Apology for Zaetta
- Published by David Knox
- on
- Filed under News
Tania Zaetta will receive a personal apology from defence chiefs over unsubstantiated claims she had sex with Australian soldiers in Afghanistan.
Air Chief Marshal Houston told a Senate estimates hearing today there was no evidence of any such conduct by Zaetta during a concert tour in April.
“A quick assessment has been completed,” he said. “There was no substance to the allegations, and I will conclude the matter with a letter to the person in question.
“I will obviously apologise and express my deep regret about any hurt she has suffered.”
A defence briefing document from the Defence Department to the Minister for Defence claimed Zaetta had sex with special forces soldiers at the Australian base in Tarin Kowt in Afghanistan.
The incident stemmed from an entertainers tour filmed by Australian Story.
Source: The Age
5 Responses
Strange, my joke about C7’s “Inside Queen Mary” tv show wasn’t deemed inappropriate, but one word in this post was? I looked at my post and can’t for the life of me see what word you’re referring to.
And Zaetta cleared? Well thats towing the party line then isn’t it? I thought journos were supposed to look into the official claims and question them, not be terrified to ask questions, hence my comment about simply backing up generic press releases and co-owned newspaper and TV.
And I fail to see why Networks would be uncomfortable with your posts when they are 85% copy n pastes from major newspapers and Tv media sources.
I never asked you to link my blog, I don’t like how I imply that I did. Its linked through music sites. I like you understand theres no point in linking to a TV website
I being one of your most regular and loyal supporters are pointing out this place could have way more impact if you wern’t so afraid of saying the wrong thing. Sometimes the hard things need to be said and when you are in a position of having the right people listening I’d take a advantage of that and make your mark. No insults needed, no slander or being rude. People just want the truth and not the BS the Networks feed us.
Again, please keep comments brief?
As with any comment if there is one sentence (in fact even a word) that doesn’t fit with comments policy it throws out the entire comment. I did feel there was one in your initial reply given the context of Zaetta cleared.
I also think if someone feels the tone of the site is conservative while networks are frequently uncomfy with some of the articles I publish, then chances are I’m striking a right mix. As with any blog, if the style of the writer is not to your liking there are millions of others.
I did look at your music blog and I did reply to you on it. I don’t publish links to non TV sites, or you would be seeing every political, religious and Russian bride site linked here.
Registration with Blogger / OpenID is still anonymous.
Now that isn’t fair, my initial comment was not as crude as “bet she did it” thats poor relaying of a comment. My comment was stating that the General wouldn’t have a clue what his soldiers are up to and an analogy of an investigation followed. I also said that it is none of our business what did or did not happen. (even regardless of what I THINK happened)
The way you have relayed this David made my comment appear crude and bordering “sexist” which you and I both know couldn’t be further from what I wrote.
And as far as an anonymous slur you cant have it both ways, stating that you took away the anon comment option and require registration to make comments and then accuse people of anonymous slurs is unfair. My details are registered and I even sent you my music blog which you dismissed.
As far as site-traffic vs comments. Site viewers have no idea how many people are viewing and a simple way of determining a blogs popularity is by its user feedback and comments, Marieke Hardy’s blog alone gets 150 comments a post, thus users feel they are contributing to a bigger whole and are aware of its popularity and there is no need to preach web hits. Also site views aren’t exactly accurate as a lot of regular uses view a site many many times a day.
Todd McKenny posts you should have disabled the feature for that post (something you can adjust in your settings) or even noted it in your original post.
If you think my comments are a little “edgy” then it just shows you may be a little conservative. All comments with a joking tone are clearly marked, no swearing, no abuse and sticking to debatable points on others opinions. If your going to stick to the conservative way and NOT comment on news and simply support what networks are saying and thinking then its not really a commentary blog is it?
A great blog relays the cracks in what the generic press releases, linked news and media articles are saying and goes a little further. Saying you KNOW something happened when it didn’t is liable, giving your opinion on something and offering constructive criticisms isn’t.
People may be laxing on the site because like me they are now subscribed to the news feeds you post your stories from.
Finally, as far as this “make your own blog mate” comment goes. A LOT of your users do have their own blogs, we don’t claim to be above and you should take the time and check out some of your supporters sites to get to know your supporters and not take them for granted.
If user comments made admins liable every blog and forum on the web would be shut down.
Thanks for your opinion. Firstly your comment on the Zaetta story was not approved because it did contravene my comments policy. In the very story where the defence department categorically stated those claims were unsubstantiated you went ahead and effectively said you “bet she did” have sex with the soldiers. Posting such an anonymous slur after all she has been through is not what my site is for.
Todd McKenney matter is still before the courts.
Comments are down since the site has required a minimum of registration, to curb such slander and spam. That said, registration requires no more than a messageboard / forum. Site traffic is certainly not down.
As a ‘Blog’ which derives from ‘web log’, this site also seeks to log the major events in Aussie TV news -regardless of where they have originated. It therefore builds up a working archive.
Regular readers will note I frequently add to stories sourced from other media with additional info -and overlooked info.
I think some of your comments approved across this site have been very robust and don’t show I have been conservative in moderation at all. But there is a line. Anyone truly unhappy with comments moderation could easily consider their own blog.
Finally, your comment even contradicts a policy to keep comments short.
You need a more consistent policy David about posting. Nothing at all what I said in this post was rude or offensive. On some posts your very liberal and and on some YOUR OVERLY conservative.
It seems your posting for notoriety these days and not to inform, you have more in mind the network people you know who visit the site and want to make a name for yourself and your terrified to offend or state opinion. The way someone makes a name for themselves is by exceptional work(not copy and pasting) , not appeasing the celebs and network heads, and not trying to be everywhere at all times.
What makes blogs over in the states so successful is that they are in essence the media for the media and the networks while having a truly personal element of truth. Not another Tv Week type thing.
We already have online and print newspapers to give us the news (most of the time some post are near direct copy and pastes)
Lately, you have been censoring on whole topics (i.e the Dancing with the stars Judge) for absolutely no reason when other TV blogs have had open discussion not to mention the dozens of forums.
Write a clear policy and STICK to it, dont favor certain posters and not others, dont have one set of rules for one topic and another set of rules for another. Your comments are way down on here lately and maybe it is because peoples true opinions and frustrations are being censored (you used to get 21-25 comments a post very rare these days)
http://tvtonight.com.au/2007/05/comments-policy.html
way to vague.
With this post David, don’t tow the party line, use your blog for opinion, thats what they are designed for, if you want to be a news site. Open an official self designed website.
Click “next blog” a couple times up top
And think about the word “blog” and what its meaning is i.e blog role
I do love your work site Dave dont get me wrong, it just can be very frustrating at times.
🙂 🙂