I have been involved in the Ratemyhorsepro attack on Leland Neff, after he lost 22 horses to the raging floods of Hurricane Irene. At first I was appalled that anyone was attacking a flood victim, when there was so much suffering and damage in the Schoharie Valley in NY. Then I questioned the integrity of the people cited as witnesses. What was their motivation? RMHP did an ambush interview with Mr. Neff by phone and then claimed to have first-hand evidence to support their claims.
They never visited the flood site. They never talked to Mr. Neff in person. It was all apparently armchair journalism from afar, loaded, in my opinion, with falsehoods, poor journalism standards, and questionable statements from people who were never vetted. When I checked myself into some of their witnesses, I found that one had tried to get a contract with Mr. Neff to do work, but was turned down. Another was a close relative of the first.
Another a close relative of the second. And then a neighbor who had told Mr. Neff when he first moved to his farm, that they didn't want any outsiders moving into the area - and they have hounded him regularly ever since, including one neighbor who reportedly stole baled hay from Mr. Neff in the middle of the night and sold it. Any amount of reasonable vetting by the reporter would have turned up some very questionable motivations behind RMHP's so-called witnesses.
When I called RMHP out on the sloppy journalism, the repeat victimization, the publication of false statements and incorrect facts, my input was not kindly received. I was working on the rescue efforts for the horses so I had daily contact with Mr. Neff and the widespread rescue effort. I still do. Mr. Neff was not out conducting a big PR campaign. He was out everyday on horseback looking for his lost horses, and never even read the RMHP article until much later.
Any PR was coming from the other people who were working on the rescue. When the first deceased horse was found, other people were aware of the find, but they left it to Mr. Neff to disclose when he felt he was ready, had identified the horse and had dealt with his grief. We gave him that leeway as a human kindness - a quality that has been greatly lacking in this situation.
After publishing their article, RMHP turned the discussion over to the public via their Facebook page and allowed people with absolutely no access to the facts to mount a national campaign against Mr. Neff. When people who were working on the rescue challenged this tactic, they found their comments deleted and subsequently anyone who wrote anything favorable about Mr. Neff had their comments summarily deleted, while the negative commentators were given free rein.
I call the RMHP efforts to attack people and ruin them without bothering to check facts and follow journalistic standards outrageous. It is a kangeroo court with the trappings of a lynch mob, with the accused allowed no due process or input. Something needs to be done to curb these abuses of the media and the public trust.
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