Howabout,
I am certainly not accusing Dick of deliberate deception. I am suggesting, however, that not for the first time Mr Smith is so convinced that his own pre-conceptions and beliefs are unquestionable that he does concieve the necessity to back up his actions with evidence and tranparency.
What has happened is that Dick expressed a very strong opinion, then offered a very large cash inducement to journalists to write an article about the subject of that opinion.
It should be obvious to anyone that this would leave an accusation of inducing bias on the table, and anyone wanting to be taken seriously should make damn sure this perception was dispelled. Apointing an unknown "Independent" panel tp judge the work who, for all we know, could be made up of Dicks family, employees, business associates or just individuals Dick believes will judge things according to HIS view of the situation just doesn't cut it.I would be very suprised if the journalists involved did not have a valid legal recourse should they choose to pursue the matter.
Dick made the statement that the prize vs donation "Made no difference.". Again, if you want to make such statements, they better be true! The fact that one offers the possibility of Dick and Mr Johnston paying less tax (something ELSE he has publically commented on) and one doesn't, clearly DOES "Make a difference".
Dick wants people held accountable. If he is going to make public accusations, inducements and judgements on peoples work, he must be willing to face the same type of accountability.