 How you can help: Off The Fence The Off The Fence Fund has been set up by some friends of LM to assist in fighting the libel case. If you value free speech, make a donation. |
Fundraising initiatives Sign the appeal in defence of free speech |
| To send a donation, please make cheques payable to
OFF THE FENCE FUND and send to: c/o LM
An open letter from: Josephine Hussey In January last year ITN wrote to LM magazine demanding that every copy of its February issue be pulped. The controversy centres on 'The Picture that Fooled The World', an article by freelance German journalist Thomas Deichmann. The article raises serious questions about ITN's award-winning pictures of Trnopolje camp in Bosnia, first broadcast in August 1992. Had LM complied with the gagging order, those questions would never have been asked. But when the magazine's editor Mick Hume stood by his decision to publish, ITN issued Mick Hume, Helene Guldberg, LM's publisher, and LM magazine with a writ for libel. As someone who has enjoyed reading LM for some time, and who appreciates its commitment to 'telling it like it is', I was incensed by ITN's behaviour. Rather than answering the important questions raised by 'The Picture that Fooled the World', ITN resorted to libel laws to gag LM and to prevent other publications from carrying the story. It was ITN's contempt for the public's right to hear criticism and to judge for itself which motivated me, and some friends, to establish the Off The Fence Fund in defence of press freedom. If you, like me, want the freedom to hear all sides of any story and decide for yourself which side of the story is right, then I am sure you will understand the importance of stopping large corporations like ITN using libel law to silence their critics. I hope you will do all that you can to help the Off The Fence Fund raise the considerable sums of money needed to support LM in its battle against ITN. And please, tell as many people as you can about the case and encourage them to stand up for their right to judge for themselves. A big thank you to all those who have done so much to help the Off The Fence Fund come this far. From personal donations to sponsored walks and football tournaments, from marathon runs to wine-tasting, hundreds of people have helped Off The Fence to start raising the funds required to support LM against ITN.
To send a donation, please make cheques payable to OFF THE FENCE FUND and send to: c/o LM |
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