Lapsley column

THE elephant in Jim Lapsley’s defence of the fourth estate (Opinion, 6.5.19) is the UK and US governments’ campaign against Wikileaks publisher Julian Assange.

Lest we forget, it was Wikileaks’ release of the US helicopter gunship’s slaughter of unarmed Iraqis (along with two Reuters journalists) which provoked the US Government to lay charges against both Bradley Manning and now Julian Assange.

Interestingly, Mr Lapsley describes ‘‘electronic social media’’ as the ‘‘fifth estate’’, which was also the title given to a film about Wikileaks.

If the public take a dim view of journalists, politicians and the Catholic clergy, whose fault is that?

If it’s respect that journalists desire, they have to earn it. Ignoring the plight of Julian Assange is an act of political cowardice which can only weaken the supposed purpose of the fourth estate. Hugh O’Neill

Dunedin

[Abridged]