response from andrew o’keefe

Back in August I complained about a photo in the Herald Sun of Andrew O’Keefe peering between a lady’s legs, particularly upset because he is the Chairman of White Ribbon Day. He has responded to the letter I wrote to him and I thought I’d post it. It’s always good to be fair!
Here’s the letter:

Dear Rachel

My name is Andrew O’Keefe and I am the Chairman of the White Ribbon Day National Leadership Group. My apologies for taking so long to reply to your letter regarding the article which appeared in the Herald Sun last year. As you know, White Ribbon Day is currently an entirely voluntary organisation, and we were swamped with work in the back end of the year.

Like you, I was dismayed at the photo which ran with the article in theHerald Sun. This was one of about 100 photos which were taken in a shoot at the beginning of 2006. When I saw the proof sheet, I specifically vetoed the release of that shot on the bases that you enumerate in your letter. Unfortunately, the photo remained on the Channel 7 hard-drive, and when I had a change of publicist, it appears it was released without my consent. The Herald Sun then ran the shot.

I have taken the issue up with my publicity Department at the network and they have requested that the Herald Sun delete the shot from their internal drive. I hope that this remedies the problem for the future.

Thank you for your letter and for your interest in White Ribbon Day. Last year’s events were a huge sucess and this year, with the establishment of the White Ribbon Foundation and increased support from government and business, we hope to make the messages of White Ribbon Day even more prominent and widespread.

Similarly, we wish you every success with Lip Magazine for 2007.

Yours sincerely,
Andrew O’Keefe
Seven Network