We held the message below at the top of each of VentnorBlog’s pages from 4.Nov.08 until the 10th. We thought it was important that readers, who may have missed the detail that we had reported previously, had an idea of how things had been with the Communications department of the Isle of Wight Council.
Rather than just throw it away, we thought we’d post it.
Thanks to everyone who have added comments to this supportive thread on the forum, our June article and for the privately emailed messages of support sent to us so far, both from members of the public and some politicians. We really appreciate it.
Dear VB reader ….
“The proper functioning of a modern participatory democracy requires that the media be free, active, professional and inquiring.
For this reason the courts, here and elsewhere, have recognised the cardinal importance of press freedom and the need for any restriction on that freedom to be proportionate and no more than is necessary to promote the legitimate object of the restriction.”
Lord Bingham
House of Lords, 2000
VentnorBlog has for three years published news and events across the Isle of Wight – over 4,000 articles enjoying in excess of 25,000 page views every day – all at no cost to its readers.
Cut Off
At the end of April 2008, Claire Robertson, Head of Communications at the Isle of Wight Council, took the decision to cut off VentnorBlog (without telling us, as it happens), because she didn’t like the way we reported the facts.
The Communications department is hugely powerful. Since the introduction of a new communications policy at the council, any press contact must now go through that department.
The upshot? – all access to the council for VentnorBlog and you, its readers has been denied.
David Pugh
We have since the end of May been assured a number of times by David Pugh, Leader of the IW Council, that we should leave it to him to sort out.
Six months later and VentnorBlog remains cut off from every part of the council.
We fail to see how an organisation can call itself democratic and leave this position to remain.
