Raise the Hammer

Thanks for the thoughtful response Howard. I understand a little of this law (indeed I consulted a lawyer friend of mine who backed up your comments) and you've made a consise and fair summary of the legal position there. However, my take on the RTH commentators critisism of this incident is: Why did Andrew (and the Spec) choose to go this route? If I am a public figure and someone makes an outlandish and unsubstantiated allegation against me which, while it may be defamatory, is not likely to 'stick' - why would I make an issue out of it?

Was Andrew genuinely upset? Did he really feel that the comment would 'stick'? I doubt it. If Andrew read the commentary related to the article he would have seen the largely adverse reaction to Mahesh's clearly mis-guided statement. As Ryan says - we are not morons. Clearly this allegation was never going to wash. So why make it a big deal?

Public figures get defamed all the time. Andrew Drescel cries out for attention. His articles are incendiary and crafty and typically highly charged. This is a compliment! Surely, in journalistic and artistic terms, there is nothing worse than not making an impact, than being ignored? And, conversely, there is nothing better than generating a lively response!

I enjoy Andrew's columns personally, not for the insight - of which there is, sadly, precious little - but for the craft. Andrew is a talented writer, and a 'shit disturber' of the highest order (and yes, I'm sure I could defend that in court!). Stirring the pot is a wonderful skill. To create discussion and push people's buttons (aka 'shit disturbing' :) )is an artful craft, one which Andrew has honed to precision.

But once again we have to wonder - why did he take this tack? Yes, the remark was potentially defamatory, and yes, RTH would have been liable - but why publish the mock threat? It seems so - childish.

As Ryan has said, RTH is here to promote discussion. There was no malice intended. We are all big boys and girls here. Perhaps next time Andrew could take the adult approach and place a call and ask for an apology if he was genuinely upset (which I doubt he was). I'm sure Mahesh and Ryan, if they knew of his genuine grievance, would have been happy to make amends. The Spec chose to take the same route our municipality often seems to take, and threaten legal action.

We are all supposed to be on the same team here. If this is how we choose to communicate - having our lawyers (if only RTH had one...) on constant standby - then it's a sad state for this city. It's precisely because The Spec chooses to take this kind of approach, and persistantly mis-direct it's talented journalist's efforts, that it gets bashed so much.

Thanks again for the response. I'm sure others will respond shortly. I look forward to this continued discussion :)

Cheers

Ben

Comment edited by rusty on 2010-06-04 17:32:57