Pages

Monday 9 December 2013

HOW THE JEP DELIBERATELY SEEK TO MANIPULATE OPINION

Faked letters attacking Progressive politicians fine. Genuine letters from the public which don't share the editor's view are... not

Though I will have a new post up in the next day or two in the meantime I reproduce below, with the kind permission of the member of the public in question, a letter sent to the editor of the Jersey Evening Post in the week following our original court case back in April 2012. Just as important, of course, is the curt and, it has to be said, arrogantly pathetic reply from Mr Chris Bright.
 
Having stumbled upon this again the other day I think it is very telling with regard to the way the 'newspaper' attempts to mislead its ever-dwindling readership to maintain the favoured Establishment view and thus help keep the 'right' sort of people in office.  All whilst claiming, of course, that Pravda is a fair minded and responsible journal treating all views and perspectives equally and without any prejudice.
 
Everything in the letter was as per the JEP's publication policy
 
As is wholly apparent the letter from Mr Whitworth - who actually stood against me in the 2008 election and thus can hardly be described as a friend displaying bias - is both polite, concise and entirely in line with the 'newspaper's' claimed policy for publication. Where it falls down, of course, is that Mr Whitworth expresses the view held by the vast majority and clearly Mr Bright cannot have that type of thing within his pages!
 
This is a fact made all the more disturbing, of course, given the hard reality that under Bright's stewardship of the JEP he has regularly been proven to quite happily print wholly fabricated letters from non-exitent people attacking politicians who dare challenge the Establishment line so beloved of the 'newspaper'.
 
Faked letters whose sprurious content we have quickly and easily demonstrated to be fabricated at that by a quick and simple visit - even though Bright and his minions have repeatedly claimed to me and others that the authenticity of all letters to be published are first throughly checked out by the JEP's staff. Opinion manipulation, it has to be said, of the most despicable and unprofessional kind; and behaviour hardly appropriate to a claimed 'quality' newspaper.
 
The 'Jersey Way' in all it's sordid glory
 
Of course, as we found out the hard way just like so many others -in a Jersey court to win a case you can't simply rely upon being right as with respectable jurisdictions. You just have to be on the right 'team'. 
 
A light-hearted Christmas cartoon? No. As the man behind it, Broadland's Mr Roger Trower was forced to concede in court; far from a result of his being 'pleased' Jersey now had a 'husband and wife team' in the States: 'Yes...' the cartoon was 'serious political comment at the end of the day.' And it was also a pack of lies which painted a wholly false picture of the political platform upon which we had stood.
 
No wonder an ever-growing number of local people are heading out on the long but necessary trek to Strasbourg.
 
 
The letter from Mr Chris Whitworth
 
 
12th April 2012

 

Dear Sir, 

After reading the recent Andy Sibcy libel action report regarding both Deputies Trevor and Shona Pitman against estate agency Broadlands 2008 Christmas advert published in the JEP, I began my own small survey. 

Commissioner Sir Charles Gray was responsible for advising the two Jurats Le Breton & Milner on whether this advertising feature was in fact defamatory. They were advised to consider it through the eyes of the ordinary or reasonable reader. 

Interestingly, my survey involved asking some of the aforementioned readers for their opinions and so far everyone has responded that it was all about the money they can earn as states members. Asked about the quote ‘4 x the salary darling’ and not one person associated this with the mortgage multiplier used by lenders to work out how much a couple can borrow – even when ‘joint’ was added to the quote. 

Now, I cannot be totally sure that the people I asked are not extraordinary or unreasonable readers and totally agree that my poll has no credible value at all, but it does question whether the deputies ever had a chance in this case. 

I, as I imagine all parties involved in this disagreement, would defend the right to freedom of speech; however, when so many people are misinterpreting the intention of this advert, then obviously something has gone very wrong. 

I may be mistaken, but I cannot recall any article or relevance with a mortgage relating to these deputies in 2008. 

As for the picture in question, the expressions on the deputies’ faces along with the fact that the rosette is surrounded with pound notes, is very misleading at the very least. 

Perhaps, in future any such material should be produced in such a way that it is clearly understood by all readers and not just those with knowledge of mathematical multipliers. 

Yours Faithfully
 

Chris Whitworth 
 
JEP Editor Chris Bright's reply

                                                                                                                                                19 April, 2012

Dear Mr Whitworth, 

I write in reply to your letter of 12 April, which I have decided not to publish because it effectively says little more than that, despite your not having been present in court, you disagree with the verdict it reached. With due respect, although you are entitled to your personal opinion on the subject, that is of little interest to the general public. 

If you would care to submit a letter commenting on any related issues in a more general way, I would be happy to consider its publication. 

Yours sincerely, 

CHRIS BRIGHT

EDITOR

30 comments:

  1. Chris Bright comes across as nothing short of a smug and arrogant bully. FWIW I agree with everything Mr. Whitworth wrote.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Disgusting but entirely predictable. Glad I no longer buy the filthy rag.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I bet this is just one of dozens of letters Bright has suppressed. What a horrible man and newspaper per se. Roll on the day it bites the dust with all its lies.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The JEP has turned into an advertising magazine. Majority being Property for sale cars for sale free ads and personal items for sale. World news can be read anywhere. Local news amounts to PR releases with the occasional spotlight type article normally benefitting the business interest of person under the spotlight.

    What was the last investigation undertaken by a JEP journalist?

    ReplyDelete
  5. You think that's bad? You should see the letter I got from him after I wrote them (which admittedly was published) criticising him for an editorial that predicted the recommendations the Electoral Commission was going to make, and saying there is no public support for getting rid of the Constables from the States (which is demonstrably untrue as all polling shows the public are divided), and that there was "no good reason why there should be". Oh, apart from that little thing called "democracy" of course...

    Sam

    ReplyDelete
  6. After the Simon Abbott inquest findings today, do you not think you and Jon Abbott owe Maureen Morgan a massive apology?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not at all - hounding a man with alleged identified mental health issues? Just how sick can a cyber bully get?

      Delete
    2. Er. I don't think anyone that was on the receiving end is under any illusion as to the way round that cyber bullying happened with Simon... clearly they can get sick to death.

      Delete
  7. How dare this excuse for an Editor presume that the contents of Mr Whitworth's letter is of little interest to the general public? If that is the case why has the Filthy Rag made great play of the whole sad, sorry tale on it's pages.

    Surely not because they are desperate to sell papers that a lot of people do not wish to buy any more.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In court Bright himself wilted under questions and admitted he was quite clear that the cartoon/advert had nothing to do with 'mortgage multipliers'.

      It was about a wholly false and damaging lie that we had increased our income by 4 times. Of course he let it be published anyway whilst simultaneously making Broadlands withdraw the 'Hail to the THIEF' slogan over Terry Le Sueur.

      How could such a pathetic coward ever allow people who had sussed the truth to challenge the 'findings' by JEP-friendly, peadophile protecting Jurat John Le Breton?

      Delete
  8. Dear Deputies Pitman and Pitman,

    The wicked may revel in your misfortune but imo basic humanity requires sympathy for you as a couple faced with the possibility or the certainty of loosing your home.

    You certainly have the sympathy of me and my family.

    Everyone will have an opinion on the rights and wrongs of suing over the offending cartoon. I can understand you feeling wronged by it and also understand your wish use the case to highlight the aggressively partisan attitude of the JEP

    I wonder if you feel mislead by your legal advice if it gave you an unrealistic impression of your chances of winning, particularly in Jersey against establishment linked businesses.

    It is not out of the realms of possibility that you were deliberately led up the garden path in order that you could be ambushed by Jurat Le Breton and his friends. Or maybe it was just a "happy accident" from their point of view.

    Your financial position is certainly not my business but I would like to highlight some issues to you.

    A skim read of
    http://tonymusings.blogspot.com/2013/12/the-remise-de-biens-how-it-works.html
    indicates that you have asked the legal system to allow their home to be sold to pay off your debts (In particular to the JEP lawyers)

    "The debtor is required to present a schedule of all his moveable and immoveable property to the Court. The debtor must swear to the fact that the schedule is true and accurate. If accepted, the Royal Court will appoint 2 Jurats to examine the schedule, investigate the property and report back to the Court within 15 days."

    Ah "Jurats" again. Those mythical protectors of "widows and orphans [and estate agents]" etc. etc. according to their oath. Right OK

    Notwithstanding the upset of loosing your home I do not know how secure or marginal your financial position is in terms of covering your court imposed debts.

    Now this is the important bit (which you probably already know)

    Any house sale in a hurry, under duress or repossession etc tends to sell well under it's "market value". Up to a point this is normal.

    I gather that when a property comes under the control of Jersey lawyers there is a tendency for the jersey way to come in to play and for them to dispose of the spoils amongst family and contacts at potentially a FRACTION OF IT'S VALUE.

    Quite how blatant they would be in your case is anyone's guess but you will probably find that in Jersey they can do this because THEY are the law.

    Even if they value/sell your house for what THEY would consider a normal value under duress it might make all the difference to your financial position.

    CONTINUED

    ReplyDelete
  9. FROM
    http://tonymusings.blogspot.com/2013/11/out-of-time.html

    "Because of Trevor Pitman's somewhat pugnatious stance, there will probably be those who have little regret over the outcome, or the potential outcome of his leaving the States. This would be a shame. Before his life began to revolved around the libel action - which can be seen by the numerous mentions on his blog - he made two extremely significant changes to the States, which are on a par with the Troy rule as major planks of reform.

    The first was to ensure that the Chief Minister was elected by open ballot; the second, to extend that to the election of Ministers. In doing so, he ended decades of backroom deals and horse-trading over elections (for Presidents of Committees , then Ministers), and ensured the States became much more transparent and accountable; he ensured the public had oversight of who voted for Chief Minister and Ministers. And he carried the House with him on both occasions. That is a significant achievement, and it shows the potential which he had, and I believe still could have.

    And even with the Court case hanging over him, he still took up the case of the businessmen who had seen Sir Philip Bailhache reading papers relating to the case of HG on an airplane, and managed to get (what seems to me like) a grudging apology from the Senator after he maligned them, calling their testimony "fictitious and malicous".

    ReplyDelete
  10. "With due respect, although you are entitled to your personal opinion on the subject, that is of little interest to the general public. "

    Equally, it could be asked, why is Mr Bright's bizarre sense of humour of interest to the public. Since when has a survey been termed a personal view!! although it can be said that I rarely read a letter that is not someone's personal view/opinion.

    Oh what a stupid reply.

    ReplyDelete
  11. The JEP is going down, do you know why Deputy Pitman ? Major users of the internet are senior citizens. Why ? many of their siblings have moved away from Jersey, telephones and snail mail are time consuming or expensive or both. Using the internet passes mail almost instantly and granny can see pictures of little grandchildren at parties etc now their is skpe and news is faster and there are more sources. Local blogs contain upto date local information which readers can normally comment on.

    It follows like night follows day that the internet creep and the news is fresher quicker and contains less editorial bias and it does not cost 50p to read.

    The only way the JEP can survive is to bee taken over by Guernsey press with a complete clear out of management. Not going to happen is it ?

    JEP RIP in five years maximum before the coffin arrives.

    For lying to Jersey for decades by not telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, thus patronising and misleading the public.

    Goodbye.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dont the Guiton Group own both the JEP and the Guernsey Press?

      Delete
    2. Correct, obviously the assistant chair of the JFSC being the boss of the Guiton group in the Channel islands, has a very long dog lead on Jersey. The lead is not long enough to reach to Guernsey.

      Mr Syvret, may have a very interesting post regarding an alleged rapist that a scrutiny panel, after taking his submission refused to include but he was clearly named. Be worried.

      Oh the intrigue, and the corruption of it all.

      Delete
  12. Chris Bright is dismissive of the public interest if it isn't his own best interest. Mr Bright relies on readers who are not ordinary or reasonable readers. Objective observers know this. Chris Whitworth is presuming the JEP editorial staff have a logical mission not to deliberately misinform and mislead or would care if their blatant libel is pointed out... but no. The JEP is too far beyond the pale.

    Elle

    ReplyDelete
  13. It would seem the JEP has a fixation with 'numbers', how many noticed the not so subtle use of the number 666 (supposedly your blog membership Trevor) and the somewhat (selected??) glaring picture of you. This was about as subtle as a poke in the eye with a blunt stick, but then again it was written by a real life troglodyte at best.

    ReplyDelete
  14. It's quite possible Trevor had 666 followers when the JEP looked. It was 678 when I looked and has now gone up to 698.

    However, quoting these numbers on their own doesn't mean very much and it is quite possible that the JEP reporter, Philip Jordan, having seen the sign of the beast before his eyes, couldn't resist the temptation.

    Manna from heaven.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Deputy Bailiff made himself look an ass yesterday with his stupid attempt to try and force you to rewrite history regarding Sean Power. Everyone knows that Power is not only bad news but competely self-interested and untrustworthy. You just cannot have States Members getting away with stealing data. Simples.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Good luck in the corrupt court today and what has been done to you and Shona is criminal.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Am I right in believing you were democratically elected by the people of ST. Helier and will be removed from politics by Jurats who are elected by lawyers? If this is the scenario doesn't it spell out Jersey politics is run by the judiciary? All the best in court today but I think the writing is on the wall because Shona and yourself have shown islanders how corrupt our system is and like Syvret the judiciary will "deal with you".

    ReplyDelete
  18. Best of luck in court today Trevor and Shona thou it shouldn't be you two in the dock it should be Jurat Le Breton.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Trevor and Shona,

    wishing you all the luck in the world for court today you don't deserve to be there for sticking to your principles.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Good luck in court today please don't give up the fight for justice and democracy. Jersey needs people like you and Shona to speak up for those of us who haven't got a voice.

    ReplyDelete
  21. My wife and me passed the Stella Kid yesterday in town. My but what a great big blobby porker he has turned in to.

    Obviously too many hours spent slumped in front of a computer screen posting horrible abuse at people with a stack of six packs piled up.

    Just pleased for the kiddies he isn't Father Christmas because he certainly couldn't get down anyone's chimney.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Seems like our Jonnie Troll is already missing me even before Thursday.

    Having left this site alone for a few days whilst he bombarded other sites with his sad, embittered drivel Boozy Boy - the Bookmakers' friend - is posting at me once again like there is no tomorrow.

    Jonnie. Please do not worry about me I will be fine. You see unlike you not only have I got the knowledge that I have always stood up for right and justice against the corrupt and the bullies I also have professional qualifications in more than one field.

    Worry about yourself dear Troll.

    It can only be a matter of time before the wife gets sick of your drunken hatred and refusal to work and departs; even worse for you possibly - given your twisted outlook on life - you will have to find someone new to focus your hate and petty jealousies on.

    I hope the new target finds you as pathetically funny as I have!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Stuart in prison, you guys possibly bankrupt & out of the states,sinel the lawyer being charged.It appears anyone considered anti establishment are being targeted one by one by those that have all the time & our money at their disposal to do these things.

    ReplyDelete