I have been fairly certain now for about a year that the end to Publiceyeonline was coming. For a long time Sean has been wondering how to make Publiceyeonline financially sustainable. We have had many coffees about the issue and I wish I could have come up with some way to make it work. I had my ideas but no time to act on them.
Sean is a friend of mine that I first got to know well about eight years ago. I have also worked with him - for about 18 months I was the producer of Public Eye radio on CFAX and I have also written pieces for the website. I may, or may not, have been a source for him. Personally I suspect the vast majority to political junkies in BC have been a source for him at some point over the years.
I have an inkling how big his set of sources are. I know that some of the emails he has had sent to him he got from multiple sources. I have been at meetings where people have said "I do not want to see this on Holman's site tomorrow morning." and then seen it the next day. Evening knowing Sean as a friend he has never revealed to me a single person that has his source.
What you see on the website is only a small part of what people have sent to him. Sean was very careful to make sure sources were well protected and that he had ironclad proof of what he published. I personally think Sean has an overly strong fear of libel lawsuits.
I am very sad to see the end of Sean Holman`s Publiceyeonline, but I am glad for my friend Sean. I have seem the stress the daily grind for no money has done to him. He has sacrificed too much of his own life in trying to make Publiceyeonline work.
We have a province of more than 4,000,000 people, there have to be many more people out there that could take up from where Sean has left off. There have to be some young and hungry journalism students that are willing to live on very little.
I am reading about people wanting to raise the money now to keep Publiceyeonline going, I hope they do not succeed. This is not because I would not want to see the return of Publiceyeline, it is because Sean needs a rest and has a life to live with the woman he loves.
3 comments:
That's very touching Bernard. You are, obviously, correct that Public Eye has taken a toll. I loved every minute of it. But striving to be 100 percent accurate, seven days a week for eight years on enterprise stories big and small has been trying at times - and the source of more than a few sleepless nights. Thanks for being a friend and a support through it all. You're one of the people who made Public Eye possible.
You have been keep posting about proisrael articles in your blog. Here is what israel about....
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/sarkozy-told-obama-fed-israeli-pm-092347721.html
I cannot disagree with Mr. von Schulmann's conclusion.
However.
I have a much more selfish reason for not wanting to see the return of PublicEye*.
And that has arisen due to the fact that I am very much looking forward to seeing what Mr. Holman does.....
Next.
_______
*At least not with Sean running the whole show/shouldering the entire burden.
.
Post a Comment