Comments on: False praise for that lunatic and bastard Bob Plasto http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/11/04/false-praise-for-that-lunatic-and-bastard-bob-plasto/ now with extra source Sun, 12 Feb 2012 09:16:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Leonard Lee http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/11/04/false-praise-for-that-lunatic-and-bastard-bob-plasto/#comment-44100 Leonard Lee Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:47:14 +0000 http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/11/04/false-praise-for-that-lunatic-and-bastard-bob-plasto/#comment-44100 Like I said, I expect be accused of dancing on Plasto's grave. But there is no traducing in my account though; it's verifiable, terrible fact. Readers may be interested to know I was so burned by this experience that it took me until 2005 to even take the time to find that my work had actually won a DuPont Award and that Plasto and CNN's Christiane Amanpour had stood on the podium to accept it. I was so affronted that sometime a little later in 2005 (like two seonds later) I wrote to the DuPont Awards ommittee (Jonnet Abeles) and asked that they check out my story and, upon verifying it, strip Plasto and CNN of the DuPont. Of course they didn't, not least I suspect because Abeles and Amanpour were lunching buddies at that time. I also asked CNN's lawyer, a Lee Rivera, to send me a copy of the four hour-long programs so I could see exactly what they had done with it. Guess what they said? Good enough for many millions of Americans to see it in 1985; good enough to trumpet it as CNN's first ever DuPont Award but not good enough to show it to the man who got it for them. So, I'll say it again to the Awards Committee now publicly: posthumously strip Plasto of the award and likewise CNN (and Christiane Amanpour); they deserved not a glint of it. That would go some way to, in my view at least, restoring the anorexic credibility and tarnished prestige of the DuPont Award. I am not holding my breath. Like I said, I expect be accused of dancing on Plasto’s grave. But there is no traducing in my account though; it’s verifiable, terrible fact.
Readers may be interested to know I was so burned by this experience that it took me until 2005 to even take the time to find that my work had actually won a DuPont Award and that Plasto and CNN’s Christiane Amanpour had stood on the podium to accept it.
I was so affronted that sometime a little later in 2005 (like two seonds later) I wrote to the DuPont Awards ommittee (Jonnet Abeles) and asked that they check out my story and, upon verifying it, strip Plasto and CNN of the DuPont. Of course they didn’t, not least I suspect because Abeles and Amanpour were lunching buddies at that time.
I also asked CNN’s lawyer, a Lee Rivera, to send me a copy of the four hour-long programs so I could see exactly what they had done with it.
Guess what they said? Good enough for many millions of Americans to see it in 1985; good enough to trumpet it as CNN’s first ever DuPont Award but not good enough to show it to the man who got it for them.
So, I’ll say it again to the Awards Committee now publicly: posthumously strip Plasto of the award and likewise CNN (and Christiane Amanpour); they deserved not a glint of it.
That would go some way to, in my view at least, restoring the anorexic credibility and tarnished prestige of the DuPont Award.
I am not holding my breath.

]]> By: Bob Gosford http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/11/04/false-praise-for-that-lunatic-and-bastard-bob-plasto/#comment-44092 Bob Gosford Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:21:29 +0000 http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/11/04/false-praise-for-that-lunatic-and-bastard-bob-plasto/#comment-44092 Always easy to traduce the reputation of someone...who is dead... Always easy to traduce the reputation of someone…who is dead…

]]> By: Keith is not my real name http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/11/04/false-praise-for-that-lunatic-and-bastard-bob-plasto/#comment-44076 Keith is not my real name Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:25:53 +0000 http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/11/04/false-praise-for-that-lunatic-and-bastard-bob-plasto/#comment-44076 Well said Ben, well said Well said Ben, well said

]]> By: Ben Sandilands http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/11/04/false-praise-for-that-lunatic-and-bastard-bob-plasto/#comment-44044 Ben Sandilands Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:57:08 +0000 http://www.crikey.com.au/2009/11/04/false-praise-for-that-lunatic-and-bastard-bob-plasto/#comment-44044 Leonard & David, I was recruited to the ABC Melbourne early in 1970 after doing some brief freelance work for them in Sydney, and came into regular contact with Bob when I was working there in between some lengthy overseas postings. I took a better offer to return to the Sydney Morning Herald late in 1976. After which I recollect no contact with him. While I have no wish to argue with your accounts other than to say they shock me, it seems things went terribly wrong in the 80s, and that his life eventually ended in repugnant and disgusting circumstances. All of these things burn us. Ben Leonard & David,

I was recruited to the ABC Melbourne early in 1970 after doing some brief freelance work for them in Sydney, and came into regular contact with Bob when I was working there in between some lengthy overseas postings. I took a better offer to return to the Sydney Morning Herald late in 1976. After which I recollect no contact with him. While I have no wish to argue with your accounts other than to say they shock me, it seems things went terribly wrong in the 80s, and that his life eventually ended in repugnant and disgusting circumstances. All of these things burn us.

Ben

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