The Wardman Wire

[Note: this article will be continually updated, so please link rather than copy - I don't want out of date information out there. Do, however, archive a copy in case my site is taken down at some stage.]

What is this about?

Dave Walker is a cartoonist who runs a popular website, which includes the blogs We Blog Cartoons, Cartoon Church and The Cartoon Blog.

On the morning of July 22nd 2008 he received a cease and desist letter threatening legal action unless he removed 75 posts from his Cartoon Church blog by lunchtime - i.e., half a day’s notice.

These 75 posts had reported the deterioration and alleged mismanagement over a 2 year period in a UK book chain called SPCK, which had been taken over by a company run by Mark Brewer. Dave Walker’s was the main published source reporting the situation, asking questions about the management of the chain, and highlighting the treatment of the employees.

We do not think that reasonable comment should be closed down like that, and we are working to support him.

This article is aiming to help Media Reporters and anybody else find the key information quickly.

Where is Dave Walker?

He is currently Artist in Residence at the Lambeth Conference (reports, photos, and hence busy from dawn until dusk until at least around August 5th. The Cease and Desist notice landed on his doormat 3 days in to the most important contract of his professional life, which is one of the reasons why the rest of us decided it needed a campaign.

If you have a colleague there or wish to visit the campus of the University of Ken, then they or you can go and talk to him - but it is a matter for Dave to decide how much he wishes to say. You may end up in a cartoon, and I will not be held responsible if that happens.

Key Articles for the Cease and Desist Notice

Introductory guide to the Dave Walker case

This guide answers the basic questions, quickly, in one place.

My Name is Dave Walker: Posts on the Cease and Desist notice

This post is a straightforward list of blogs and websites posting about the legal threat made against cartoonist Dave Walker by Mark Brewer to force him to take down his reporting and comment about the SPCK bookshop chain’s takeover and management by the Society of Saint Stephen the Great (SSG).

Dave Walker Cease and Desist Notice - Campaign Resources

This post is a list of resources that we are using to mobilise our campaign.

Grassroots Campaigning Using the Internet: Cyberactivism 101

(available fromn 26 July 2008 9am, previously posted on the Total Politics website.)

This article explains briefly how we are developing this campaign, using and developing approaches first used in the “Usmanov vs Schillings” case.

The main difference here is that the material published by Dave Walker is not controversial except for the people who have threatened him with libel actions; for everyone else it is a long term job of straightforward reporting and blogging. Dave has regularly removed comments that he thought were slightly too close to the bone or too controversial.

Still to be Posted

We are still working on the following material:

A list of interviewees for the different aspects

There are lots of people willing to be interviewed, but we are compiling a list. For now, email mattwardman at gmail dot com with the aspect you are interested in and I will put you in touch with the right person.

Wikipedia Articles about

1 - Dave Walker Cease and Desist notice.
2 - SPCK dispute events and timeline

History of the SPCK Case

An easily digested form of all the complex information from the SPCK case, which has been running for two years. There is an explanation in the introductory guide - but it is probably better (unless you have a specialist audience relating to one aspect) to start off with the Freedom of Speech aspect while you get to grips with the SPCK imbroglio.

Suppressed Posts

A full set of Dave’s posts as a) A blog site, and b) a PDF.

License

All the articles on the Wardman Wire to do with the Dave Walker Cease and Desist notice and the related campaign may be quoted as extensively as you wish as part of an article about the case - but you must include attribution to “The Wardman Wire (mattwardman.com)“, and refer to the link www.tinyurl.com/davewalker which provides an easy link back to this article.

Questions

Any more questions?

Email mattwardman at gmail dot com with your question, and I will do my best to help you.