Washington Post Columnist Gets It Wrong – OpEd
Washington Post
columnist Margaret Sullivan wrote a particularly flawed piece that
appeared on the front page of the Style section in yesterday’s edition
of the newspaper.
She is not happy that the conviction of Australian Cardinal George Pell
on charges of sexual molestation didn’t get more news coverage. A
retrial was ordered after the first trial resulted in a hung jury (10 of
the 12 jurors concluded he was not guilty), though Sullivan failed to
mention this. His case is almost certain to be appealed. It should be.
Anyone who has studied his ordeal knows how bogus the charges are (click
here for my account).
Sullivan acknowledges that the Australian courts are guilty of censoring
the news about Pell’s trial, but still finds a way to drag the Catholic
Church into this. “The secrecy surrounding the court case—and now the
verdict—is offensive. That’s especially so because it echoes the secrecy
that has always been so appalling a part of widespread sexual abuse by
priests.”
Sullivan then goes on to praise the Boston Globe for its
stories on the Catholic Church, applauds the victims’ group SNAP
(Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests), and concludes by touting
journalists “whose core mission is truth-telling.”
This is hard to stomach. I just got stiffed by the truth tellers at the Boston Globe—they
refused to allow me to see the raw data upon which their “study” of
bishops was made. When I confined my request to reading the transcripts
of the interviews they conducted, I was again stiffed.
To be sure, there are lots of good journalists who are driven by truth
telling, but they sure don’t include the top editors at the Boston Globe. They are masters of secrecy.
SNAP is thoroughly corrupt—I exposed them
as a monumental fraud years before they crashed (their latest
incarnation is a joke). That is why it is shocking to read Sullivan
quoting one of their Aussie agents. Their credibility is totally shot.
The Washington Post also has a flawed record when it comes to truth telling. Just this month, I slammed them and the New York Times
for not publishing a story on the court decision overturning the
conviction of Australian Archbishop Philip Wilson. Yet both newspapers
ran a story on his conviction in July. This is inexcusable.
“Washington Post Makes False Claims” was the title of my November 13 news release
showing how the newspaper was factually wrong in reporting on the
progress made by the Catholic Church on sexual abuse. I provided the
data; they offered opinion.
There are noble journalists in America. There are also plenty of frauds.
Pell has been found guilty in a court of law yet you continue to blame the victims?
You are no catholic mr Donohue, you do not speak for anyone but yourself. Apologists like you are part of the problem.
How you can sleep at night is beyond me.