11 May, 2009
Tim needs some help
Below is the contents of an e-mail sent in defence of a good friend of mine
Click through at the title to see what set it off.
This e-mail is not for publication in Private Eye or any other medium, though I grant Tim Ireland the right to use the contents on Bloggerheads.com as he sees fit. I will respect the privacy of any reply if required to do so.
cc. Tim Ireland
Sir,
Having read Tim's open letter to you regarding the ongoing attempt to dis-credit him via slurs and smears against his character on the Internet I am compelled to add what little weight I have to his argument.
I have known Tim Ireland for many years, and know him to be of sound character and integrity. He has an attention to details when researching stories that is beyond that which many of the so-called 'top political bloggers' show or even aspire to, and perhaps this is why so many find it easy to regard him as obsessive or use the usual description of him as "a deranged stalker and guilty of harassment". He is neither of these things, he is an investigative blogger who's attention to detail is on a par of the late (and much admired by myself) Paul Foot. Tim will always give a right of reply - much more than Staines, Dale and the rest have afforded him.
Tim, like yourself has no political affiliation, and as a founding member of the political blog movement has assisted members on both side of the house. He has a genuine concern for the way forward for political use of the Internet to ensure that is honest, transparent and open to public scrutiny, whether that be of elected members or the hangers on who are attempting to shape the political debate.
I would suggest that you meet with Tim face-to-face at the earliest possible opportunity. He will provide you with evidence to back up his claims, and I am sure that you will find that you are not that far away from each other in your outlook when it comes to bringing people to book for wrongful behaviour, and he's a great guy to spend sometime with anyway.
Further more, he will probably be able to teach you a few tricks when it comes to Internet research (and the dark art of Search Engine Optimisation) that I suspect will have you employing him on a regular basis to assist in your publication's own investigations.
Finally, I enjoy Private Eye immensely on a weekly basis, and hope you take the time to help Tim out in what must be a very stressful situation. He is a father and the disgusting allegations made against him must be withdrawn. You can help that, and make the political blog scene more accountable.
Thank you for reading.
Regards
¶ Monday, May 11, 2009
Click through at the title to see what set it off.
This e-mail is not for publication in Private Eye or any other medium, though I grant Tim Ireland the right to use the contents on Bloggerheads.com as he sees fit. I will respect the privacy of any reply if required to do so.
cc. Tim Ireland
Sir,
Having read Tim's open letter to you regarding the ongoing attempt to dis-credit him via slurs and smears against his character on the Internet I am compelled to add what little weight I have to his argument.
I have known Tim Ireland for many years, and know him to be of sound character and integrity. He has an attention to details when researching stories that is beyond that which many of the so-called 'top political bloggers' show or even aspire to, and perhaps this is why so many find it easy to regard him as obsessive or use the usual description of him as "a deranged stalker and guilty of harassment". He is neither of these things, he is an investigative blogger who's attention to detail is on a par of the late (and much admired by myself) Paul Foot. Tim will always give a right of reply - much more than Staines, Dale and the rest have afforded him.
Tim, like yourself has no political affiliation, and as a founding member of the political blog movement has assisted members on both side of the house. He has a genuine concern for the way forward for political use of the Internet to ensure that is honest, transparent and open to public scrutiny, whether that be of elected members or the hangers on who are attempting to shape the political debate.
I would suggest that you meet with Tim face-to-face at the earliest possible opportunity. He will provide you with evidence to back up his claims, and I am sure that you will find that you are not that far away from each other in your outlook when it comes to bringing people to book for wrongful behaviour, and he's a great guy to spend sometime with anyway.
Further more, he will probably be able to teach you a few tricks when it comes to Internet research (and the dark art of Search Engine Optimisation) that I suspect will have you employing him on a regular basis to assist in your publication's own investigations.
Finally, I enjoy Private Eye immensely on a weekly basis, and hope you take the time to help Tim out in what must be a very stressful situation. He is a father and the disgusting allegations made against him must be withdrawn. You can help that, and make the political blog scene more accountable.
Thank you for reading.
Regards
¶ Monday, May 11, 2009
