LETTERS
From the Rev Howard Cunnington, Sandown:
I WOULD like, through the medium of your newspaper, to protest in the strongest possible terms at the disgraceful and totally unwarranted feature about Cllr David Pugh printed last week in the IW Gazette.
I have written to the paper registering my disgust at the character assassination of the council leader and his girlfriend, Rachael.
This was nasty, prurient journalism at its worst — rather like some gutter press tabloids which pretend to despise some sex scandal, while printing every scrap of detail for their readers to luxuriate in.
In the case of David Pugh, allegation upon allegation was served up.
Hopefully that will be one of its last editions, it certainly deserves to be.
Character assassination is a deliberate attempt to damage the reputation, status or achievements of a person. It is always to be despised and has no place in a civilised and tolerant society.
Whatever happened on that fateful evening (and who cares?), there is no justification for a journalist to hide behind anonymity and pursue some personal vendetta through the medium of a newspaper.
The Island deserves better than this and so does our council leader. He has a demanding job at the best of times and he deserves our support and understanding as he seeks to lead the council in this difficult economic period.
I hope all reasonably minded people will boycott the Gazette from now on and that you, as a reputable and responsible newspaper, will continue to uphold the professional journalistic ethics that are so clearly lacking in the Gazette.
From Mandy Cusworth, Shanklin:
Foul mouthed: I am writing on behalf of the committee and playing members of Shanklin Town Brass Band to offer our support to David Pugh following the personal attacks on him and his reputation in a rival publication.
David has been a member of the band for many years and has also been our chairman for the last five.
He has always carried out this role in a professional manner and has represented the band, Shanklin and, indeed, the Island both here and on the mainland in a positive manner.
While anyone in public office must expect a certain of intrusion into their private life, we feel that the level of interference experienced by David at this time is completely unacceptable.
The band also had dealings with the IW Gazette when we played at a Lights of Love Concert in aid of the Earl Mountbatten Hospice in December. Following a successful concert, members of the band were subjected to a tirade of abuse when they were unsure of where to stand for a photograph.
Mr Kay complains in his article about the use of foul language but was more than happy to do the same in front of members of our youth band, whose ages range from nine to 16 years old. When I complained via e-mail to the Gazette’s editor, following the incident, my concerns were not addressed.
Incidentally, many of the youth band members were able to pick out the spelling mistakes and grammatical errors that littered Mr Kay’s article.
One wonders whether the Earl Mountbatten Hospice wants its good name associated with a publication that goes out of its way to obtain its stories through such unfair means and appears to deal in scurrilous rumours than in actual facts.