Results of Douma chemical tests still awaited
Re: “A ‘free’ press is one thing, but a truthful press is entirely another”, Have Your Say, May 8.
Clara Holzer claims that the mainstream media are ignoring the war in Yemen because the US and Britain don’t want to lose their lucrative arms-sales contracts with Saudi Arabia. Well, neither the US nor UK governments control the media, so her argument immediately falls flat.
Furthermore, I don’t know what mainstream media outlets Ms Holzer peruses, but both the BBC and the Guardian newspaper, to name just two, publish regular reports on the situation in Yemen.
I also note with interest Ms Holzer’s claim that the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have confirmed that they have found no evidence of a chemical attack in Douma, Syria. In fact, the OPCW website states that its inspectors returned to The Hague on May 4 with samples taken from the site of the alleged attack, and that it would take several weeks for these samples to be analysed.
Unless Ms Holzer can verify her claim, it seems to me that she is indulging in “fake news”, against which we must always be on our guard.
Robin Grant
