Response from Correspondent Roman Rollnick
> BY
Copyright © 2002 by The Earth Times. All rights reserved

Firstly, I am angry at being quoted by Mr Charles McLean out of context, and am concerned at his slur on my integrity. Secondly, I stand by every word I wrote in the story. If I did not, I would not be in this business. My reaction is that Mr McLean is seeking to justify himself by causing the Earth Times staff to get upset with one another and their editors, when there is, and never was, any dispute or misunderstanding among us over the story on media apartheid.

That said, I feel it inappropriate therefore to defend myself, other than to set the record straight: The story was true. It is backed up by quotes from reputable and famous journalists, and by top news organizations, not least the BBC, CNN, the Financial Times, the Frankfurter Allgemeine, to name a few.

The day it appeared in print, I was interviewed by CBC Montreal and told them I not only stood by the story which carried my byline, but also that I felt by failing to keep the overwhelming majority of journalists -- all of whom were confined to a neighbouring hotel away from the meeting -- informed of what was really being discussed, they were practicing media discrimination. I told CBC I believed that either Mr Klaus Schwab or Mr McLean or both of them did not take the world's media seriously, or they did not really care -- it is after all their 'private' meeting. But I said their behaviour and that of their staff towards the press was both demeaning, and childish.

My neck was on the line here, as was my editor's. But the story and every word in it was true, and despite what Mr McLean implied that this episode was less important than the substance of the meeting, the fact is that they did discriminate and THEY CREATED this wholly unnecessary dispute with us.

Minutes before I had spoken to the Canadian television journalist, Mr McLean's staff barred me from releasing a press statement by our publisher. They wanted the copies confiscated. But Preeti Darwa, Amarjit Sidhu and I managed to keep them hidden, and nevertheless distributed them to all our colleagues. We were not playing games here. We did not enjoy having to do this furtively, but we were merely protecting our publication's legitimate interests. After all, the Intercontinental Hotel is a public place. What really upset me, however, was when one of Mr McClean's staff personally sought to evict one of our reporters (I cannot recall now whether this was Tori Katz or Courtney Zoffiness) when she entered the hotel with copies of the press release. She was treated, in my view as if she was behaving like a criminal. It was at that point that I went to seek out Mr McLean to put a stop to this. What was I, or Preeti, or Aamarjit going to apologise for? It is they who owe us an apology, because we went out of our way to avoid the kind of acrimony and aggression in which they had engaged.

I told Mr McLean: "I am sorry it has come to this pass and I do hope wiser counsel and calmer minds can prevail. I want you to know Charles, that I hope you do not regard this as anything personal between us. Let's keep calm here and put a stop to all of this." It was at that point that he again denied it had been banned or that our staff had been harassed.

Then, Mr Sidhu came along and told me how he had been evicted from a meeting with Bill Gates to which photographers had been invited. I reported all of this in print at the time, and the record speaks for itself.

What happened was that at the end of the WEF forum in New York, Mr Schwab and Mr McLean were asked more questions about the action against the Earth Times and discrimination against the press in general, than about the substance of their meeting. It was this, right at the end of the sessions, in the last hours -- right in the limelight -- that so clearly must angered the WEF luminaries. I can only surmise that Mr McLean is being made the scapegoat here by his organisation. The bottom line is that they did discriminate against the media, and especially the Earth Times. They singled us out because we are 'small fry', but they did not realise the power even a smaller paper can wield. And this, clearly is what they find so irksome.

I had the whole debate a day after the forum in a radio interview with Mr McLean. He said much of what he said in the letter, and I was careful to counter his arguments by qouting what the BBC and CNN said about the meeting this year. I still do not feel any personal anger because he has to tow a line and is clearly defending himself here. The story stood up, it stood the test, it was true and I stand by every word. After all, you know how quick I am to complain, when we have an editorial dispute. We had none here. warm regards, Roman

PS:
If Mr McClean or Mr Schwab wanted to get the message of the McLean letter across, why did they not attend Mr Kheel's news conference? They cannot say they had not been invited, because the three of us distributed the invitation far and wide that day at the Intercon, and at the other hotels where delegates were staying. They cannot turn around and say their ever-vigiliant staff were unaware of this news conference.

The Wicker insert: I want you to know that I did NOT discuss it all with Mr McLean. I was surprised he raised this in the letter. I discussed it only with Jack Freeman, back in the office, and after that decided not to bother you at the time because it did not detract from the veracity of the story in any way.