A Place to Stand

Pete North has sent me this incredible email from reporter Elizabeth Tadic, with whom he has been arguing over the way she waxed enthusiastic about putting a balanced report on Yugoslavia & dropped him when it was obvious he knew to much to be painted as a nut.
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Dear P.R. North,

Thanks for your New Year wishes for Dateline. You may be delighted to
discover that my contract has not been renewed this year with Dateline, and
so you will need to find some other shit-kicking, hardworking journo to
annoy.

Now I wish to start my plate clean this year, and maybe even open up your
eyes to your wasteful, nasty emails. I am not sure I should even bother, but
if I can somehow knock some sense into that brain damaged head of yours,
that would be a tiny achievement.

I once asked you for your telephone number so that we could speak and
discuss your story ideas like civilised people. You never gave me your
telephone number but I trustingly gave you mine, as I was keen to hear more
from you. But you never called me. At the time, I believed you were an
intelligent person who cared about finding out a deeper truth. Instead, you
have abused my trust by posting my telephone numbers, thus giving me no
option but to change my numbers, and writing me countless emails like some
crazed peodophile stalker. You are sick.

Your postings on the web are filled with inaccuracies and falsities, the
first one being that that I am not a Serb. I have already told you this and
yet you continue to print your bullshit. Not that my nationality should have
any bearing on the matter, as I am not nationalistic at all. But at least
have the decency to check your facts before declaring some warped truth of
yours Don't you have better things to do with your life than write untruths
about journalists you have never met? I am a mere cog in this wheel (just
like you although you have major fault defects) and thus have no influence
on what stories get commissioned. I have no power in this regard. In fact,
my contract with Dateline has not been renewed for this year, and your false
ramblings have not helped my situation.

In the Balkans, you are what is called, a coward. It's so much easier to
blame and curse those with little to no power than to actually challenge the
real powerbrokers who make the decisions. I was serious about investigating
your story proposal and did actually push for it as hard as I could. But in
hindsight, after receiving your countless emails, I am glad it was never
commissioned, as it is no doubt filled with your distorted reality on truth
rather than any fact. If there was any substance in your claims, some other
reputable media outlet would have picked it up.

From your emails, I am guessing that you are an old and decrepit man who has
obviously had a shit life. Usually people who have had shit lives and
believe they deserved better, try to make other peoples lives shit. Or
you're a wanna-be journo, or simply a few beers short of a sixpack.
Otherwise you wouldn't waste your time targeting a honest, hardworking,
young journalist who has always cared for the underdog and fought so hard
for human rights. I am only a cog in the wheel and have no power over what
stories are commissioned and am easily dispensed with.

I suggest you either apologise for your false accusations and remove my name
from the post, which would help redeem yourself. Or, if you really want to
have a civilised debate etc than I would be more than happy to speak with
you over the phone or meet you in person. But I think you are too afriad to
meet me and confront me, as you are a coward. You probably even beat your
wife, girlfriend or daughter.

If you cannot realise your foolish ways, than I suggest you get some
psychiatric help. Make amends now by correcting your post and removing my
name, or go to the grave an angry, mean, old man who did nothing for this
world but try to hinder the work of a kindhearted, caring, humanitarian.
What you are doing is like attacking the Dalai Lama or Mahatma Gandhi or
Nelson Mendela - as they are my role models. I will continue my fight for
the poor and disenfranchised, to expose injustices, reveal truths and give
voice to the underdog!

So long to Dateline and crazies like yourself!

This is my last email to you. I really hope you do something about your
nasty streak and don't die a mean old twerp.

Salaam!
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I can't take any personal joy in her firing. On the other hand it is clear that it is at least partly because Pete stood up to be counted & that is quite something. It is good to find that the media are touchable, at least in Australia.

Although she characterises herself as a "kindhearted caring humanitarian" comparable to Ghandi, Mandela & the Dalai Lama & accuses Pete of "falsities" the only thing she actually disputes is that she is a Serb (he actually said of Serbian extraction which is not the same). From my knowledge of the subject, which is fairly extensive, nothing he has said about Yugoslavia has been wrong.

I wish to draw particular attention to "If there was any substance in your claims, some other reputable media outlet would have picked it up" which not only suggests that she never checked up anything but links closely to the "if it had happened it would be on the news" in an earlier post. Both assume that the people who make decisions, to whom she is a "mere cog", are in some way honest.

The corolary, of course, is that if there is substance to what we say then they aren't in any way honest.

PS Pete has confirmed that the "private" phone no she complains about him misusing has been available on a website for years.