Abuse

The State of British Journalism

Image

We live in a strange world. Twelve months ago I moved to the UK in the hope of learning from the most talented and experienced broadcasters and producers in one of the most celebrated media environments in the world, which is the BBC.

Over the course of the time spent being enlightened and taught by former BBC employees in a well structured and informative masters at the University of Sheffield, which included a brief stint at BBC Leeds I was shown the true might and broadcasting standards that made Britain a world media leader.

The Olympics shone more light on the ability of the UK to deliver top quality broadcast content to a global audience yet two scandals can never take away from the now tarnished image of British Journalism. Hackgate and the exposure of Jimmy Saville have set the reputation of British journalists and UK media, back decades.

I spoke briefly on the Rony Robinson show on BBC Sheffield a year ago about the challenges facing trainee and wanna be journalists in Britain as celebrated journalist Piers Morgan and media mogul Rupert Murdoch were connected to the Leveson inquiry. Little did I know how much damage the phone hacking scandal would cause, with Journalists seen as scum and lying deceitful members of society.

While at BBC Leeds I was exposed to the true might and skills of employees that upheld the title of one of the most extensive broadcasters in history, yet it is shocking to imagine that it was at the station’s former studios that Saville, a celebrated BBC and British media icon abused young children.

There is a saying in this world we live and work in, that there is no such thing as bad PR, well when it involves phone hacking journalists and broadcasting institutions that protect serial paedophiles, that is bad PR!

It is also down right disgraceful, the obsession with fame and celebrity that existed from beatlemania onwards in the western world has helped create the very people who become untouchable in media spheres. Those who abuse and take advantage of innocent civilians to shift copies of newspapers or protect iconic employees from being exposed for who they really are, is revolting.

British journalists and media in the UK has some of the most talented, producers, presenters and reporters to have ever graced our columns and channels but there are no excuses for Saville and Murdoch.

What has happened in the exposure of these power houses of British media was not only required but must now set a precedent moving forward. With the advances of social media and blogging has come a whole new strand to western journalism, with the naming and shaming of racists in sports journalism via the internet and the larger wealth of opinions and content allows for greater exposure of scenarios that must never be repeated.

Governments and the media should be kept separate as history has shown, however politicians and those in power must now answer the call of the people who have been fooled and lied to for too long.

The only way for journalists and media professionals in the UK is up and the only way to do that is to expose those who are unethical and abusive and help clean up the profession they and i earn our living in.

Manhattan Interviews, Part 1, Male Escort

 

A champagne lifestyle and thousands of dollars of money at your disposal as you jet set across a continent week after week, not the life of a famous celebrity but of an 18 year old male escort from Texas who shall be referred to as Mr D throughout this article. Mr D and i sat down on gay pride and he opened up on the life of a  male escort in 21st century America.

Scouted while underage in a club in central Texas, Mr D was taken in by an escort agency who regularly took up to fifty per cent of the thousands of dollars he made weekly from clients of all ages and walks of life before he started negotiating for himself. When one individual finally ratted out on Mr D he was swiftly removed from the books of the agency and began to drift as anyone who has been kicked out of home at 16 would do and been exposed to such financial, drug and alcoholic extremes.

A life of being gay bashed and discriminated against ensued on his return to his hometown to attend high school graduation and live on the margins of society, devoid of family support or true friendship, “i don’t trust anyone in this world only myself“. With the use of the internet and especially the website Adam4Adam.com a new avenue presented itself for Mr D who still had nowhere to turn with college seeming light years away.

A sugar daddy in Ohio came on board and a life of almost no sexual favors ensued merely personal company as Mr D sought normality and consistency. Yet this did not last and a swift change to California brought a world of closeted gay high profile actors and politicians into Mr D’s life, money and crystal meth were the norm for his companions with stretch limos provided for dozens of young men pampered by the super rich and famous in exchange for sex and silence.

This lavish lifestyle did not last either and within a few months Mr D found himself arrested  for prostitution before breaking free finally and starting into a job as care worker and living a normal and regular life once again one would assume. The internet came calling and a pampered month in NYC  and an audience of male escorts with an Indian Royal ensued before the floating path of the former cover model brought Mr D to Gay Pride NYC, alone and confused and without direction relying on offers from the internet to be take care  of by money and sexual favors elsewhere in north america.

A life less ordinary but one with no purpose or gain, just rejection and dismissal haunts him and his colleagues. The long term aim for Mr D is to go to college and study in the field of dermatology and to make a new life and to one day be loved and to love someone back but as American society dictates that money talks it seems this dream may be much farther away than the journeys he makes week after week criss-crossing America with his colleagues many of whom are stuck in a viscous world of Party and Play with only Antony Greene’s Art of Seduction for guidance.