As
UNCA
Proceeds on
Press, Pioli's
Chair Dodges
Conflicts,
Junkets,
Cites UPI
By
Matthew
Russell Lee
UNITED
NATIONS,
June 15 --
Yesterday,
after an
organization
chaired by
Kofi
Annan's former
chief of
communications
Edward
Mortimer
criticized the
big media
members of the
UN
Correspondents
Association
Executive
Committee for
subjecting
Inner City
Press to Sri
Lankan
extremist
threats, ten
UNCA members
nevertheless
voted to
proceed
against
Inner
City Press
with a "Board
of
Examination."
As
noted the
chairman of
the Board of
Examination
remains an
employee paid
at the
pleasure of a
state media
member of
UNCA's
Executive
Committee who
has already
twice voted
against Inner
City Press,
telling it to
"respect
authority."
This
should have
been enough to
disqualify
this chairman,
hand-picked by
by UNCA
President
Giampaolo
Pioli, whose
renting of his
apartment to
Sri
Lanka's UN
Ambassador and
then screening
his war crimes
denial film
gave rise to
this witch
hunt.
Pioli
has first
demanded that
Inner City
Press remove
from the
Internet its
factual
report or he
would "throw
you out of the
UN." Then, he
repeatedly
threatened to
sue Inner City
Press, while
seeking to use
the UNCA
bureaucracy,
and resentment
of some big
media members
of the
UNCA Executive
Committee,
against Inner
City Press. In
the process,
Pioli has
negligently
used his
supposed
friends.
But
nothing has
been heard (or
seen) for this
chairman. And
so, since
simply writing
what is true
has been
deemed
"harassment"
by Pioli and
his
supporters,
Inner City
Press decided
to put a few
questions to
Pioli's
chairman, and
wait for and
publish the
response,
without
characterizing
it in any way.
Here
are questions
Inner City
Press
submitted to
the chairman
selected by
Pioli, William
M. Reilly:
Hello.
As
I believe you
are aware,
since the
moment
Giampaolo
Pioli told me
that you would
be on, even
the chair, of
the Board of
Examination, I
said that with
all due
respect that I
don't believe
you should be
on
the Board of
Examination,
in part
because you
work for Mr.
Gu, who
has already
voted a number
of times
against me,
and has told
me to
respect
authority /
Giampaolo,
which is at
issue in this
case.
While
all four other
initial
members of the
Board of
Examination
have come
to UNCA
Executive
Committee
meetings and I
have heard
(but not
automatically
accepted)
their
arguments that
they do not
have a
conflict of
interest and
could be fair,
you have not
come...
Therefore
this is my
request to
you, on
deadline, for
your comment
on why it is
not an
apparent
conflict of
interest that
you work for
Mr. Gu, who
has
already voted
a number of
times against
me.
Separately,
I
would like to
know your
views on the
"legitimacy"
and
"accountability"
of blogs
-your
views
on Ban
Ki-moon's
Under
Secretary
General Herve
Ladsous
refusing
to answer any
of my
questions
because he
does like my
coverage of
his
proposal to
use drones,
-your
view
on correct
policies of
crediting
other media's
exclusive
reports, and,
-in
detail,
your
relationship
and dealing
with Giampaolo
Pioli. Thanks.
Inner
City Press
was committed
in this case
to await the
response and
publish it in
full. And here
it is:
From:
William
M. Reilly
To: Inner City
Press
Date: Thu, Jun
14,
2012
Subject: Re:
Request for
your responses
and comments
My
years
as a
professional
journalist for
more than 50
years, most of
the time with
united press
international-----Original
Message-----
From:
Inner
City Press
Sent: Jun 14,
2012
To: William M.
Reilly
Hello.
As
I believe you
are aware,
since the
moment
Giampaolo
Pioli told me
that you would
be on, even
the chair, of
the Board of
Examination, I
said that with
all due
respect that I
don't believe
you should be
on
the Board of
Examination,
in part
because you
work for Mr.
Gu, who
has already
voted a number
of times
against me,
and has told
me to
respect
authority /
Giampaolo,
which is at
issue in this
case. [etc]
We
will not
characterize
it: there it
is, from the
chairman
selected by
Giampaolo
Pioli to
"investigate"
Inner City
Press. Watch
this site.
, 
