Rolf Harris has been arrested and interviewed by British police investigating the Jimmy Savile child sex scandal. The so-called main stream media at this point are refusing to name him even though there is no legal requirement for them not to and it is all over social media such as twitter.
What Rolf Harris has or hasn’t done is not the point of this post, it is our right to know and the failings of the main stream media and their own self-censorship. The failing of the media is a topic this site has covered numerous times and will continue to do so.
Background
“Operation Yewtree is a police investigation into alleged sexual abuse, predominantly the abuse of children, by the British media personality Jimmy Savile (who died in 2011) and others. The investigation led by the Metropolitan Police Service started in October 2012. After a period of assessment it became a full criminal investigation, involving inquiries into living people as well as Savile.” (Click here to read more)
Rolf Harris was first interviewed on the 29th of November 2012 some five days after his house was searched by the British police. The main stream media failed to report it then, although a blogger did and wrote this:
“I’ve seen a few questions raised online about why I named Rolf Harris as the man that was questioned under caution by police yesterday. Some suggesting that I’ve maligned a much loved Australian/British Icon. Let me first say that it was with an extremely heavy heart that I named Rolf Harris and I would not have done so without an impecable source like Mark Williams-Thomas. Like for so many others, he was a fond memory from my childhood, unlike Savile who was always a bit creepy. I feel a bit like the boy in the picture above by Banksy, I’m watching my childhood drop into the sewer.” (Click here to read more)
Yesterday (Friday 29/3/13) it was reported online that an Australian entertainer had been arrested by British police on “suspicion of sexual offences, by officers investigating former BBC star Jimmy Savile.” and “The arrested man was bailed to a date in May.” This was repeated in today’s papers and online. (Click here to read more) But still Rolf Harris was not named.
Can’t keep it a secret
It is all over twitter and blogs are picking it up yet the main stream media won’t name Rolf Harris. It will not go away and at some stage Rolf Harris is at least going to have to front the media. The police have searched his house and he has been interviewed by the police twice and has been bailed until May to front the police again.
As one would expect the Human Headline has tweeted a number of times about the issue:
Derryn Hinch@HumanHeadline
Why coy media? Rolf Harris taken in twice by cops in Jimmy Saville scandal. I named him on 3AW Nov 30 and again yesty. It’s fact.
I have seen different opinions that the media are too scared to name Harris given the various media enquiries that have taken place in the UK and Australia.
News.com.au are saying in today’s report that they cannot name him because of “legal reasons” (Click here to read) but this seems to be contradicted by The SMH which says:
“No mainstream media have named the interviewed man, either when he was questioned previously or now.”
“A friend of the man’s family last year expressed shock at the raging online rumour mill which had built on the internet.” (Click here to read more)
The “online rumour mill” is right at least as far as Rolf Harris being questioned by police is concerned.
To my knowledge there is no court order here or in Britain restraining the media from naming Rolf Harris.
If this had happened to the average person, a priest or politician etc. they would have been named. No question about it.
Google Julian Assange and see what you get. Assange has not been charged with anything and is only wanted for questioning. Not one main stream media organisation has failed to report that. Other people who have been interviewed by the British police for Operation Yewtree have been named by the media. So why not Rolf Harris?
One thing that comes to mind is how embarrassing it will be for many people including the Royal family when Rolf Harris is named on a broader scale. A quick look at Rolf Harris’s Wikipedia profile shows his close connections to the Royal family.
It is also worth noting that “The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (the Commission) will hold its first sitting at 10.00 am on Wednesday 3 April 2013″ at the County Court of Victoria, 250 William Street, Melbourne” (Click here to read more) The Royal Commission might get a lot bigger than anyone thinks and is there a connection to the Australian MSM failing to name Rolf Harris? Probably not, but it does make me wonder.
Once Harris is named by the main stream media the story will become massive in Britain, Australia and elsewhere and there is nothing that can stop it now. What needs to happen is an investigation why the MSM (at least in Australia) have not named him as of yet given plenty of the MSM have known since last November.
This site was set up because of the failings of the MSM to report on judicial corruption. Have a good look around this site and you can quickly see judges and magistrates who have serious questions to answer in relation to their corrupt conduct, yet the MSM never bring them to account. The MSM give judicial officers the same treatment they are giving Rolf Harris and others before him. I have written plenty about the failings of the Australian media. An example being a post I did in 2011 titled “The day the Australian media died.” (Click here to read the post)
While people might not like me reporting on the above we have to start dealing with reality. It is coming whether you like it or not. Too much for too long has been swept under the carpet by the MSM.
Rolf Harris is an Australian icon and it is a sad day for many. But history might not be so kind to Rolf Harris. Why he has not fronted the media already makes me wonder. In this day and age of social media you can no longer stick your head in the sand and hope it goes away.
Update: 1/7/14: Rolf Harris found guilty on all 12 counts of indecent assault (Click here to read more)
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