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Waikato
Times
November 27, 1997
Letter to the Editor
Shocked at photo
by Norman Thorburn (Hamilton)
I write regarding the front-page photo (Waikato Times, November 20).
I was shocked and outraged at the gung-ho wild west behaviour of the Waikato
Times to publicly humiliate an individual, namely John Timothy Edgar on
speculative allegations of indecent assault at a time when he firmly denies
the allegations and most importantly at a time when his trial has not even
begun in proper. This constitutes yet another case of trial by media not
unlike the Peter Ellis case where the media played a significant role in
whipping up public hysteria, possibly contributing to his eventual
imprisonment.
Considering as I understand that the Waikato Times likes to present our
newspaper as a clean-cut family, more conservative-type image, it was most
surprising to see such a photo story chosen for the front page especially as
its main headline.
I thought it would be more akin to have Mr Edgar headlining any of the Fleet
St sleaze papers or even our own NZ Truth, not the Waikato Times, even if
this is a local issue.
If he is eventually found not guilty or another hung jury occurs, then I
encourage him to commence the appropriate litigation. (Abridged).
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