Dear Editor,
As a victim of hurt caused by previous articles in your publication, I am writing to express my disappointment and anger that you have again published an article based on unsubstantiated, unattributable, non-contemporaneous and anonymised hearsay, this time regarding Oak Hill College.
The damage you cause and are responsible for is considerable. You should be ashamed to call yourselves evangelical. The gospel does not permit gossip, slander or hearsay. As a woman, I feel abused by your lack of thought regarding the consequences of publishing the article. Before taking things further, I await your response. I would request that you publish my email to give some balance to your journalism.
Yours sincerely,
Anonymous By email
Dear correspondent, We are so sorry to hear of the hurt you feel. There is a difference between, on the one hand, anonymous hearsay and unsubstantiated rumour, which we do not publish, and, on the other hand, well-sourced information from Godly people which has to remain confidential to protect their identity. This is in line with standard media good practice (eg NUJ Code of Conduct). While we are not aware of any details of your situation, including whether it has any relationship with matters at Oak Hill, do please contact the Safeguarding Helpline run by en’s independent safeguarding advisers, Thirtyone:eight, on 0303 003 1111 for more advice if that seems helpful.
