Journalists

There are many things that journalists do that I find unacceptable. It seems they also find them unacceptable, but only when done to them.

Can you imagine the fuss a journalist would make if you went to their homes and knocked on their door to ask them questions early in the morning or perhaps just set up camp outside?

Can you imagine the fuss a journalist would make if you called them on their home phone number, which they hadn't given you?

Can you imagine what would happen if you phoned up a newspaper and used the services of their PABX to call random numbers to get some information about the paper by talking to staff who aren't customer-facing?

I have never been doorstepped and haven't doorstepped anyone. Journos are happy to admit they doorstep people and will post videos. Their excuse is the public interest, which seems to be a valid excuse anyone could use.

I never actually called a journalist at home, but I have been called up by one from the Liverpool Echo. Who abused me by trotting out a whole collection of allegations angrily and aggressively. When the journo realised that they'd been fed lies, they apologised and explained who had fed them the nonsense. They then wrote a story of someone suffering harassment. Oh, wait, no they didn't. Instead, they became more and more uncertain and then hung up without explaining anything. The paper now denies the phone call ever happened. They claim to have searched their records for the call, but they never asked for the number I'd been on at the time. I'd changed my number several times since then.

When I worked for various companies in a technical capacity, we would often work late. Between 6:30 and 7, also at weekends, we'd quite regularly get phone calls from industry journos, who knew full well that all the marketing and PR staff had gone home. They'd spend a fair bit of time trying to get unguarded comments from staff to sell. However, the Echo regards doing this kind of research on it as beyond the pale.

Never forget, journos are in it for money, as are their employers. They think they provide a valuable service, talk truth to power, and are the fourth estate. Judging by the state of the world, they aren't very good at it. Perhaps we should ask for our money back. They haven't done much recently to earn the privileges that they have endowed themselves with.

The Liverpool Echo is a stable-mate of The Mirror, whose former editor, Piers Moron, was not just fired like Boris Johnson, for lying but faking photos. He and the Mirror, and quite likely some of its Trinity Mirror stable mates, engaged in and benefited from phone hacking. It is difficult to believe that information obtained by the Mirror that didn't warrant a national news story but would sell a few local rags didn't make its way to local editors.

Then there is the little matter of contempt of court. Contempt is a serious matter, potentially landing papers and editors with a fine. I tried to get the numbers for contempt cases faced by editors, but there is no record. When I posted the details of an Echo contempt case, journalists were happily dismissing contempt as being part of the job. Can you imagine the fuss the Echo and co would make if someone else considered criminal behaviour as just part of the job?

Alastair Machray. You are a habitual journalist who accepts contempt as an occupational hazard and presumable accepts imprisonment in the same casual manner.