CLPEX Chat Board

On another posting ‘pottoman’ writes;

“What do you think of the role that the media plays (or fails to play...) in a case like Van der Vyver's? This question is particularly important in the light that most of the lay public rely on the media as vital source for information and perceptions - including perceptions relating to guilt and/or innocence”.

Iain McKie and his dwindling band of supporters realised this very quickly.
McKie often boasts of how he ‘got the stories out.’

Although most of the Scottish media have been alerted to McKie’s tactics it still goes on. Perhaps it would help if I gave an example;

In an article in the Herald Magazine, May 2, 2009, regarding the Fingerprint Inquiry Scotland, McKie supporter, Eamonn O'Neill states:

The Inquiry has three goals:

1. To identify the steps which led to the false identification of a print labelled Y7
during the 1997 Marion Ross murder inquiry as that of Shirley McKee, which
subsequently caused the perjury charge to be levelled against her in 1999.

2. To examine the consequences of that false identification.

3. To list recommendations to prevent a repeat.
However any honest Investigative Journalist taking a cursory glance at the Inquiry's website would have seen;

http://www.thefingerprintinquiryscotlan ... 26.24.html

The Inquiry has the following terms of reference:

 To inquire into the steps that were taken to identify and verify the fingerprints associated with, and leading up to, the case of HM Advocate v. McKie in 1999, and
 To determine, in relation to the fingerprint designated Y7, the consequences of the steps taken, or not taken, and
 To report findings of fact and make recommendations as to what measures might now be introduced, beyond those that have already been introduced since 1999, to ensure that any shortcomings are avoided in the future.

You may struggle to find sixteen points in agreement and in sequence.
You’ll certainly find dissimilarites by the bucketful.

A free press can be a double edged sword. They can get your story out, but they can turn against you. A liar might present a sensational story and be accepted initially by reporters who print the story. But if so, the truth catches up and other reporters researching the situation will eventually expose the lie. While some readers may never disbelieve the first story, most people are smart enough to figure it out once all the facts are reported. On the other hand, if the press reports a true story, then all the efforts of the liars to counter it only serve to strengthen the truth. A free press is the best check against a police state, corrupt bureaucrats, or complacent politicians. I would say at this point, Dak, a free press is your worst enemy. Keep your eye on the headlines.

See you at the pub.

the truth catches up and other reporters researching the situation will eventually expose the lie.

Exactly the point I was trying to make!
Your fellow American, Martin Luther King once said "No lie lasts forever"
I believe that.
And yes Pat, you may see me in the pub, but I'll be celebrating!