I became aware of the claimed plans for a magazine spread ...

From: Peter ford
Sent: Thursday, 18 September 2014 4:31 PM
To: Loni Cooper
Subject: Re: Questions from Media Watch

Sent from my iPhone

On 18 Sep 2014, at 2:25 pm, Loni Cooper wrote:

Hi Peter,

Media Watch is looking at recent media reporting of a rumoured relationship between Ian Thorpe
and Ricky Martin. We would appreciate it if you could answer the following questions:

1. Media Watch understands that a caller, ‘Sir Rumour’, alleged on 6PR’s The Rumour File on
Friday 12 September that Ian Thorpe is signing a magazine deal worth $500,000 to reveal a
romantic relationship with Ricky Martin. Can you please detail how you came to be aware of
the alleged relationship between Thorpe and Martin? Was The Rumour File segment your
source?

I became aware of the claimed plans for a magazine spread after it had gone to air on 6PR . I
am on that show each pruning at 8.20 and was told about it briefly before going to air and
then again during my report. Aftery segment I was fully briefed by the producers and given a
transcript of what aired a hour earlier.Given the contributors recent 100 % correct
contribution I felt it deserved acknowledgement. Stories of a relationship between the two
have been around for some months but it's not the sort of yarn I deal with unless there is a
public or business angle to it .

2. Do you know who ‘Sir Rumour’ is? Have you had any contact with him before or after this
broadcast?

Yes I have been made aware who the contributor is but I have not directly spoken to that
person...only through a third party & hearing what was publicly broadcast. Had it not been
for the recent offering that proved true, despite denials, I doubt I would have shown much
interest.

3. Later that morning you said the following during an appearance on 3BA radio in Ballarat:

HOST: Now, no sex tapes but Ian Thorpe and the new boyfriend about to go on show in a mag?
PETER FORD: Well that’s the info I’m getting, is that, yeah, they are about to go public. ... Now I’m
not saying that the boyfriend is Ricky Martin but I’m saying that Ricky Martin has been involved in
the process of advising Ian whether this is a good thing to do or not. And the magazine deal is
worth about $500,000.
HOST: Wow.
PF: And we’ll look out for the pictures and the story.
HOST: Who is it, do you know?
PF: Well I do, or I think I do. But, and I think it is Ricky Martin.

You also tweeted about the story numerous times during the day, and discussed it again on
radio programs over the following days.

How had you verified the information you presented during these broadcasts and on
Twitter? Did you contact Thorpe’s or Martin’s management, or any other sources, to check
the accuracy of this story? If not, how do you justify broadcasting the information?

I made two attempts to contact James Erskine during the morning. I did not attempt to contact
Ricky 's management. I then saw a denial from Mr Erskine in SMH a few hours later and
subsequently included this is my reports. I did exactly the same when a denial from Ricky 's
management emerged. I do a lot of radio crosses so I can't swear on a bible I did this in every
single report in days that followed but I certainly did not shy away from making it clear
denials were out there. There had been some scuttlebutt about them as a couple that I have
neither reported or researched so in one sense the suggestion didn't totally stun me. Ricky has
been very public in his support of Ian's 'coming out' . I I did not make any definitive claim
about Ian and Ricky being an item but certainly gave oxygen to talk that was out there. I was
simply letting people know what was being claimed and that it was coming from someone
who seemed to have good inside info. I tweet about many of my upcoming radio spots across
Australia and New Zealand every day. This isn't rare for me, especially if it's a yarn I know
will excite listeners.

4. The Daily Mail has reported that Ricky Martin’s management says Martin and Ian Thorpe
have never met. Do you accept this is true?

It may well be but I work in an aspect of the industry where denials are offered about
everything all the time and very often PR people & managements brazenly fib to bury a
story. All I can do is include denials in what I report but ,talking generally not just about this
in particular , if I let a denial kill every story I come across then I'd be very short on content.

5. Do you stand by your reporting of a romantic relationship between Ian Thorpe and Ricky
Martin, or do you now believe you were wrong?

I don't stand by the claim as I never made it on the first place . Do I regret giving oxygen or
overhyping the Ricky aspect? Yes probably. Was I or more specifically Sir Rumour wrong
about the mag deal? Time will tell. Doing teasers in the confines of twitter is problematic but
the more detailed radio reports offered a calmer and much less definitive view of the yarn. If
it is a $500,000 deal it won't be with a local mag and in all honesty if it doesn't involve
another big name celeb I seriously doubt it would be worth that amount. The old adage is in
the promo world 'promise the world and hand them an atlas'. You can fairly accuse me of this
but my actual onair reports contained more detail ,and indeed, question marks ,about the
hysteria that seemed to take flight over a tweet to hype an appearance on radio in Ballarat.
Not since the Gold Rush days have they known such excitement!

Thanks for considering our questions. Due to production deadlines, a response by 3pm tomorrow
would be most helpful.

Kind regards,
Loni Cooper
Journalist/Researcher
Media Watch, ABCTV