Sunday, 17 July 2011

The Role of Jersey’s “accredited” Media.

For those who have been following this series of the Education and Home Affairs Scrutiny Sub Panel Hearings. We are sorry to say, we are unable to bring you any video footage of the evidence given by BDO/Alto or Mike Kellett as they have both refused us permission to film.

So in the absence of balance we bring you an edited version of the evidence given by member of the public and fellow Blogger Rico Sorda. In this video we look at the role played by Jersey’s mainstream media (MSM) in the expenses “scandal” of Operation Rectangle.

Steven Austin Vautier, who also refused us permission to film his evidence, BDO/Alto and Mike Kellett have all said that the BDO/Alto Report was NOT an investigation of “Lenny Harper.”  It was an audit of the expenditure concerning “Operation Rectangle.” ALL Mr. Harper’s expenditure was signed off, he is NOT solely responsible. By Law, the Accounting Officer Steven Austin Vautier is at least part responsible if not entirely.

So how did an audit review turn into a full-scale attack and slag-fest against Lenny Harper? Well, that was Jersey’s Media, in particular the AWARD WINNING and ENTIRELY ACCURATE CTV along with the JEP.

Both “news” outlets have trashed Lenny Harper’s name and it is believed by many that they have totally misrepresented the BDO/Alto audit review entirely.

But let’s just take a look at the “award winning” CTV. Regular viewers will be aware that CTV hosted Mick Gradwell with his unprecedented attack on a fellow Officer and the Child Abuse Investigation in a series of “interviews.”

Now with all the people giving evidence to this Scrutiny Panel there are conflicting views and not much that people agree on. One area there does seem to be some unity is that nobody, to the best of our knowledge, has condoned the actions of Mick Gradwell and CTV. David Warcup has distanced himself from this. Ian Le Marquand has been critical and distanced himself from this and so have others.

More questions have come to light, as you’ll see in Rico Sorda’s evidence, concerning the CTV Mick Gradwell double act. Steven Austin Vautier, didn’t say as much, but left a number of us with the impression that he was less than happy with the way the JEP Reported on the BDO/Alto Report also.

Whether BDO/Alto intended it, or not, their review has been used to trash a Child Abuse Investigation, or at least it’s Senior Investigating Officer.

Rico Sorda is a member of the public and should never have to be giving evidence to this Scrutiny Panel. If our media were reporting fairly and objectively then there would probably never have been a need for this Scrutiny Panel to be set up in the first place. Which incidentally brings up another area where there is unity. Just about all who have given evidence have agreed that if Lenny Harper had of been interviewed by BDO/Alto then there would probably be no need for this Scrutiny Panel.

There are those of us with the belief that not only should CTV hand their award back but they should be called to give evidence to this Scrutiny Panel. Listen carefully to the dates and questions Mr. Sorda raises in his evidence. On the 1st and 3rd of September 2009 the CTV Reporter is quoting stuff that later appeared in the BDO/Alto Report.

The BDO/Alto Report wasn’t released until May 2010 and BDO/Alto didn’t send the engagement letter to Home Affairs until September the 29th 2009.

Credit must go to Rico Sorda for putting his neck on the line. It takes courage and integrity to speak up over here in Jersey. He/we do this knowing that if/when things go t*ts up and we unwittingly fall foul of Data Protection, Libel or Defamation Laws we cannot get a fair trial in Jersey's Politicised judicial system.


Furthermore should this Committee of Enquiry ever get off the ground then parts of its Terms Of Reference must be the role played by Jersey's "accredited" media during and after the Historic Child Abuse Enquiry.


  

42 comments:

  1. I was seriously pooing my pants before giving evidence but these are the things we must do in pursuit of the truth. It's all about doing something, we have shown that we are prepared to be counted. Criticising is easy, doing something is where we are at.

    Thanks VFC for putting this clip up

    RS

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  2. Rico ,very well spoken. CTV and the RAG should hang their heads in shame. How can any " journalist" sit back and watch what is going on and not feel a tiny ounce of guilt.Behind you ,team voice,stuart and the jerseyway 100%.

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  3. Sorry Ian ,thank you too.

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  4. Didn't I hear that somebody involved in this review wasn't quite likely to be objective?

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  5. Think you should put up the full interview especially if the other interviewees wouldn't be filmed.

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  6. There is about 40 minutes of film in total. I will look to get some more up in the next couple of days. In the meantime I agree with the poster who said our mainstream media should hand their heads in shame.

    Rico Sorda has more courage and INTEGRITY in his little finger than the entire Jersey mainstream media put together........And so History shall record.

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  7. Rico, what can I say! You are absolutely right; you should not have been the one sitting in that chair on Friday. The MSM have a lot to answer for and I sincerely hope that the Scrutiny panel interview them as part of their investigation! I applaud you for what you are doing and for your continued tenacity to expose the truth. Thank you team Voice. Carrie

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  8. I have had a comment submitted that flies a bit too close to the wind. It involves “discreet payments” which we have no proof of and could not substantiate. Sorry can’t let it through.

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  9. If ever there was a need for a 'like' button, this is it.

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  10. Hi Carrie

    We keep on going.

    The issues surrounding SIO Mick Gradwell could have serious repercussions concerning the 'COI' and the historic child abuse investigation under his command.

    How this isn't making news is totally shocking 'NOT'

    Will be interesting to see what the JEP come up with tomorrow I was sitting next to their reporter during the BDO/Kellett hearing

    rs

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  11. And the survivors hit back:

    http://stuartsyvret.blogspot.com/2009/09/survivors-speak-out.html

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  12. JERSEYBEAN
    so Warcup,Le Marquand and SA Vautier,are distancing themselves from the Gradwell CTV interview,I don't remember them raising concerns at the time,sorry but it just does not wash!people who change sides when their neck is on the line are beneath contempt.

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  13. "Anonymous said...
    If ever there was a need for a 'like' button, this is it."

    Like.


    The Beano is not the Rag

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  14. The very pinnacle of cut and thrust JEP REPORTING in Jersey.... By Andy Sibcy

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  15. Can you just confirm that all those who have been slagged off, put down and accused in the past have agreed to be filmed, yet all those who have been involved in rubbishing the HdelaG enquiry have refused to go on camera during their questioning by Scrutiny?

    If that is true it flies in the face of the old maxim trotted out when CCTV cameras are installed that 'if you are doing nothing wrong then you have nothing to fear from the camera' .

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  16. Can you just confirm that all those who have been slagged off, put down and accused in the past have agreed to be filmed, yet all those who have been involved in rubbishing the HdelaG enquiry have refused to go on camera during their questioning by Scrutiny?


    Its the same with making statements under oath one side does not,all this news in UK at the moment but the quotes that come through clearly are that ALL the witnesses will give evidence UNDER OATH seemingly that is a VERY importmant factor in the "terms of referance".
    Why is is not the same here in Jersey the affadavits that have been sworn by a number of people seem to have no revelance?

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  17. Although this was written in the main posting

    “Furthermore should this Committee of Enquiry ever get off the ground then parts of its Terms Of Reference must be the role played by Jersey's "accredited" media during and after the Historic Child Abuse Enquiry.”

    That should have included “before” the Abuse Enquiry also. It is inconceivable to believe that NONE of the victims were forced to go to the media while their abuse was taking place or even after.

    Jersey’s “accredited” media have got a lot of questions to answer.

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  18. Not a mention in the rag tonight that an ordinary member of the public gave evidence at the scrutiny hearing on Friday.
    The last thing they would want to divulge is that normal everyday people are doing there own research now and are more informed than for example , Ian (bumbling) le Marqaund ( although I think his performance was an act)
    Predictable reporting as ever.
    Well done , by the way RICO.

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  19. The ever faithful BBC has managed to turn a question in the States about Mick Gradwell allegedly leaking confidential reports into an attack on Lenny Harper.


    from voiceforchildren voiceforchildren voiceforchildren@googlemail.com
    to bbc radio jersey
    date Mon, Jul 18, 2011 at 5:53 PM
    subject State Controlled Media
    mailed-by googlemail.com
    hide details 5:53 PM (25 minutes ago)
    BBC.

    Could you let me know if it is just poor "journalism" on Christie Tuckers behalf or it was intentional to mention the name of Lenny Harper with the NOTW and NOT to mention the name of Mick Gradwell with leaking confidential reports to the Daily Mail and local media?

    VFC.

    --
    http://voiceforchildren.blogspot.com/

    http://voiceforjersey.blogspot.com/

    http://voiceforprotest.blogspot.com/

    Twitter https://twitter.com/#!/TheVoiceJersey

    They're getting desperate and are being shown to be so!

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  20. That is why Rico is sitting in front of the Scrutiny Panel and not a bungling Jersey Journalist..

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  21. What could BDO/Kellett have seen in Lenny Harper's Statement to Wiltshire?

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  22. If "people who change sides when their neck is on the line are beneath contempt," the what are people who deliberately chose the wrong side of the truth in the first place?

    Do you think the NOTW Scandal has rattled them a bit? Even the JEP may feel a little twitchy knowing corrupt power structures crumble eventually. If the money and power of a Murdoch can't protect the Prime Minister or his own family or even an allied police chief, who is safe from the truth?

    The JEP, CTV, BDO Alto, Shenton, ILM, BBC Jersey, Warcup, Gradwell, and many more could be in for a bumpy ride. Betraying each other would be the least of their sins. Should they dedicate themselves even more to concealing criminal abuse, in the name of loyalty to the other rats?

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  23. Deputy Pitman deserves real credit for bringing about this sea-change. It must take guts to stand up knowing that you will be attacked and smeared.

    But still doing so because you know that what you are doing is right. Nothing to do with 'taking sides' other than taking the side of fairness and justice.

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  24. "Do you think the NOTW Scandal has rattled them a bit?"

    They are trying to clutch to anything at the moment.

    The BDO review is value for money in one way £64,000 for a report they used to rubbish an abuse investigation £64,000 for that very same report to expose this toxic government.


    Value for money

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  25. JEP front page today is a scaving attack of Lenny Harper and his meal with the News of the World.

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  26. The JEP, and Ben Shenton, are nothing if not predictable.........and desperate.

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  27. The news is the news, so why did he take a News of the World Reporter out on tax payers money? Answer that.

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  28. Interesting post on Deputy Pitman's blog.

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  29. The news is the news, so why did he take a News of the World Reporter out on tax payers money? Answer that.

    If you are able to contain yourself for a day, possibly two, then you will be able to read the Blog I intend publishing which will contain, among other things, an e-mail exchange between And Sibcy from the JEP, Mr. Lenny Harper, Rico Sorda and VFC which deals with this issue.

    Incidentally your tone seems to indicate that Mr. Harper having dinner with a NOTW Journalist is more newsworthy, or important, than the fact that children in the “care” of the States of Jersey were able to be abused by pedophiles for DECADES.

    I’m having a guess here; you’re not Ben Shenton are you or work for the JEP? A JEP reader?

    And yes, to the other commenter Deputy Trevor Pitman’s Blog is an interesting read, and while we’re on the subject of Ben Shenton, it doesn’t show him in a good light at all……..just what are the Senator’s motives? By the looks of things whatever they are they’re shared by the JEP……In my opinion of course.

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  30. JEP front page today is a scaving attack of Lenny Harper and his meal with the News of the World

    Just read that again it sums it up in one. Well done to the person who posted it.

    And yet the kids were abused for decades

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  31. The fact that children were abused for decades doesn’t seem to be of any relevance to the JEP. How Lenny Harper having a meal with NOTW Journalists makes any difference to that fact is beyond me.

    The JEP and Ben Shenton seem more interested in what the investigators did or didn’t do than they are with what the perpetrators did and were able to do for decades.

    It needs repeating, for the sake of the JEP and Senator Shenton. The crime is that children (now adults) were abused by people employed by our government FOR DECADES. The very people, who were supposed to care and nurture them, were beating, raping and sodomizing them. Lives have been wrecked, ruined, torn apart because pedophiles were able to terrorize our children, FOR DECADES with impunity.

    Let’s get these monsters, and their protectors, brought to justice and put things as right as they can be. Why are the JEP so hell bent on discrediting the very people who exposed this abuse?

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  32. 'The fact that children were abused for decades doesn’t seem to be of any relevance to the JEP'.

    Thats utter rubbish and sad you say such cack sometimes.

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  33. Don't vote Shenton the man is a lazy joke.

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  34. Perhaps the NOTW hacked into Lenny Harpers phone and reported the details he was holding back from the media. The scale of abuse was worse than what he was actually telling the press at the time, because he was using restraint about evidence they had found. If so, Harper is no more to blame for the "leak" than any other phone hacking victim. What is interesting is that the NOTW piece is possibly accurate, and undoubtedly more so than anything in Jersey's M.S.M. regarding Lenny Harper after he left.

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  35. Hi Team

    We would like to say very well done to Rico for doing the right thing. We also want to say well done to Deputy Pitman. He has really proven himself to be a great represetative here in No. 1 district. Good luck to all of you.

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  36. Tim Hanson is currently campaigning about the dangers of radon gas in Jersey. It might have killed his father.
    If the gas is as dangerous as some people think it kills more children and adults each year than were ever likely to have been killed at HDLG.
    Of course, radon is a naturally occuring substance - but if it is so dangerous, then our neglect in dealing with it reaches "criminal" proportions too.

    I realise that we all have our particular campaigns and motivations and it is difficult to apply a comparative measure on seriousness. If we could, then we should all be talking about the horn of Africa this week, at least some of the time.

    However, for what it is worth, I would urge readers to look at the 21 April 2010 blog on voiceforprotest about radon gas in Jersey. I would also invite Deputies Rondel and Wimberley to tell us what has happened to their Scrutiny Panel review on this subject ?

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