day the story appeared on the front
page of one of the nationals (Scotland) with long quotes from her husband
stating that the hospital had acted very poorly.The lady in question was so
taken aback at the story she almost refused to go to the hospital as she
had been very well treated at the hospital in the past.
The moral of this story is the press will not let the statement of no
comment get in the way of a story they want to write.
Not that I agree with the Dukes suggestions regarding publicity for NARes
if as you state the Publicity officer has a budget of upto £900 I would
have thought that thought that NARes would be able to contact all news
agencies and let thenm know it is there and represents a large number of
British reenactors after all an e-mail to all the agencies would cost what?
>"I, Duke Henry Plantagenet, made a mistake. I apologise for the
impression which >has been given, and although I maintain that I have been
misquoted and >misrepresented, I must take responsibility for the words
which appeared with my >name on them. I shall try to ensure that it does
not happen again. Your humble >servant...."
>
>That's what I'm waiting for - an admission of guilt (albeit pseudo-guilt,
if that >helps your thought processes), and an apology for the potential
harm it caused.
So nice to find someone who has never made a mistake in their lives.And who
goes about taking responsibility for lies other people make up about them.
I as a reenactor and as a member of a society represented by NARes I am not
waiting for an apology from the Duke for stories that have been created by
a newspaper.
However I would like to know why NARes did not:
1.Investigate the incident with primary sources.
2.Produce a response to it.
3.Issue a press release.
Allan McVie
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