Grimy reporters did it to her like Lindy, Denton's interview with Joanne Lees exposes
October 9th 2006 23:18
-ABC pic of Peter Falconio and Joanne Lees-
Nuts to you editors who let your reporters try and do a "Lindy Chamberlain" on the reputation of the quietly spoken, brave young woman.
Especial nuts to the reporter who sneakily worked through Joanne's mother to get her only interview - who still couldn't resist the grimy question: "And did you kill Peter Falconio?"
We all know that sensationalism sells, which is why newspaper editors favour reports that get the grime. But what ever happened to the notion of "balance" that used the keep the bastards (earlier report) honest?
Joanne Lees, the travel partner of missing back-backer Peter Falconio, decided that writing her own book would be the safest way to tell her story, to remove the doubt cast in the minds of the Australian public that she might have killed Falconio.
Her preference not to trust her story to a ghost-writer makes sense, if you heard her answers on last light's "Enough Rope" to Andrew Denton's questions about the media coverage.
If you missed the interview, the transcript should be on abc.net.au/tv/enoughrope/ soon. But here's an overview from someone who did watch it, and for busy readers to save the time of reading the transcript.
Lee's personality came across as honest, with an open face, no longer blushing with naivety as she would have before life's experience of ordeal with the would-be rapist and now imprisoned, convicted felon.
The TV showed his picture. No wonder she felt evil in his presence and bravely fought to escape. Wearing just shorts, shoes and a T-shirt, she didn't feel the outback's winter night cold until the five hours ordeal of hiding out from him under bushes was over.
Resolute to flag down only a road-train rather than risk stopping a car that might be the villain again, she was taken to a road house - only to wait more agonising hours until finally the police arrived. The tension was huge because she wanted to get them started on searching for Falconio, who she loves.
She told them her story - that she managed to escape from the back of the vehicle, still manacled, using last reserves of energy that came with the absolute determination that she was not going to let herself be raped.
How these things drag on. No sign of Falconio from searching. Months became years. Then finally the news which she got in England. NT police had a murder suspect, whom she immediately recognised as the villain from the photo.
Now she had a real name, Bradley John Murdoch, for the man who until then she had known not as the villain, but coward.
Too much suffering already? Yes, especially considering that no one thought to offer her grief counselling. (Remember Falconio, her love and travel companion that has never been found to this day.)
But no, our intrepid ranks of journalists had to make it worse for her, reporting the cowardly defence at Murdoch's trial, which tried to character-assassinate her by "grime" about her and another lover in Australia at the time, to cast doubt that she might have been the one to kill Falconio.
Who to believe, her or the coward?
Already the Falconio family believed her. She's been made part of the family.
Now from the trial, the jurists believed her - and the judge castigated the defence lawyers for the most cowardly of defence strategies.
Thank you Joanne Lees for writing the book. Thank you Andrew Denton for letting viewers preview the story with proper balance so that we can believe her too.
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Comment by Nina