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   C4 SnowMail - January/2001   
      
   Certainty level: 50%   
      
   In January 2001 I signed up for Channel 4 TV News's email service SnowMail,   
   under an anonymous email address.   
   Quite soon Jon Snow and others started getting at me in the SnowMail   
   bulletins, so I promptly unsubscribed.   
   Here are three distributed messages which may be intended to be against me; I   
   have given these items a joint   
   probability of 50% only, since it is quite difficult to be sure these are   
   against me, although I think they   
   may well be.   
      
   First item is from 5 January 2001. "Back passage contacts" might genuinely be   
   about Labour were communicating   
   in a shielded way with ITN; but it may be about Snow's covert communications   
   with me on his programme and in   
   this bulletin; and it's a slightly strange thing for him to say, it suggests   
   the human body's back passage.   
   "I wish they'd come and talk on our website".... Snow knows I'm subscribed to   
   his mailing list, and he may be   
   encouraging me to talk to him by email; again, if that comment were genuinely   
   about Labour, then it would be   
   a strange thing to say, since the politicians talk to Snow by phone and on his   
   programme, so they wouldn't talk   
   to him by email; my suspicion at the time is that he was trying to persuade me   
   to talk to him by email,   
   so he could decently lie that my thoughts of reference were incorrect.   
      
      
   From: "Snow C4N, Jon"   
   Subject: Channel 4 News briefing   
   Date: Fri, 5 Jan 2001 17:15:06 -0000   
   MIME-Version: 1.0   
      
   January 5, 2000   
      
   Good afternoon dear viewer,   
      
   Well the 'snowmail' drew a little ire from Labour HQ yesterday. A sensitive   
   call at 6.35pm from my friendly   
   mentor there sought to correct the impression I gave in yesterday's missive   
   that in some way Labour was bounced   
   into naming these latest millionaire donors. Well I'm afraid they were...rest   
   assured Paul Hamlyn would not have   
   been named without the diligent sleuthing of my colleagues, and had HE not   
   been named neither would these latest two.   
      
   The only serious inaccuracy I must plead to was the promise that we would put   
   these matters to a 'senior Labour   
   person'...alas none was forthcoming...I shall make no such rash promise again.   
   My same mentor was on the phone again   
   during last night's Channel 4 News urging us to 'get some reality into the   
   programme'. I fear we may have touched a   
   sensitive nerve...and the election campaign has not even started, or has it? I   
   shall try to keep you posted with these   
   'back passage contacts' as the campaign unfolds..from all sides. I do wish   
   they'd come and talk things over with all   
   of us on the web site...here's an open invitation...   
      
   So to today:   
      
   Harold Shipman murdered as many as 250 people it now turns out. But he is   
   never to be tried and relatives who seek   
   closure to their uncertainties will never reap satisfaction..we have the DPP,   
   the Chief Medical Officer and a solicitor   
   for aggrieved and bereaved families on the programme..the world's second-worst   
   mass murderer..can he be allowed to   
   escape further action?   
      
   Sending private/sexy emails in company time gets workers the sack..Big Brother   
   spies on office premises..is electronic   
   life in the work place getting out of hand? We explore what we can...and if   
   you are not sure what you can and can't   
   send, our site spells out the legal dos and don'ts and gives you the chance to   
   put your views to us.   
      
   The CIA publishes its risk assessment for the world in the coming   
   years..beyond the CIA itself, what's the biggest   
   threat to life and liberty? Find out on Channel 4 News..and a major encounter   
   with a man expected to take a top job   
   in the Bush administration...   
      
   And a sumptuous piece from Nicholas Glass in Valencia..a city transformed by a   
   brilliant young architect for half   
   the price of what the Dome cost us.   
      
   Lots moving, see you at 7.00,best as ever,   
      
   Jon Snow   
      
      
   The next contact was on 11 January, with the unsubtle words "the lunatics have   
   taken over the newsroom"   
   from Krishnan GM. The phrase needs no explanation as to why it might be a dig   
   at me.   
      
      
   From: "Guru-Murthy C4N, Krishnan"   
   Subject: Channel 4 News briefing   
   Date: Thu, 11 Jan 2001 16:56:25 -0000   
   MIME-Version: 1.0   
      
   January 11, 2001   
      
   Good Afternoon. Jon's away so the lunatics have taken over the newsroom. I am   
   joined by Samira for tonight's show.   
      
   The Depleted Uranium confusion deepens. What did Ministers and senior officers   
   know about the risks to soldiers?   
   What did they tell others? And why the lack of candour over the recent   
   documents that have surfaced? Having   
   dismissed the army report leaked yesterday warning of the dangers of exposure   
   to DU as written by a trainee and   
   littered with mistakes, the Ministry of Defence now accepts it was written by   
   an experienced officer.   
   But they won't say who. More awkwardly it emerges that senior officers decided   
   a month after it was written that   
   the report should be circulated to all personnel likely to come into contact   
   with DU. But was it? Nobody seems to   
   know. Our Science Correspondent Andrew Veitch has also visited the lab in   
   Oxford that could begin testing   
   veterans for Depleted Uranium within six months, but they have had no contact   
   from the government as yet. From   
   the Tories, Mr Duncan Smith is likely to join us. And we have Defence   
   Secretary Hoon coming into the studio to   
   answer the obvious (and not so obvious) questions.   
      
   No interest rate cut today from the Bank of England, but could it be next   
   month? As real fears are raised about   
   the likelihood of recession in the US how could it affect us over here?   
   There's been a recent consensus that   
   Britain could weather the storm instead of falling into the usual pattern of   
   shadowing American trends. But how   
   realistic is that? And what about all that inward investment we rely on from   
   the States? Liam Halligan has been   
   looking at just what impact economic downturn across the water would have on   
   us.   
      
   The former Bosnian Serb President Biljana Plavsic pleaded not guilty to   
   charges of warcrimes including genocide   
   today. She was number two to Karazdic and a reputed hardliner during the   
   "ethnic cleansing" of Bosnia.   
   But has a deal been done on her sentence if found guilty? Just why did she get   
   on a plane and give herself up   
   to the Hague War Crimes Tribunal? Nobody seems to have any explanation. Her   
   lawyers are asking for special   
   accommodation and even the possibility of bail. Gaby Rado is there and joining   
   us live is the first Prosecutor   
   in the Hague Judge Goldstone to discuss whether plea bargains and deals are   
   the only way to get the real villains.   
      
   Also the astonishing news that scientists in America have bred the first   
   genetically engineered monkey. What will   
   they be used for and what's the next step? Does anybody really believe they   
   won't do it to humans before too   
   long? Julian Rush will have details.   
      
   All that and loads more at seven. See you then, I hope. Krishnan.   
      
      
   The third and final item is from 24 January, shortly after which I   
   unsubscribed from SnowMail. Again, it is difficult   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)