Newspaper hypocrisy

[Jan Klimkowski]

I know plenty of local newspaper journalists. They are routinely told, or find out in the course of their work, that they are not to investigate or expose or embarrass those who advertise in their rags.

In the Croydon Advertiser's case, it looks like the intrepid hack failed to read his own classified adverts.

Here's the official statement on this, ahem, incident from the Croydon Advertiser's owner:

We are aware of the sensitivities surrounding adult and personal services advertising. Conscious of these concerns, we take every reasonable step to ensure that the advertising we carry complies with both the letter and the spirit of the law.

No-one placing advertising of this nature is allowed to pay cash, as stipulated in the Newspaper Society guidelines. All advertisers in this category have to show proof of identity – a copy of which is retained for our records.

We apply strict guidelines to the wording that can be used and we promote the fact that we co-operate pro-actively with the police in the event that we have cause for concern.

What we choose not to do is to deny legitimate members of the community who choose to provide these services within the law, the right to advertise. This we feel is a dangerous precedent to establish and opens us up to pressure from any quarter to apply individual judgments of decency and morality

Carry on then....