In response to the complaints made by Fiona Reynolds, editor of the Launceston Examiner, in her Examiner article of 18 October 2009
We members of the Tamar valley anti-pulp mill community hereby apologise to Ms Reynolds for any distress that she is experiencing.
We felt that we should apologise on behalf of the 60% of so of Tasmanians who oppose the incompletely assessed pulp mill.
We apologise to Ms Reynolds for the following:
Being amateurs and lacking discipline
When we determined that Gunns incompletely assessed pulp mill could represent a huge threat to our health, lifestyles and investments, we didn’t know that the standards of the Examiner required us to be professional protestors and to have internal discipline.
We honestly thought that it was OK for us to be a group of individuals brought together to fight for our lifestyles and to get the political representation that we have been paying for all of our lives.
Of course, Fiona Reynolds is right. Our internal discipline is highly suspect, our parade ground has fallen into disuse and our members keep making up their own minds.
We’re not good enough and we apologise.
Failing to be professional environmental campaigners
When TAP was formed, a fee of $2 was agreed for members. Even with over 1,000 paid up members that doesn’t give us the money to hire staff, lawyers, or media consultants.
It’s clear that our idea was wrong. Rather than make the joining fee so low to enable pensioners and others to comfortably be represented when everyone else was refusing to listen to them, we should have charged $100 or more so that we could assure our members of professional lobbying.
We had thought that because our problem with the proposal was the lack of any study of risks or socio-economic costs (as opposed to benefits) that a community organization was needed to represent community needs.
It has taken Ms Reynolds to make us aware that we should be an environmental organization with professional campaigners.
We therefore apologise to Ms Reynolds for not being a professional environmental campaign group.
Having many different kinds of people as members
As a community organization, we have tried to embrace all of those in the region that felt the need to fight for their health, lifestyles and investments.
This has resulted in their being many different kinds of people in our membership resulting in many different approaches to resisting the incompletely assessed pulp mill.
Clearly this has produced a problem for Ms Reynolds and we apologise to her for that.
Failing to understand the media
Ms Reynolds has us that anti-pulp mill protestors are losing credibility with the Examiner and her article proposes that our ‘knowledge of the media is thin at best’.
We are sorry. As amateurs we had foolishly thought that the local media would work to understand the concerns of local residents. We were wrong. Ms Reynolds has told us that “To achieve balance and fairness we can go to professional environmental campaigners like the Wilderness Society for comment” even though they are based 200 km away and don’t represent the community.
Ms Reynolds says “We choose not to read the rantings of conspiracy theorists who spread rumours and are rapidly alienating sections of the media and community who were prepared to listen to their concerns.”
How the Examiner knows the contents if they do not read them is beyond our limited comprehension and is clearly part of our lack of understanding of the media.
We apologise unreservedly for our failure to understand the media.
Failing to submit articles when offered the opportunity
With our resources we cannot afford to hire writers neither can we respond to thoughts that we should publish articles in the Examiner.
Again this is just not good enough and we apologise.
Being opposed to Gunns pulp mill
To be honest, the main reason we oppose the mill is that the socio-economic risks have never been assessed. Just because we’re afraid for our health, lifestyles and investments due to our living downwind of one of the world’s biggest pulp mills in an inversion trapping valley of nearly 100,000 people.
Clearly, those concerns are subservient to our failure to meet The Examiner’s tough standards for a community.
The local community is clearly not good enough for The Examiner and we apologise to Ms Reynolds unreservedly for that
We members of the Tamar valley anti-pulp mill community hereby apologise to Ms Reynolds for any distress that she is experiencing.
We felt that we should apologise on behalf of the 60% of so of Tasmanians who oppose the incompletely assessed pulp mill.
We apologise to Ms Reynolds for the following:
Being amateurs and lacking discipline
When we determined that Gunns incompletely assessed pulp mill could represent a huge threat to our health, lifestyles and investments, we didn’t know that the standards of the Examiner required us to be professional protestors and to have internal discipline.
We honestly thought that it was OK for us to be a group of individuals brought together to fight for our lifestyles and to get the political representation that we have been paying for all of our lives.
Of course, Fiona Reynolds is right. Our internal discipline is highly suspect, our parade ground has fallen into disuse and our members keep making up their own minds.
We’re not good enough and we apologise.
Failing to be professional environmental campaigners
When TAP was formed, a fee of $2 was agreed for members. Even with over 1,000 paid up members that doesn’t give us the money to hire staff, lawyers, or media consultants.
It’s clear that our idea was wrong. Rather than make the joining fee so low to enable pensioners and others to comfortably be represented when everyone else was refusing to listen to them, we should have charged $100 or more so that we could assure our members of professional lobbying.
We had thought that because our problem with the proposal was the lack of any study of risks or socio-economic costs (as opposed to benefits) that a community organization was needed to represent community needs.
It has taken Ms Reynolds to make us aware that we should be an environmental organization with professional campaigners.
We therefore apologise to Ms Reynolds for not being a professional environmental campaign group.
Having many different kinds of people as members
As a community organization, we have tried to embrace all of those in the region that felt the need to fight for their health, lifestyles and investments.
This has resulted in their being many different kinds of people in our membership resulting in many different approaches to resisting the incompletely assessed pulp mill.
Clearly this has produced a problem for Ms Reynolds and we apologise to her for that.
Failing to understand the media
Ms Reynolds has us that anti-pulp mill protestors are losing credibility with the Examiner and her article proposes that our ‘knowledge of the media is thin at best’.
We are sorry. As amateurs we had foolishly thought that the local media would work to understand the concerns of local residents. We were wrong. Ms Reynolds has told us that “To achieve balance and fairness we can go to professional environmental campaigners like the Wilderness Society for comment” even though they are based 200 km away and don’t represent the community.
Ms Reynolds says “We choose not to read the rantings of conspiracy theorists who spread rumours and are rapidly alienating sections of the media and community who were prepared to listen to their concerns.”
How the Examiner knows the contents if they do not read them is beyond our limited comprehension and is clearly part of our lack of understanding of the media.
We apologise unreservedly for our failure to understand the media.
Failing to submit articles when offered the opportunity
With our resources we cannot afford to hire writers neither can we respond to thoughts that we should publish articles in the Examiner.
Again this is just not good enough and we apologise.
Being opposed to Gunns pulp mill
To be honest, the main reason we oppose the mill is that the socio-economic risks have never been assessed. Just because we’re afraid for our health, lifestyles and investments due to our living downwind of one of the world’s biggest pulp mills in an inversion trapping valley of nearly 100,000 people.
Clearly, those concerns are subservient to our failure to meet The Examiner’s tough standards for a community.
The local community is clearly not good enough for The Examiner and we apologise to Ms Reynolds unreservedly for that
AND YES, we are very very sorry that this apology might seem to be a little late!
9 comments:
It is about time someone apologised to The Examiner! This is a great newspaper doing a great job for its advertisers and it is totally misunderstood as is Ms Reynolds.
I have to say I appreciate this satirical response to the recent editorial by Fiona. I was shocked for much of the same reasons that such scathing statements could be made using "journalistic licence". My understanding was that a newspaper reported/commented upon news, and that community/social/protest groups didn't have to be compliant or obsequious in order to be accorded some degree of merit...
I have a raft of apologies to make to Ms Renolds. Not only did I join people campaigning against the forced bankruptcy of their family businesses to make way for a filthy pulp mill, I also flagrantly imitated the Examiner with a number of fake Examiners that I arrogantly called 'The Exterminator'.
I'm so sorry Ms Reynolds for not supporting the Examiners hardware store or buying the newspaper.
Excellent! But you forgot to apologise for existing.
Rosemary, the idea that Ms Reynolds could be misunderstood means she is not doing her job at all well. She is a reporter, she is trained and a professional, if she can't get her ideas across in her own paper who can?
This is absolutely outrageous and quite unfair. The very idea that The Examiner cannot come out and say it like it is untenable. The Examiner goes to great effort to make sure that readers are able to understand. You can count on The Examiner to write in simple language and in the best interests of its readers. How dare you put this cynical nonsense about. Go get a life!
once upon a time there was a very good reason to print the examiner but since the advent of a greater range of floor covering than lino … and since it has been acknowledged as it being unhealthy to wrap fish and chips in the paper … there is less and less need for this slanted view of the world to printed out … the examiner presents a very good case for getting your news by any other means and it is sad to see Fiona Reynolds taking herself so seriously as everyone comes to realise just how irrelevant both the examiner and she are
Now THATS a very relevant comment Martin.
I was actually beginning to wonder if there had been some kind of national media blackout over the Pulp Mill issue, until of course the PC event occurred.
Even so, waaay over here in WA, the only news the popular media seems able to produce is either pro Gunns editorial OR classified advertising (I wonder, is there really a difference at all?)
It seems to be evident that state level media coverage such as it is in demographics like WA & TAS; where local and state politics are under the thrall of the resource and energy oligarch's, has become only relevant to the power brokers, not the general population.
Its sad for the readers, listners and watchers but even more tragic for the media which has blinkered itself into a predictable future oblivion. To become gradually hidden by an enormous bubble bath of industrial sized platitudes and vacuous,obsequies toadyism.
The Examiner has earned itself many nicknames over the years, names like “The Exaggerator” and “The Hexagerater”. A little while back I recall someone suggesting that the publication should in fact change its name to better reflect its current reason for being and mode of operation. The suggestion was The Advertiser and it would be a good idea to go with that as this publications journalist ‘examine’ almost nothing and will advertise almost anything they get the opportunity to do.
However I do think that you need to pay them to do that one way or another. But like ‘lunch’ the very idea of a ‘free press’ is a total myth
I used to write letters to the editor.
I don't do it any more.
I'm getting really good at drawing squiggly penises though....
My home was almost recently virtually invaded, but I am not sure.
Can anyone help ?
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