'Channel 4' gets flak for exploiting journalist

(August 28, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) 'Channel 4' UK , the news network which broadcast the false and unverified video footage on Aug 25 which allegedly showed the summary killing by Sri Lankan troops of Tamil civilians in January this year, has come in for heavy criticism from many quarters for the exploiting of a journalist to obtain a sensational news item.

The Daily Mail, UK said 'Channel 4' "promised to stretch reality television to the limit: one man pitting his wits against the Yukon wilderness with just a camera for company. But hopes for an epic three-month contest between man and nature were dashed when adventurer Ed Wardle failed to go the distance.

Seven weeks after striding out into the rugged forests of western Canada armed with a rifle and a fishing rod, Mr. Wardle had to be airlifted back to civilization suffering from starvation".

It reported that' Channel 4' faced criticism for allowing him to attempt the expedition unaided and apparently unprepared, to entertain viewers. During his adventure, Mr. Wardle, 34, was permitted to send out a daily posting on the Twitter website and transmit a single electronic signal confirming he was still alive.

“This is a pretty foolish enterprise. If Channel 4 is going to send people on this kind of expedition, they really must make sure they are up to it and have the skills necessary to survive," said Director of Media Watch, John Beyer.

“If they first of all did not check that Ed Wardle was competent, then that is the height of irresponsibility on the part of Channel 4, to do that merely to provide entertainment for us all back home to watch this man steadily deteriorate.”

-Sri Lanka Guardian