THE SUNSHINE COAST NEWSPAPER COLUMN - WARPED REPORTING IN UNFORTUNATE AFTERMATH TO THE CUP

By Graham Potter | Sunday, November 9, 2014

Graham Potter writes a weekly column for the Sunshine Coast daily. Due to demand from those having trouble accessing the paper these columns are now also published on HRO courtesy of the Sunshine Coast daily.

The unfortunate events that followed within moments of the Melbourne Cup race being completed on Tuesday have created an equally unfortunate media frenzy.

I couldn’t be more disgusted by the act of those who actually filmed a horse dying of a heart attack and who then went on to post that footage on social media as well as supplying a major TV channel with a copy of their indecent offering.

As for that channel’s ongoing sick use of the video they received, well, to many, that was a new low in reporting standards suggesting a complete lack of moral compass in this regard, which I hope will come back to sit uncomfortably on the shoulders of those TV editors who arguably made the decision to side with sensationalism over responsible reporting.

As for the animal activist group who filmed and distributed what was an absolute horror situation for the Japanese connections of the ill-fated Admiral Rikti, their level on insensitivity was quite stunning in its application … but then again, that should not have been surprising as it goes hand in hand with their overall ignorance of the way horseracing is run, as evidenced by the endless diatribe of misinformation they serve up in their search for fifteen seconds of fame.

Personally I think it would be appropriate to investigate a slander case against the particular activist group who have headlined the anti-racing view this week.

Slander is defined as, ‘the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation’ … and, I suggest, their distasteful on-going slur campaign of recent weeks has possibly, by implication, ‘defamed’ everybody working within the racing industry.

At least that would be my argument.

If anything, Araldo’s death was even more tragic than Admiral Rikti as it was avoidable.

A heart attack is a heart attack and little can be done about the onset of heart failure but it is a different story when the idiotic behaviour of a couple limelight seekers illegally perched on a rail waving a huge Australian flag right in the faces of the returning runners after the Cup leads to a horse being injured and having to be euthanized.

Like the animal activist group, these flag waving individuals need to be held accountable for their actions.

If no charges can be laid and no compensation claims can be sought, they should at least be banned from all racetracks in Australia for a decent length of time.

There needs to be consequences.

Oh yes, and what about those calling for racing to be banned?

Let’s consider that view for a moment.

If racing is banned all state governments take a financial hit which will cripple local economies to the extent that it would impact adversely on many of the services we all take for granted today.

The unemployment number would rise in dramatic fashion attacking the economy from a different direction while leaving thousands of people struggling to survive … and then, of course, there are the horses.

The horses … what would happen to the 30 000 odd racehorses registered in Australia?

I wonder if the ‘show pony’ activists have actually thought through their ‘banning’ argument but, then again, nobody really needs to go there because the activists preferred outcome in this instance is never going to happen!

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