What you probably won’t read in the press

I read with great interest the (rather one-sided) article printed in today’s Medway Messenger stemming from an article published on Councillor John Ward’s personal weblog. What you’ll probably never see in the Messenger, or indeed any of the local papers poised to attack this week, however, is Councillor John Ward’s defence, quoted from his sterling blog:

As with all forms of (especially written) communication, there are pitfalls awaiting. Sometimes it seems that it would be easier not to bother at all, and let others have it all their own way.

When one is in public service and genuinely accepts what that means, then ducking issues like this is no longer an option. Just like Chad, we should make the effort to inform people of what we have found out ourselves, even if on occasion something doesn’t come out right and needs correction. Once in a while, it might even be appropriate to remove something altogether, and those of us who are responsible will always do that once we are aware of the situation.

The full article, Above the Parapet, can be found on his blog. Post now removed.

Why am I posting this? I hear you cry. Am I standing up for what he originally said? No. Do I think he was right to say it? Probably not. Have I suddenly become Councillor Ward’s spokesperson? Definitely not. My reasons are simple: I too have fallen foul of what is generally considered to be “right” on my blog – and it took me from last April, when the articles were published, until last December before I was properly able to defend myself.

I’m not going to go into details – that would be wholly inappropriate and not warranted almost a whole year after the articles’ dates. However, I know that when you stick your head above the parapet on controversial issues and then get shot down, unable to defend yourself in the correct way, you do feel frustrated, and even angered, sometimes.

So this is me balancing the scales once more, and providing you with an opportunity to see the other side of the story, the side you probably won’t read in the press. And if you think this is serious and career-threatening, I can promise you it will all blow over. It did for me, and it did for Cllr Vaughan Hewett when he, too, stuck his head above the parapet.