Morals and decadent reporting
Andrew Kay is incensed by an approach from the ‘gutter’ press
I’m not sure that this is the space in which to be discussing morals, but then again, over the last few years I have somewhat drifted from discussing cushions and drapes to dietary dilemmas and parenting. Brave stuff for a confirmed bachelor you might think. Anyway here goes…
Only an hour ago my phone rang. It was someone working on a national newspaper and they wanted to know if I could do them a favour. Well I like doing favours for people, I’m that kind of a man. I of course asked what the favour was, only natural, I hope you agree.
Over the next few minutes I discovered that what they wanted me to do was confirm that a politician is homosexual. I asked how they thought I would be able to do that and they suggested I might be able to find out in an online chatroom.
When I asked who it was they declined to offer that information. When I made it clear that it was not something that I would do, in the background I could hear someone saying: “offer him money“.
My heart sank. I was being asked to entrap a private person. I was being asked to be a part of a process that could unravel the structure of someone’s life.
For whatever reason, this person may have decided to keep his personal life private. Privacy is a priceless commodity in a world obsessed with knowing the fine and not so fine details of anyone in the public eye. Outing people became a national pastime for the radical queer community some years back and progress was made by revealing some hypocrites. But at what cost? A ruined life, a loss of income, of family, immeasurable damage done to the innocents surrounding the outed.
“I was being asked to be a part of a process that could unravel the structure of someone’s life”
I live my own life fairly publicly, my choice, but there are things that I do not discuss openly, again my choice. I make those decisions for many reasons, once more my choice. No one needs to know every detail of my life or the reasons I keep those details private.
No one needs to know the details of this man’s life either. If he is doing wrong in any criminal way then reveal those wrongs, but being homosexual was decriminalised back in 1967. As for entrapment, hounding, public vilification, defamation of character… what next?
Freedom of speech is a fine and noble concept. The freedom of the press should be equally respected. But when that freedom is turned on one human being in an attempt to dishonour them for a simple matter of sexual preference then that freedom is being misused at best and perhaps abused. I refused to play their sordid game and would do so again and again.
