Blink and you'd have missed it. The Sydney Morning Herald 'apologises' for its Islamophobe-in-residence, Paul Sheehan, without mentioning his name:
"In last Monday's paper, the Herald reported the details of an alleged sexual assault under the headline 'The horrifying untold story of Louise.' A subsequent column printed in last Thursday's edition, 'The story of Louise: why the police have no case to answer, but I do,' acknowledged key elements of the original story were unable to be substantiated. The original story, which has been corrected, included aspersions against the Middle Eastern community and raised untested allegations of inaction against the NSW Police. The Herald sincerely regrets the hurt and distress this report caused to these groups, and unreservedly apologises." (Apology, 29/2/16)*
And then, adding insult to 'apology', the Herald publishes the following letter of appreciation to Sheehan/concern for 'Louise' in the same edition:
"I very much appreciate Paul Sheehan's honesty and admission to his mistake but am a little perplexed. Does this mean 'Louise' was never raped or beaten up and spent two months in hospital? I would very much appreciate an explanation. It appears in the second article that Louise is a troubled soul. However, if any of her comments are true they need to be considered. I am also concerned that the police advised her that they were unable to assist as she reported the incident four months after and therefore it was too late; this does not ring true. I do hope that you can get to the bottom of this unpleasant situation." Linda Ward, Tweed Heads South
[*Compare the above paragraph with the Herald's elaborate, multi-paragraph grovel to the Israel lobby for the supposed offence of its cartoonist Glen Le Lievre in depicting Israel's enjoyment of Gaza's agony under Israeli attack in 2014. (See my 4/8/14 post Sustained Israel lobby barrage cripples SMH.)]
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2 comments:
Shouldn't "Louise" and Sheehan be investigated for the crime of creating a public mischief?
It is not just politicians who fabricate a chrildren overboard incident. The Herald sub-editors failed basic fact checking too.
Amazing how the Herald has kept the "apology" so impersonal.
Paul Sheehan rarely missed an opportunity to bad-mouth Muslims and Islam - did so at the drop of a pin over several years now, and the Herald repeatedly printed his comments. Now they apologize because some thought he went too far - but didn't name him. Why not? And why have they allowed him to say so much for so long. Haven't heard any rants by him against the Catholic church or vile child-abusing priests . . . plenty of ammo. there Paul. If he does get his job back I expect he might say a few words about pedophilia in the church . . . ?
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