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Dave Walker Daily, Saturday 2nd August
Another one has broken cover. Phil Grooms SPCK/SSG blog has made public his full ‘Cease and Desist’ from Mark Brewer, with a post here noting that, of the 5 websites Phil was asked to take down, 2 of which are nothing to do with him!
Early today Phil posted the rest of Mark Brewer’s letter, noting that it was difficult to respond to it given that Brewer himself had banned Phil from contacting him. (What follows is a summary, go to Phil’s site for the whole thing.)
For the record, Phil denies the following claims:
1. Running a website dedicated to the destruction of Brewers personal reputation (the sites are dedicated to SPCK bookshops).
2. ‘Succesfully blocking my efforts to get my and SSG’s side of the story out’: Phil has invited Mark Brewers input on several occasions, and at no point has he attacked ‘my wife, my daught and my religion’, as Brewer claims.
3. Holding Mark Brewer up to ridicule, and using ‘vile and defamatory words’. No, says Phil: Madpriest and others (see the end of this post) might be doing that, but Phil isn’t.
4. Interfering with SSG’s strategy to salvage SPCK. Phil responds: “My impression was that you’d filed for bankruptcy, Mark, and peremptorily dismissed most of your staff. I have to confess that I didn’t recognise that as a strategy to “salvage what remains of the business”… why didn’t you tell us that’s what you were trying to do? I think most people got the impression you were asset-stripping or something similar.”
5. I’ll just quote Mark Brewer for this bit:
I therefore am going to say this as clearly as I can: I am a private individual and I value my privacy. I am not a public figure such that you have the right to drag my name and my family’s names through the mire. I do not consent to you contacting me about your alleged enquiries. I do not consent and object to you maintaining websites about me, SSG, SSGCT, ENC Management, my brother, my wife, or my daughter. I do not consent to you posting blogs on the internet. I do not consent to you defaming me to any other party or person by “sharing” your false allegations.
No contact? No websites about SPCK (which is what the SSG demand would entail)? No blogs on the internet? It’s hard to avoid the suspicion that Brewer just wants Phil to keep quiet and say nothing.
Phil concludes:
Finally, for now, please note that I’m not interested in defaming you or in making “false allegations”. I am interested in finding the truth, however, and that forces me to ask why you wanted Dave Walker’s ‘Save the SPCK’ pages taken down? Was there something there that you wanted hidden? Why did you demand that Sam Norton take down those he reposted? Why do you want the pages referred to in my previous posts taken down? The reasons you’ve given don’t really seem bear scrutiny, do they?
And here is what whiffs about the whole business. When a faltering business faces industrial tribunals in the UK, files for bankruptcy several thousand miles away, and and the same time tries to completely silence the two main reporters on its actions… Well, you can work the rest out, can’t you?
The SPCK Chronicles
Now that the entire Dave Walker Chronicles of SPCK are available in 1 volume, its possible to examine whether they merit a ‘Cease and Desist’ order for possible libel. Exigency in Specie has a good summary of the whole thing, and notes:
When you read the posts, Dave spent a good deal of time trying to moderate those reactions in order to thoughtfully report events that he believed should be of concern to a wider audience. As a relatively high profile site he primarily acted as a central resource for collecting together information from the geographically diverse chain. Care in what was written was uppermost, even when emotions grew - you can easily find points where he calls for cool heads, and where he removed comments that he himself deemed were close to the line. Certainly an approach from Mark Brewer asking for specific points to be removed would I’m sure have been met with much less of an explosion of anger in the blogsphere than the cease and desist attempt to close down the whole story has produced
Who’s Blogging
Sam Norton continues to get plenty of support - here are the comments on his own C&D. I had trouble opening his site this morning (along with those of several other commenters on this story - hope they’re not going after the ISP’s now)
Mark B at Way Out West is an early link on the DW story that we missed. And it has a cartoon. The Walsingham Girl is an Orthodox Christian in the UK who is ‘appalled’ by Dave Walkers treatment.
Meanwhile Kouya Chronicle has blogged in support of the C&D 3, revmusings is also Dave Walker, as is Anne’s blog. One Blog One Lord wants Dave to be President, and Philip Bartholemew makes the perceptive comment:
J Mark Brewer, who runs the organisation that owns the bookshops (and who is now seeking bankruptcy proceedings in Houston), believes he and his company should be immune from criticism because both are private: in fact, as Unity points out, Brewer is a subject of public controversy and so in US eyes is a “limited purpose public figure”. This is just one feature of US libel law that we could do with in the UK, where people who choose to involve themselves in public affairs can all too often suppress critical discussion and discourage investigation by waving lawyers around
Tim Abbott has a round up, and on the ground Thoughts and More Thoughts has been to see Chester SPCK, and links to reports from the local paper on the staff sackings. Wonder if any of the media people swarming around Dave Walker at the moment know what’s going on?
The ‘We Support Dave Walker’ Facebook group is up to nearly 350, which hopefully England can surpass today at Edgbaston.
Finally for light relief, Rev. Dr. Christian Troll has no doubt that J. Mark Brewer is a man after his own heart. Don’t read this with any food in your mouth, it will end up on your keyboard.
(David Keen, posting on Matt’s behalf whilst his wires are sorted out)
JibJab Election Video 2008: It’s time for some campaignin’
Send a JibJab Sendables® eCard Today!
via ABC and Bloggerheads.
Nick Robinson on Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling - summarised
Since I am playing with Wordles today, I made one of Nick Robinson’s Blog Entry this morning “The Difference” about Gordon Brown’s position.
There are some good phrases there:
- Why Gordon?
- Government restricted Brown
- Explaining Gordon
- Brown’s Darling
- Decade tax difference
- Plan unwillingness
All good fun. What do you think?
If you want to see what I said when Mr Brown took over the throne, this is what I said on July 3rd 2007.
Thanks, Ireland!
Today, we all own the people of Ireland a huge debt of gratitude. For they have voted against the Lisbon Treaty!
Ireland is the only one of the 27 EU member states have actualy put it to a popular vote. Theya re the only ones who actually asked the people what they want. And the people said no.
This should now be the end of the Lisbon Treaty. This should now be the end of the continuing sweeping up of national powers into an undemocratic suprantional institution. If the statement of the French Prime Minister is true, of course:
If the Irish people decide to reject the treaty of Lisbon, naturally, there will be no treaty of Lisbon.
If the EU force Ireland to vote again - as they did last time over the Nice treaty - then they just show themselves to be disgusting anti-democrats. And if they try, the Irish people should refuse to vote.
The Lisbon Treaty has been rejected by the only ordinary people who were given the choice. The constitution Treaty is not wanted. It must be retired, in full. With no little bits brought in through the back door as normal business.
It is not wanted. It must now be discarded and shredded.
The only appearance it should ever make again is in the history books, as a defeated attempt to remove the power from the people.
BOOK REVIEW: “Can You Trust the Media?” by Adrian Monck
The central premise of “Can You Trust the Media” is that the supposed sacred bond of trust between journalists and the public is little more than a red herring, masking the real truth that reporters are storytellers all in competition with each other to grab our attention, and nothing more. In this book Monck examines the nature of the relationship between the media and its audience and asks whether we can trust the media and, more pertinently, whether we can trust ourselves.
Idealogy is an ideal of the past: Garbo
The tables can be turned very quickly on the Tories
Yesterday I wrote about how the electorate are looking for Labour blood and to inflict that they are using the Tories. Well, just suppose the Tories fail to inflict the wounds that we so desperately want to see upon Brown’s leadership?
Just as easily as we want to damage New Labour, if the tables are turned the Tories would be foolish to think they are immune. If they somehow fail to win Crewe and Nantwich tomorrow, the political narrative could be very different to how it is being delivered at the moment. It is easy to forget how quickly they turned on Labour – in the space of an Andrew Marr interview.
The Electorate is fickle – and rightly so
By all measures, the Tories should stand no chance tomorrow. This is a safe Labour seat contested by the daughter of a recently deceased, much missed and popular Labour MP. Yet the expectations on the Tories are now so high that anything other than a win will be seen as failure on their part. Incredible, but such is the thirst for the Tories to inflict the wounds on Labour that they must now deliver. If they fail, it could also spell trouble for them – and if the balance can be turned back in the favour of the government all of a sudden we could see Cameron getting a bashing from his party, the media and the electorate. The reason: we are fickle.
Ideology is a history
Gone are the days of ideological government. If the Conservatives stand on an ideological right wing platform they will be history. The same will happen to the Labour party if it decides that its best course of action is to pursue its Marxist roots. The key to being in the game at election time is occupying the middle ground and pragmatism. The key to winning elections is being the party who is seen as most credible while occupying this position.
There is little between Labour, the Tories or the Lib Dems at the moment. There is very little ideologically between them. The reason there is such disparity in the polls is because Brown is seen as incompetent and so we look to the Tories. This is shaky ground that the Tories are setting the foundations on. If the economy recovers and the spot light falls on the Tory’s incompetence for a time, the cracks will begin to show with them too and the polls will narrow.
Politics is not football
The parties no longer belong to the grass roots. The days of supporting a party like a football club are gone. Once a Wolves supporter, always a Wolves supporter – and if they are playing ugly football and heading for relegation then you only shout louder from the stands. Well the same can’t be said for political parties. If a party is not doing well, then the supporters will not stick around for long and will seek out an alternative. And quite rightly too – political decisions are too important to blindly follow those making them.
A warning for the Tories
And so a word of warning for the Tories: do not take the lead in the polls for granted. Do not take it as a blind endorsement of your brilliance and a desire for the people to have you in charge. Most importantly do not fall in to the arrogance and distain New Labour has assumed over the electorate over the course of the past few years. These polls are not indicative of our love for you, rather they are the electorate saying we are fed up with Brown and you are the alternative… for now.
Brownisms
Everyone has heard of “Bushisms“, the often stupid remarks made by George W Bush - such gems as “It’s clearly a budget. It’s got a lot of numbers in it” - but, until now, Brownisms have been missed. What is a Brownism?
Definition of Brownism: (braun’i(z’?m)
1. (verb) The subtle art of combining of words into sentences that are meant to deliberately mislead or confuse the general public.
Origins: A term coined to categorize all of Prime Minister Brown’s eccentric speech.
Example: A sample Brownism: “This will be a government of no spin.”
Notes: See also: Spin doctor; Machiavellian; dishonest.
And below, courtesy of Hertfordshire CF, is a list of the 20 best Brownisms:
20. “I will not allow house prices to get out of control and put at risk the sustainability of the future… the UK should not return to the instability, speculation and negative equity of the 1980s and 1990s” Gordon Brown, Chancellor of the Exchequer, November 1997
- Strangely enough, the UK housing market now faces years of instability and negative equity after the former Chancellor allowed rampant speculation to cause house prices to spiral out of control for 10 yrs.
19. “I am happy for there to be a leadership contest. I think there should be.” Gordon Brown, Interview with BBC’s Sunday AM, 10th Sept 2006.
- As everyone knows there was of course no leadership contest. The Prime Minister should be careful what he wishes for though, as he may well get his leadership contest over the next few months.
18. “I did maths for a year at university. I don’t think I was very good at it. And some people would say it shows.” Gordon Brown, April 2007
- It certainly does Prime Minister. A surprisingly candid admission from a man who lost $9 billion on his gold sales and then ran our economy for ten years, leaving just before the banking and housing sectors collapsed.
17. “The failure to support the reform treaty will leave the Czechoslovakian people isolated in Europe.” Gordon Brown, March 2008
- Looks like Geography wasn’t Gordon Brown’s strong point either. Our Prime Minister states his fears in Parliament for Czechoslovakia, a country that ceased to exist 15 years ago.
16. “There is nothing that you could say to me now that I could ever believe.” Gordon Brown to Tony Blair in October 2004, after British Prime Minister appeared to renege on a guarantee not to fight a third term of government.
- Prime Minister, trusts us we know how you feel. That’s how we feel about you both.
15. “The Arctic Monkeys really wake you up in the morning.” Gordon Brown on the Sheffield band, quoted in 2006 summer issue of New Woman magazine.
- Our Prime Minister’s reply when asked about his favourite music band. He was then embarrassingly unable to name a single track from their debut album beyond insisting that ‘they are very loud’.
The Power of the Commentariat. Or Perhaps Not: Blog Platform
A couple of days ago I drew your attention to a seminar to launch a report by Editorial Intelligence called “The Power of the Commentariat”. Or rather, they have launched half of it and expect the public to buy the rest from Amazon
It’s an interesting document and I’d like to do a review of the whole thing. I have asked Editorial Intelligence for a review copy of the whole document. If one is not forthcoming, I shall review the half of the report that they have seen fit to release.
Listening to the podcast of the seminar, there are a number of moments of “Don Quixote” incongruity. However, if you want to skip the fun, and just hear what I think - then go to the next section.
The Emperor with no clothes gives advice on dress sense
Golly, Polly!
Polly Toynbee whinged complained about bloggers launching “vituperative” and “personal” attacks on her. Perhaps she thought noone had read her vituperative and personal attacks on numerous targets.
Has anyone read Polly on Boris these last few weeks, or Polly on the Archishop of Canterbury six months ago, or on any number of different people at different times?
That’s why she’s such good value for bloggers. If she didn’t exist, we’d have to invent her.
Charles “how dare you intrude into my private life” Clarke
Charles Clarke complaining about doorstepping by journalists.
This is a politician in a cabinet which passed all manner of unnecessary restrictions on liberty from the right to demonstrate, through DNA profiling of the innocent with no effective redress, via compliance with Extraordinary Rendition, to an Extradition Treaty allowing British Citizens to be yanked out of their daily lives by foreign judges to face trial in the United States on the basis of no evidence whatsoever.
Forgive me, Mr Clarke, if my sympathy for you is limited.
Again, Charles Clarke on the unfairness of anonymously expressed views
Charles Clarke complaining about anyone putting forward a viewpoint anonymously.
Er, sorry, Mr Clarke - but I thought that anonymous briefings (and bullying) were used relentlessly by the New Labour administration (of which you were a key part) as a tool for media manipulation.
What do they think of bloggers?
Quite a lot of ill-informed nonsense, but some people “Get it” (Danny Finkelstein and others) or nearly get it (Julia Hobsbawm among them).
Bloggers are dreadful horrible nasty vindictive followers of Guido Fawkes
Columnists are specifically described as being of “different types”, but bloggers are apparently all the same and we are all “followers” of Guido Fawkes (wonder what Professor Norm, Tim Ireland, Natalie and The F-Word would say about that).
And, regardless of the vitriol poured on him, Guido has done some superb work - my favourite is the the exposure of Peter Hain’s attempt to drive a double decker bendybus through the rules and principles supposed to govern elections in his own party.
He had also entertained us from time to time by getting the things hilariously wrong from time to time (one word: Newsnight).
Bloggers are all the same
A very, very funny comment.
Anybody who says that has not mastered their brief to comment on bloggers. It has a “whole class of Japanese students out on bicycles in Cambridge for the first time going the wrong way round a traffic island, knowing they are wrong but being too scared to go back” feel about it (ack. Bishop of Maidstone). I’d suggest working harder and getting out more.
Bloggers are Masculine
This was a statement from Julia Hobsbawm in the closing conversation. Certainly most are, but there is no male monopoly - even in politics.
My thoughts?
The Commentariat (as represented in this podcast) seem to be having a few problems getting to grips with the blogging medium - in particular coping with the diversity.
How can they cope with the plethora of blogs? Have they “got to read” all of this? (yes you do - at least enough of it enough times to develop a familiarity sufficient to make a sensible judgement).
The Internet is stuffed with automatic tools to help you get to grips with the flow of comment, including aggregators, specialised search engines (www.technorati.com, Google news and blog search), and services to try and judge what is important (www.technorati.com again, www.wikio.com).
The UK Political Blogosphere is also heavily summarised if you know where to look. How many columnists heave heard of the Britblog Roundup, the Scottish Roundup, the Welsh Blog Index, Cassilis’s roundup of think tanks, and the numerous other “signposts” that are published every week? Hopefully at least some know about these various “roundups”.
If they aren’t familiar with these tools then - again - it’s a matter of getting out more and working at it a bit. That’s not exactly difficult.
And I haven’t even mentioned RSS and RSS Readers (Google Reader, Feed Demon to name one online and one offline reader).
Even Danny Finkelstein - who writes a fantastic blog at Comment Central - quoted the “Cover it Live” chatroom service (btw, Danny, it IS moderated) as potentially useful. The fact is that chatrooms have existed for years and years and years; when I was diagnosed with Diabetes a regular chatroom meetup was one way I learnt to cope - that was in 2001, and they were old then. The problem here is mainly that there has been too much conservatism to use them appropriately. There are dozens of tools out there - sites just need the minimal knowledge to use them and the willingness to take a slight risk as to what will happen.
if I was a struggling columnist floundering in a sea of blog comment, I would make a point of taking Jemima Kiss or Chris Vallance (or me!) out for a long, expensive lunch to quiz them on how to read blogs the easy way.
Wrapping Up
Guido and Iain have commented on the Power of the Commentariat “do”.
And Guido is making a feature of holding columnists to account. A good idea, but it needs more than just him.
Iain has commented more sympathetically on the report itself.
In the meantime you can listen to the podcast here, and download half the report here.
Editorial Intelligence’s service was quoted as an example of a site helping people get to grips with online comment. I disagree - it is expensively paid for and therefore helps maintain an “in-crowd”.
I’m wondering if the Editorial Intelligence Model is now way past it’s sell by date - given that summaries of most of the stuff written by commentators and columnists is now syndicated via RSS. I wonder whether MySociety could build us something better for the whole world - not just those who can afford the subscriptions - to use if someone gave them £5k and a month.
The thing that the Commentariat actually need to do is to shatter their “bubble on a pedestal” from the inside before it gets shattered for them from the outside.
I’ll follow this article with a review of the full report, or half the report - depending on what is made available to me.
You can get the first half at the link above, and the second half of The Power of the Commentariat
And a slight apology - I have not linked absolutely everything in this article as I am away from home.
