At the center of this event is the highly respected Websleuths.com owned by Ms. Griffith. I began getting e-mails and im's regarding an action by a group of posters on Websleuths. It seems that the Anthony's were scheduled to attend a victims conference ie: the Melanie Ilene Rieger Memorial Conference. Mark Klaas has mentioned this upcoming conference on the Nancy Grace show recently.
As seems to be the case lately when it is heard that the Anthony's are to make an appearence on a tv show or attend an event, there are those who feel it necessary to start some kind of e-mail protest against their appearing at said event.
I have stood idly by in the past when these protests have been organized. This time I cannot. This is one time where it was a big mistake for the members of Websleuths do conduct this protest. This was one of the few times that the Anthony's can do some good.
Whatever we feel about the Anthony's they have lost a Grand daughter and stand to loose a Daughter to either life in prison or be put to death for the murder of their Greand daughter.
I feel that this protest was a mistake and that, in the future, those groups that wish to partake in these protests need to take a wider view of what has been going on with this case before deciding on any actions of this nature.
According to this open letter posted on Websleuths, the owner was not aware that her website was at the center of this protest.
She recently published this letter to her members:
Yesterday, 12:00 AM
Tricia
Administrator Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Under that huge "house of cards" falling on me. Wow!
Posts: 6,007
To those who wish to vilify the Melanie Rieger Conference
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I received a call from Marc Klaas today. It seems members of Websleuths have been sending some angry emails to a wonderful organization based on what Marc said on Nancy the other night. I asked Marc to put his concerns in writing for me to post. Below is from Marc to us.
What bothers me is it seems some members took it upon themselves to use Websleuths to organize an actual email campaign against Sam and Wanda Rieger.
First, any email campaign, any petition, any sort of organized anything, has to be approved by me. That has always been a hard and fast rule here.
Of course what you do off the forum is none of my business but when an organization like the Melanie Rieger Conference receives emails from people saying they are from Websleuths then it becomes my business.
If the people who did this would have followed the rules and contacted me we could have avoided this embarrassing situation.
This is a totally different situation that (sic) Oprah. Even so, when someone posted about an "email campaign" Jbean pulled that thread until I approved it. I made the mistake of not posting a reminder about organizing email campaigns.
Websleuths is a very different forum in that it is privately owned by one person. I take a very active role in setting the rules for Websleuths. I am blessed with a great team of moderators who share my goals and make sure the forum runs smoothly.
I will be sending a letter to everyone involved in the Melanie Rieger Conference explaining that this was not endorsed by Websleuths in any way.
I don't know how many people were involved in this but apparently it was enough people from Websleuths writing some very angry and unfair emails to prompt Marc to contact me.
What I have found is Websleuths is a very respected forum. That has everything to do with you as the poster. With posters like you who post within reason and without name calling. When something like this happens it hurts all of us.
I'll leave the thread open if anyone has any questions or would like to comment.
Tricia
Now, as a result of this campaign Mark Klaas sent an open letter to Websleuths with his view of what had occured.
The other night you apparently heard, or somebody told you about, comments that I made on the Nancy Grace Show about George and Cindy Anthony’s scheduled appearance at the upcoming Melanie Ilene Rieger Memorial Conference. From those comments much has been imagined, speculated upon, and regurgitated in unfortunate ways. I would like to provide some context in hopes that you will modify your opinion and re-direct your anger.
Melanie Ilene Rieger, a college student, was murdered by her boyfriend on May 24, 1994. The conference was established by her parents Sam and Wanda, in her memory with the hope that others would avoid such tragedy. This year will mark my eleventh appearance at the conference. Not only am I honored and humbled by each and every invitation, but I consider my attendance as one of the high points of my year.
You see, the Melanie Rieger Conference is a serious forum that gathers amazing people with diverse perspectives about violent crime. Victims, service providers, law enforcement representatives, politicians and other advocates gather to find commonality, to discuss issues and to provide solutions to the myriad problems faced by crime victims. Over the course of my attendance I have met a diverse population of individuals who have educated and enlightened me, who have contributed to the body of literature and understanding, and have eased the burden of victimization. To malign these people and this conference based upon a few words or a single reference is unfair.
Anyone who has ever attended the Melanie Rieger Conference understands that it is a respectful forum that refuses to promote itself in an undignified way. The first mention that George and Cindy Anthony had been invited to attend was when I mentioned that fact on the Nancy Grace Show on April 20. Therefore, it is disingenuous to suggest that they are appearing as a way to drum up publicity for the conference. Anyone who would do so speaks from a lack of knowledge.
No single individual establishes the agenda or the guest list for the Melanie Rieger Conference, nor are these considerations made in a vacuum. The Conference Committee invites individual presenters months in advance, without foreknowledge of how events will affect those choices. Everyone invited to present at the Melanie Rieger Conference is considered carefully and chosen because they are either a member of the victim’s community or they are in a position to impact the community of victims. They are not chosen based on popularity or their contribution to pop culture.
I have known Sam and Wanda Rieger for more than a decade. They founded the Melanie Ilene Rieger Memorial Conference as a way to give meaning to their daughter’s murder. They are two of the finest people that I have ever met and two of the most steadfast and dedicated victim’s advocates in the United States.
Sincerely,
Marc Klaas
KlaasKids Foundation
P.O. Box 925
Sausalito, CA 94966
www.klaaskids.org
I am not going to criticize Websleuths or MS. Griffith for the actions of her members. This action was clearly taken without her approval.
She operates a large and powerfull message site with a large number of active posters some with deep passionate feelings about what happened to Caylee and have intense feelings toward the Anthony's.
Their passions led to the situation that Websleuths and Ms. Griffith find themselves in today. Already a number of blogs have taken advangage of this situation and have have posted negative articles regarding Ms. Griffith and Websleuths.
I am not going to take that position. Mistakes happen everyday. I have made a few of my own. Events happened at Websleuths that the owner or her administrators were not able to prevent in time to cause some problems.
The best thing everyone can do here is to learn from these mistakes and move on.
MURT
Stay Tuned
