Guardian Editor Refuses To Defend His Newspaper's Ban on Vivisection Truths

Vernon Coleman





Vernon Coleman sent the following letter to the Editor of The Guardian on 18th April 2006.


To Alan Rusbridger, Editor, The Guardian
From Dr Vernon Coleman
18.4.06

Dear Mr Rusbridger
I am enclosing a copy of an advertisement which recently appeared in a number of national newspapers. I wanted to put the same ad in The Guardian but it was apparently banned, allegedly for `legal' reasons. The Guardian was the only newspaper to refuse the ad so I'm afraid I'm not convinced by that excuse. So why did you ban an ad intended only to invite your readers to access information proving that vivisection is useless? Were you worried about upsetting the Government? (I know your paper carries a lot of Government advertising). Were you worried about the drug companies? Although The Guardian did serialise a book of mine criticising the drug industry your paper has not, as far as I am aware, ever published anything seriously questioning the validity of vivisection. I think it's pertinent to point out that no one has been able to counter any of the arguments put forward on my website. Animal experiments cannot be justified on scientific or medical grounds. So, why did The Guardian ban an ad inviting readers to discover the truth? Do you have an answer I can publish?

Yours sincerely


Dr Vernon Coleman



Alan Rusbridger replied as follows:




Dear Dr Coleman

Many thanks for your letter. I was not actually here on the day that we took legal advice on your advertisement, but I am satisfied that the advice was sound. In common with most legal advice, I think it is best if it remain private between lawyer and client.

I can assure you it had nothing to do with upsetting the government or drug companies and I am confident that we do both on a regular basis.

Very best wishes.

Yours sincerely



Alan Rusbridger




Note: Despite the Guardian’s fears, the ad appeared in The Times, The Daily Mail, The Daily Express and The Independent. It was also cleared for use in the Daily Telegraph.






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