Paid Members Psygnosis Posted March 4, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted March 4, 2011 Wasn't sure where to put this, but if its too political feel free to move to the politics thread..  http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/mar/0...full?CMP=twt_gu  Dear Mr Desmond, You probably don't know me, but I know you. For the last two years I've been a reporter at the Daily Star, and for two years I've felt the weight of your ownership rest heavy on the shoulders of everyone, from the editor to the bloke who empties the bins.  Wait! I know you're probably reaching for your phone to have me marched out of the building. But please, save on your bill. I quit.  The decision came inside my local newsstand, whilst picking up the morning papers. As I chatted with Mohammed, the Muslim owner, his blinking eyes settled on my pile of print, and then, slowly, rose to meet my face.  "English Defence League to become a political party" growled out from the countertop.  Squirming, I abandoned the change in my pocket and flung a note in his direction, the clatter of the till a welcome relief from the silence that had engulfed us. I slunk off toward the tube.  If he was hurt that my 25p had funded such hate-mongering, he'd be rightly appalled that I'd sat in the war cabinet itself as this incendiary tale was twisted and bent to fit an agenda seemingly decided before the EDL's leader Tommy Robinson had even been interviewed.  Asked if his group were to become a political party I was told the ex-BNP goon had replied: "Not for now."  But further up the newsprint chain it appears a story, too good to allow the mere spectre of reality to restrain, was spotted. It almost never came to this. I nearly walked out last summer when the Daily Star got all flushed about taxpayer-funded Muslim-only loos.  A newsworthy tale were said toilets Muslim-only. Or taxpayer-funded. Undeterred by the nuisance of truth, we omitted a few facts, plucked a couple of quotes, and suddenly anyone would think a Rochdale shopping centre had hired Osama Bin Laden to stand by the taps, handing out paper towels.  I was personally tasked with writing a gloating follow-up declaring our postmodern victory in "blocking" the non-existent Islamic cisterns of evil.  Not that my involvement in stirring up a bit of light-hearted Islamaphobia stopped there. Many a morning I've hit my speed dial button to Muslim rent-a-rant Anjem Choudary to see if he fancied pulling together a few lines about whipping drunks or stoning homosexuals.  Our caustic "us and them" narrative needs nailing home every day or two, and when asked to wield the hammer I was too scared for my career, and my bank account, to refuse.  "If you won't write it, we'll get someone who will," was the sneer du jour, my eyes directed toward a teetering pile of CVs. I won't claim I've simply been coshed into submission; I've necked the celeb party champagne and pocketed all the freebies, relying on hangovers to block out the rest.  Neither can I erase that as a young hack keen to prove his worth I threw myself into working at the Daily Star with gusto. On order I dressed up as a John Lennon, a vampire, a Mexican, Noel Gallagher, Saint George (twice), Santa Claus, Aleksandr the Meerkat, the Stig, and a transvestite Alex Reid.  I've been spraytanned, waxed, and in a kilt clutching roses trawled a Glasgow council estate trying to propose to Susan Boyle (I did. She said no).  When I was ordered to wear a burkha in public for the day, I asked: "Just a head scarf or full veil?" Even after being ambushed by anti-terror cops when panicked Londoners reported "a bloke pretending to be a Muslim woman", I didn't complain. Mercifully, I'd discovered some backbone by the time I was told to find some burkha-clad shoppers (spot the trend?) to pose with for a picture Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vito Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 If only this could make any kind of difference. I know I've said this before but I'm sick to death of newspapers printing out and out lies to shift units, what's worse is that because it's printed in a newspaper people seem to believe that it's all true. Too many people genuinely believe that "dem immigrunts" live in mansions made of diamonds and bathe in jacuzzis filled with the tears of abused children. Journalists should be free the pursue the truth wherever it leads but I resent that some of the largest media outlets (stand up, Fox News) use this responsibility to paint a dangerously inaccurate picture of the world in which we live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happ Hazzard Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 I don't think newspapers should have restrictions placed on them beyond the current libel laws. The Daily Star is not a good newspaper. But there are plenty of people that want to read that kind of news, and it is not for anyone to say that they are wrong. Â This sounds like sour grapes on the part of the reporter. It's not like the Daily Star was any different when he started working there. Â Journalists for any newspaper will taylor stories towards their readership. That's not unique to the Star. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Seven Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 You write for shit like The Daily Star then you don't have the right to get uppity and complain about it when you finally move on. He should keep his resentment for when he's draining a glass in a pub. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Seven Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Edit: Double post. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happ Hazzard Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 I don't think the Journalists of any newspaper are particularly representitive of the country as a whole. There are very few working-class journalists working for the national press, and London is vastly overepresented. I don't think the experience of a middle-class Londoner living in a nice area is of any relevance to someone living in, say, Burnley or Oldham. It just grates when newspapers go on about how fantastic mass immigration and multiculturalism are when you know full well that no-one writing for the publication will have any real experience of it outside of their own cosy media bubble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators neil Posted March 4, 2011 Moderators Share Posted March 4, 2011 You write for shit like The Daily Star then you don't have the right to get uppity and complain about it when you finally move on. He should keep his resentment for when he's draining a glass in a pub. If it's an industry you want to work in and it's your only option then it can easily happen. Foot in the door and all that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireBrand Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 You write for shit like The Daily Star then you don't have the right to get uppity and complain about it when you finally move on. He should keep his resentment for when he's draining a glass in a pub. If it's an industry you want to work in and it's your only option then it can easily happen. Foot in the door and all that. Â It's also a profession people go into full of ideological dreams and plans but find themselves ground down by the reality of an individuals limits and the fact they are in a job that pays the rent/mortgage/cloud-castle rates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Seven Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 I don't begrudge anyone who works for the redtops. Just don't try and get on a high horse about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Your Fight Site Posted March 5, 2011 Paid Members Share Posted March 5, 2011 Came across this on Twitter this morning. Good stuff. I know some people say it's his fault for working for the Daily Star in the first place, but as Neil says sometimes it's your only choice. What's going to look better on a CV? Writing for a nationally-distributed tabloid, or temp job with his local Chronicle? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 I don't think newspapers should have restrictions placed on them beyond the current libel laws. The Daily Star is not a good newspaper. But there are plenty of people that want to read that kind of news, and it is not for anyone to say that they are wrong. Â This sounds like sour grapes on the part of the reporter. It's not like the Daily Star was any different when he started working there. Â Journalists for any newspaper will taylor stories towards their readership. That's not unique to the Star. You never fail to amuse me Happ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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