New media

Apologies blogosphere, I have only just managed to get home. Today has been just hectic. First up, I had a call from my lawyer, he started out telling me that he needs to speak to Gill - apparently he has been contacted by Sky regarding the sexual harassment incident. I said I didn't want Gill involved, but then he said why did I use her name in the article? I had to concede that was naive of me. There's more to journalism than simply writing stories, these stories affect people. Real people.

The thing is though, this shows that I've got them on the ropes dear readers.

My lawyer (fucking coward) advised me to drop the case, and disist from, GET THIS!!! "spreading spurious rumours in the press".

He then said some unrepeatable things, and could not understand why I'd added his contact details to the piece. I said, "what's the point having lawyers if you can't use them?". He said some more unrepeatable things, so I said I would no longer be using his services, he said I'd be receiving an invoice. An INVOICE! for his 'services' so far.

Whatever happened to the Freedom of the Fourth Estate??

Gill says I shouldn't really be blogging about this. But it's a free country right?

I have signed up to Twitter. I cannot seem to make it work properly though. I can't really see the point to be honest. But then, I said that about the Internet and it came back to bite me in the wallet.

I got home in a funk and so decided to call my mum. I love my mum, I'll make no apologies, she's stood by me through thick and thin. She wants to come and stay, but I've told her that London is no place for a lady. Where are the views?

She's made up about the redundancy money though, I said I'd send her a little bit so she could treat herself to something, but I haven't actually got the package yet. I've been putting everything so far on my credit cards, I'll pay it off when the redundancy package arrives. Mum said she'd best transfer some cash into my account. I told her I'd pay her back and WITH INTEREST!!

Right, I'd best go now. I've got a Frey Bentos in the oven, a few cans of Cobra in the fridge and a few games of Pro Evo lined up before bed so I'm fresh and ready for some more citizen journalism tomorrow.

First up, I'll be writing to the editors that I sent my peice to, I'm going to find out who ratted me to Sky - almost certainly one of the Murdoch rags. I thought journalists were supposed to respect their sources!!

A follower!!!!

Who says journalism is a lonely career. I logged on this morning and was greeted by the news that I have a follower!

Jennifer Walker-Shannon has tied her colours to the Barry Newsdesk mast, so to speak, and agreed to follow me.

A Californian writer. She looks every bit as glamorous as she sounds too! Though I should also point out that she is married to a gentleman called Brett. Hopefully, this will assure Gill that our virtual friendship is purely platonic.

I wonder what Jennifer makes of the great public transport vs atheism debate? I know our American cousins can be quite religious, however, I also know that public transport leaves a lot to be desired in the Land of the Free!

Perhaps this is something President Obama will be looking to change during his tenure. He's probably got a lot on his plate, but he seems like the sort of man who will leave no stone unturned. Even if it means upsetting a few people.

I have yet to receive any feedback from the various editors whom I furnished with my piece on sexual harassment. It's early days, of course, and I'm not too downhearted. Particularly in light of the news that Jennifer (a published writer!!!!) is now following yours truly.

Perhaps I will go out into the virtual world and follow some other notable bloggers - in journalism, it is a case of who you know AND what you know!

Sexual harassment

After carrying out research yesterday I decided that I was now armed with enough background material to write a well-balance article outlining the Sky sexual harassment case. I will be sending the piece to select members of the media forthwith.

Here though, I reproduce it in full:


You can’t touch this!

Sexual harassment in today’s Britain is illegal. Yet for so many of today’s young women it is an all too unfortunate fact of life. Nowhere is sexual harassment more disgusting than in the home.
In Britain today, the vast majority of the victims of sexual harassment are harassed in the home. That these scandals are going unchecked by the government and authorities is something Gordon Brown needs to feel personally ashamed and responsible for.
This week, in this journalist’s own home, representatives of a publicly listed multinational corporation that specialises in satellite television and the broadcasting of Premier League soccer, which cannot be revealed for legal reasons, sexually harassed this journalist’s girlfriend Gillian Nelson.
Attractive brunette Nelson (36) was waiting patiently at home, alone, when the two engineers arrived to install a Sky box.
“One of the engineers was a bit weird,” she said, “just a bit sleazy,” she added clearly suffering from post traumatic stress, tears welling in her pretty brown eyes.
The lone white female was then subjected to a barrage of innuendo and when the smutty Sky employee made lewd comments about her appearance and clothing she was forced to leave the room.
A spokesperson for the company refused to deny the allegations when pressed, but did say “we take allegations such as these very seriously sir,” before suggesting that the victim file a formal complaint in the usual manner.