Tuesday, April 26, 2016

NEW QUEENSLAND MEDIA MOGUL LIKELY AFTER COURT FINDING ?

Impecunious journalists with vivid imaginations   throughout Australia are speculating  on  the likely damages  to  be  awarded  to  Townsville scribe and bird lover , Malcolm Weatherup , as a result of his  win  in a  defamation  case  against  The Australian .

The  Murdoch owned Townsville Bulletin carried a  brief mention of the case in  its  April 22 edition under the heading NEWSPAPER DEFAMED EX-JOURNO, SAYS  JURY .
 
It said the  Supreme Court  found an  article published  in the media section of  The Australian  last year  would have wrongly caused a  reasonable  reader to believe that Malcolm Weatherup  was  an  habitual drunk  who had incurred " the wrath  of judges " during his employment as  a  court  reporter  at  the  Townsville   Bulletin .

It went on to say Nationwide Newspapers Pty Ltd  had  not proven  its allegations  that  Weatherup  was known to be affected  by alcohol at work .

Continuing : However, the jury found that Nationwide News Pty Ltd  had established as " substantially true" that  Weatherup had committed  the crime  of wilful damage  by kicking  a  neighbour's car door  in  a  fit  of anger...

Whoever  wrote this  odd  paragraph, which could be said to give  a reasonable reader the  belief  that  the  said  Weatherup  was some kind of  weird  kung  fu  kicker  of  cars , deserves to  be kicked up  the  derriere.

It omitted, either deliberately , by ignorance ,  sloppy journalism or poor subbing ,  that   Weatherup had  had a long running  dispute ,  over years, with a neighbour  who  parked  poorly.This  resulted in  the reporter scraping the side of his  neighbour's  car , leading  to  the  kicking  episode. 

This was explained fully in  the Townsville court  last year at which it was said  that a few days before  the  incident  Weatherup  had received  confirmation that he had cancer, and it was playing on his  mind. Weatherup had   pleaded guilty  when charged with wilful damage  and   was placed on  a good  behaviour  bond , fully reported in the Townsville  Bulletin at the time with  a  photograph of Malcolm , then  68. 

In the interests  of  fair and balanced reporting, this   vital  piece of  info about why the  auto was abused  surely should have  been included  in the latest Bully story, especially as the magistrate  at the time  took into account Weatherup had no  previous criminal record  and  his  recent health  diagnosis.

In his  distinctive , always  interesting   blog , The Magpie's Nest , which  pecks at  and stirs  up  the  local scene, the  Bulletin  in particular,  and also comments on  national and  global events , with the help  a  talented  cartoonist  ,  Weatherup mentioned  the  verdict  thus :
 
On Thursday morning, at 11.25, after 4-day trial, a four person jury reached a verdict that I had been defamed in an article in The Australian newspaper. The issue of damages and of costs are yet to be determined, and will be handed down at a date to be set. I will not, pro tem, be making any comment on the matter and no comments will be published on this blog regarding it...However, he did thank his  talented legal  team , which the wise old owl says  is  a  smart  move. 

The learned  legal eagles making  the damages submission  to  His Honour will undoubtedly   point out  the inadequate Townsville Bulletin  report  and  its   impact  on  reasonable  readers  who  did  not  get  the  full story and thus  fear Weatherup  could be a danger  to  the V8s  which  roar about the  city or those humble  vehicles of  mums and  dads  getting  a  great run in  the present  election drive . 

On  a very  serious note, Malcolm is soon to have his larynx  removed .