oa Lee, 8 - Sunday, June 23, 1985 - North Shore News They’re after noble Noel Mr. Peter Speck, Publisher, North Shore News DEAR BOSS: Hoary, jaded, cynical, scaly-eyed and tired old hack though | am, I experienced a brief thrill of astonishment when I heard that Noble Noel, our revered editor, is to be council. Iam a regular attender at that tribunal, and expect to be named many times in the future as Beelzebub, Faust, and the inventor of original sin. So at first 1 felt a twinge of jealousy, Noel, I felt, was moving in on my territory. But then [| read the com- plain, and saw that my position as resident scoun- drei was safe. it seems that a wench named Fiona McQuarrie is displeased with the fine report Noel delivered in this here newspaper on the press council’s Pinkus-Collins hearing, which | will not go into again on account of its being so boring. Suffice it to “say that-your man Doug stood charged with all kinds of felonies, and the council — at the request of the Jearned professor and over. your- objection — held the hearing it private: co Pretty strange goings-on, if you ask ‘me.:But. they-led te a great. headline: that read: Press Council Without Press.: It:was even used in an advertisement, with little. old me smirking away like mad. The: wretches of ink and- camera “having been: turned: away at: the press council’s door, Noel wrote a piece: headed The Inside Story. So now the McQuarrie female i is dragged before the press get this straight pouting and saying he shouldna done it. Unethical, she says. But Noel had beaten her to the punch. He himself had written that ‘‘it’s not every day that the defendant is left to write the only news story of his own trial permit- ted by the judge’, and that ‘writing the story of your own trial isn’t the type of reporting encouraged by the best schools of journalism’’. However, when dippy deci- sions are made by people who are supposed to be for freedom of the press, what are we scribblers to do? The McQuarrie person moans that‘ she doesn’t like some of the verbs and adjec- tives that Noel used! See how far we've come? Press councils now sit in judgement on verbs and ad- ~ jectives. Also, she didn’t like . the tone of the report. Well, ‘that’s too bloody bad. If you ask me (and I know you haven’t) Noel’s stuff was altogether too mild. Not on- | ly that, but he didn’t have” enough of mein there. My "- presentation, you will recall, was’a fine sample of rage in ‘action, with verbs and adjec- tives that hadn’t even been ~ thought of before. . Sorry to be taking so long with this, boss, but here's Court order was ‘unusual ‘from. Page 1 Michael Neufeld. Neufeld said because of the court ban, information from the document could only be given verbally. Asked for that informa- tion, West Vancouver court clerk Mary Anne Von Wit- tgenstien, reread the charges ‘against the accused. On Friday, Dorothy Pen: tnan, Administrator of Court Services for North and West Vancouver, met with the News. Penman said court policy regarding the dispensation of information was to confirm spelling of names and details of charges only, Beyond that, she said, ‘we don’t give out much information because. we have been burned in the past.”’ - She explained that inac- curate reports in various media had resulted in many problems to both victims and accused. * ‘ , . This particular court order, Penman said, was somewhat unusual because name of the, accused is not usually banned in any cases except those dealing with in- cest, ‘‘and incest is not in- volved here.”’ She added, however, that the ban was clear enough and had been instituted to protect the identity of the victims. Conditions of probation . for the accused include that he must not be found in the company of any youth under the age of 16 years in the abscence of another adult; and that he must take such medical and psychiatric treat- ment as his probation officer may advise and continue such treatment to the term of that probation. Prosecutor Hales refused comment on the sentence. -Asked if the Crown would appeal he said, ‘‘No.”' The News will consider the next step in its attempts to fully report court events. the point: press councils are a waste of time. ft would be OK if they confined themselves to real com- plaints, but they don't. They concern themselves with opinions, trivia, and the rav- ings of the McQuarries and pasty-faced profs, Stu. Keate knew what would happen if press coun- cils came into being. He's the former publisher of the Sun and a newspaperman's newspaperman. That's why, yeass ago, he told profes- sional press council pushers and other busybodies to get Jost. His letter was dated March 20, 1978, and read: “We took a look at this four or five years ago and decided we would not par- ticipate — mainly because Schools by writing: dack Davis i MLA. ~ Victoria BC. Angus Ree MLA. Victoria, B.C. North Vancouver You can support North Vancouver Seymour North Vancouver Capilano we don't think it is working in Britain, or in Ontario. We receive their reports...and are not impressed by the results, considering the amount of time spent jawboning on complaints that are 99 per cent trivial.” Why pay to have yourself tortured, boss? You pay to be in the press council, the hearings cost lots of scratch, and you could do something better with it. You could give it to me. The Scotch is running low, and with a bit more booze | could dream up even more verbs and adjectives. Yours till Media Watch takes over, DOUG. Can We Continue To Shine? —Attending School Board meetings; 721 Chesterfield, N. Vancouver. —Talking to school trustees, contact them by phoning 987- 8141. —Attending parent advisory meetings at the school in your neighbourhood. —Contacting the school in your neighbourhood. You value our schools, we value your support. Phone us at 988-3032 for more information! This message is brought to you by NORTH VANCOUVER TEACHERS ASSOCIATION CLOSING Ow _ ALL FURNITURE MUST GO! . ® Italian Style furniture * Coffee Tables * Dining Room Sets © Chesterfield Suites Ko Ipauti~ #825 Bute St. Open 11-6 682.0118)