Dear John, Your newspaper, "Italian Insider", recently published several highly inaccurate articles about FAO that were based on anonymous sources. Your way of reportung flouts the basic rules of serious journalism and is damaging to the professional standing and reputation of the officials mentioned in your articles. Your stories are tendentious, based on gossip and misinformed. They contain comments that can only be qualified as shameful. You use the term, "ethnic cleansing" to describe policies purportedly favouring Latin Americans. This shows a shocking lack of respect for the victims of the ethnic purges and pogroms visited on innocent people in the course of history.

As a fellow journalist, when I took over as Chief, FAO Corporate Communications a few months ago, I agreed I would be available to check facts with you. I find the results very demoralizing to say the least. You have used the assistance I gave you to produce stories that are highly biased against FAO.

You have every right to publicly comment on FAO's work and performance. But FAO also has the right to be treated accurately, fairly and objectively.

Enrique Yeves

Chief, FAO Corporate Communications