TRANSPARENCY IN THE SA PART FIVE Who ‘guards the Guardians'?

Who ‘guards the Guardians”? 

One year ago, in November, 2012, the Leveson Inquiry on press ethics was released.  Lord Justice Leveson had been leading the inquiry into the culture, practice and ethics of the press.  No one living in the UK or the continent could have missed the outcry centred on the ethical gathering and release of reports to and through the media with a focus on the press.

You might wonder what in the world this has to do with the FSAOF and the Howard Hospital scandal. The Leveson Inquiry into the culture, practices and ethics of the press speaks directly to the relationship between the press and the public and looks at potentially illegal behaviour. And in its Module 4 makes specific recommendations for a more effective policy and regulation that supports the integrity and freedom of the press while encouraging the highest ethical standards.

Lord Leveson began his statement saying:  ‘The press provides an essential check on all aspects of public life.  That is why any failure within the media affects all of us.  At the heart of this Inquiry, therefore: who ‘guards the guardians' ? 

Is it too bold a claim to suggest that this has become the assumed role of the FSAOF; to guard the guardians of our faith? Our position has been and remains making specific recommendations for a more effective management and control policy and regulation that supports the integrity and freedom of all SA media reports  while encouraging the highest ethical standards. People need to be aware that the press, you won’t be surprised, uses slapdash headlines and shameful photographs to attract readers in an effort to keep subscriber figures high and the advertisers happy. 

In the case of the FSAOF’s reporting these last several months we have not altered or doctored any of the photographs or copy used by the many newspapers and other media services we’ve used in sharing the Howard story. And whether the photographs and headlines were Canadian or Zimbabwean most are oblivious to Lord Leveson’s lofty ideals. They’ve been free and fanciful in writing their reports, and skirting ethical guidelines  in presenting their headline stories and use of non-related photographs for effect. But our guardians have as well, the very few times they were heard from.   

SELECT A PHOTO - ADD A CAPTION

Add caption

Our focus continues to be a free exchange of verifiable information and we believe that in sharing the narrative from our three Canadian friends it’s the best possible way of observing ethical and professional reporting standards.  We maintain that theirs is an accurate and balanced report, and as you read it I believe you will be in agreement.

_________________

Lorraine Irvine is a very fit 84-year old, highly respected doctor from Victoria B.C., who has been volunteering for months at a time at Howard Hospital for the past 17 years. 

Well known to fellow hospital staff and villagers alike, she was accepted as one of the ‘Howard doctors’ by the local people, though she received no pay, even paying for her own food and most of her transport. 

As a member of a group of Scottish dancers, and links with the Rotary Club, she has raised tens of thousands of dollars for the hospital and for school fees for orphans at the Nyachuru School and a local orphanage. She loved to walk among the rolling hills and local villages, getting to know the families personally. 

She was quite happy with the reception by the Zimbabwe TC and CS. Jan Corley, a Salvationist from Peterborough, Ontario, Canada, along with another Salvationist from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Shirley Watkinson, an emergency room nurse joined with Lorraine .

The three arrived at the hospital on Oct. 18, 2013 Corley said she was “shocked to see the once filled-to-the-brim hospital with so few patients.

We wanted to go back and see the people, our friends and get a firsthand account of what Howard was like now as opposed to what it was like before”.  Corley said, “I was struck by the emptiness. There was hardly anybody inside.”

Corley and Watkinson began taking photographs and were about to leave when they were accosted by two male hospital employees, members of the Zimbabwean branch of the Salvation Army; SA officers..

“They were pretty nasty,” she said.

The women walked tried to away but were followed hastily by the hospital’s administrator who ordered a passing police officer to arrest them, Corley said.

All three women were forced into a Salvation Army vehicle. “We were held against our will,” she said. “We were locked in the back.”

End narrative part one