[When Dr. Robert Irwin appeared on the World…]

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When Dr. Robert Irwin appeared on the World This Weekend and accused the RUC of torturing suspects, the British press greeted the programme with open hostility.

Five days later the Bennett Committee report conceded that such torture did and does take place-albeit in the 'halfhearted language of official indifference.

• The report was without doubt the major news item of the day-yet in several British papers it would have been read only by the most diligent of readers.

Mason claimed that he had released the report early to bring 'balance'.

In fact he threw it in in the middle of a row over a smear campaign against Dr. Irwinand in the case of many papers succeeded in seeing it submerged in the froth.

Readers have now been treated in less than 10 days to the whole gamut of press tactics.

Reporters have - been admitting that they were taken aside by various police officials and press officers and fed rumours about Irwin's motives.

It was the Telegraph that forced this into the open by refuting the rumours fat. the same time as revealing some facts about the rape of Mrs. Irwin).

This was a move to protect the RUC as a whole by trying to isolate Irwin's obviously true allegations and confine the torture allegations (as Irwin himself does) to a 'minority' of the RUC But even though the leaks failed to discredit irwin they have succeeded in threatening all future critics of the Mason torture camps with a deep exposure of their private lives.

On the day following the release of the Bennett report the Guardian agreed that its publica. tion:

"was almost lost in protest over a "smear campaign" against a key witness (Dr. Irwin)"

The Express for example relegated the whole issue to page 4-a low priority news page-under the headline No Smear.

The Bennett report was not mentioned until paragraph eight

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