Andytown News censors other media

national | miscellaneous | news report Thursday June 19, 2003 11:40 by Mags

Here is a statement from a journalist with the Irish Echo, who has resigned
due to the newspaper caving in to attacks from the Andersonstown News. The
Andytown News had already intimidated the website 'Nuzhound.com' out of
carrying links to articles on The Blanket website.

Here is a statement from a journalist with the Irish Echo, who has resigned
due to the newspaper caving in to attacks from the Andersonstown News. The
Andytown News had already intimidated the website 'Nuzhound.com' out of
carrying links to articles on The Blanket website.

The dispute stems from the refusal of the Andytown News to countenance any
criticism of it's publication from Anthony McIntyre and The Blanket Website.
From opposing The Blanket, the Andytown News has now started forcing other
media to 'boycott' The Blanket.

One small act people could make is to put in the link to The Blanket on
their own website/s. This censorship and intimidation should not be accepted.


Mags

******************

Folks
Today I resigned as a columnist at the Irish Echo after the publisher, Sean
Finlay, caved in to bully-boy intimidation from the Andersonstown News.
Last week I wrote a column (still available at www.eamonlynch.com, though
soon to be expunged from the Echo archives) about the legal threat by the
Andersonstown News against John Fay at Nuzhound.com for the sin of linking
to stories on The Blanket website.

In response, the Andersonstown News threatened to sue the Echo. Rather than
defend the column on its merits, Echo publisher Sean Finlay today offered
the Andersonstown News's Mairtin O'Muilleoir a column in the next issue
(with a tagline stating that the AN is a good newspaper). This column will
not address the issues of censorship and intimidation that I raised but
instead be another attack on those people behind The Blanket, chiefly Anthony
McIntyre. In effect, the reprehensible censorship of the Andersonstown News
has taken root at the Echo too.

Below is a copy of the e-mail I sent to Finlay on the matter.

Best
Eamon

Sean
I am astonished that you have rolled over in the face of baseless legal
threats from the Andersonstown News. In doing so you have merely proven
my point about the despicable tactics used by that newspaper to silence
its critics. So much for the free press.

A casual call to a lawyer would have indicated that my column was legally
defensible, accurate, and in no way actionable, despite the bluster from
Belfast. I?m aware that you have no background in journalism but I still
would have expected some evidence of ethics or courage when faced with this
intimidation. You have displayed neither.

Your decision to cravenly hand over space for O'Muilleoir to dabble in propaganda
and personal attack is utterly shameful. That you have allowed yourself
and the Echo to be bullied in this manner is beyond cowardly and you have
compromised the integrity of the paper to such an extent that every bully
boy now knows it can be cowed on any controversial matter.

As I informed Tom earlier, my relationship with the Echo is over. I refuse
to be party to this gutless move.

Eamon Lynch