k has plainly also not been reading the thread.

S/he says" "People still keep demanding answers to the questions that have already been answered."

Smooth Operations have given some answers:

They have explained (finally) that 'collation' does mean 'counting' and that White Hare did get enough votes in the trad category to be nominated. They have apologised for the picture of Leonard on their site and removed it. They have stated that the winners are not fixed to make the manufacture of the trophies easier. They have restated various procedures that we already knew from their website. They have claimed that they don't publish the names of the panel because it would put smaller, poorer, CD producers at a disadvantage.

But they have not done the following in response to questions I've seen here and on the BBC site.

They have not:

1) Given a geographic breakdown of the panel, justified the inclusion of vested interests, or given a breakdown of the percentage of vested interests to independant voters.

2) Shown any understanding of what the word Traditional means in terms of folk music, or why it's important that this definition is respected. They have not offered a sensible solution to the White Hare problem.

3) They have not answered questions about their guide list of CDs, nor responded to suggestions on how such a list could be made more open, resonable and fair.

They have not explained why they release a list of CDs rather than CDs AND gigs, when six of the awards are as much about live performance as recording; (Folk Singer of the Year, Best Duo, Best Group, Horizon Award, Musician of the Year and Best Live Act).

They have not explained why they told the panel that the list was only of (?all) CDs that contained tracks played on the MH show, when actually it is put together with 'advice' from various sources, including record companies (the big ones, we assume). Having had conflicting statements on this we really have no idea what the criteria are or what their thinking is.

They have not explained why CDs from smaller record companies do not appear on the list of CD releases, even though Leonard has claimed he want to include them in the process (for fairness) and even though they contain tracks that have been played on other BBC stations, and/or are by major touring artists.

4) They have not told us who polices the vote counting - if anyone.

5) They have not told us why the names of the panal cannot be made public, even though their stated justification has been discredited, and good reasons put forward for an open pubic system (such as large record companies actually having a major advante under the current system).

6) They have not given reasons why public voting cannot be introduced, or at least a much bigger, nation-wide panel recruited (a password-protected website-based system would be simple and fair).

7) They have not explained why the full list of nominations cannot be published. (If I had faith in the system I might be with k on this - but given the debacle I feel they owe us an explanation themselves).

8) They have not responded to suggestions that a new category cannot be introduced which could safely include songs like "Man of Constant Sorrow" and 'White Hare"

9) They have not responded to suggestions about other omissions/anomalies such as a cappella, best original tune, best trio etc.

10) They have shown no willingness whatsoever to accept their duty as a company whose salaries come from licence-fee payers to be open, responsive, honest, culturally aware etc.