NEWS.MC is inundated with press releases from well-paid PR agencies hoping for ‘a hit,’ so that on a slow news day we might write about the sale of a particular mega-yacht, for example. We don’t fall for it.
But every now and then an email arrives from a reader that captures the attention of all the staff at NEWS.MC.
One of the latest was from a lady who had taken offence at a column I wrote about a female pilot, throughout which I poked fun not at the pilot but at certain stereotypes such as the imputed inability of ladies to park anything larger than a make-up bag.
My columns are not meant to be hateful, as I was told they were, but simply amusing if read twice over.
However I was particularly miffed when other writers at NEWS.MC were singled out for praise, starting with Mr Jack Brodie, Mr Clive Freeman…
There is a serious point I am trying to make here, which is that the profession of reporting is besieged by political correctness and the straitjacket of received knowledge.
In the age of social media everyone and his cat can be a journalist.
In the good old days, not every Tom, Dick or Harriet could be a reporter or commentator. A substantial amount of money was needed to own a radio or TV station or a printing press. The result was that journalists were employed to provide what is nowadays called ‘content’ and, more or less, certain universal journalistic standards were sought and for the most part adhered to. There was a professional responsibility to keep to the truth.
And now there’s Elon Musk, a man who has no filter. Twitter, Or X as we are supposed to call it, is an extension of one man’s ego and the result is not a pretty sight. There are very few sub-editors or editors to fact-check, and the result is a dangerous uninformed mishmash.
But, dear reader, I digress.
In recent days our digital postbag has welcomed a number of offers of practical support for NEWS.MC and its Editor-in-Chief as both face legal action in Monaco over a news report about the use of Monaco companies to purchase real estate in France and Switzerland using proceeds of a dubious provenance. A Go Fund Me page is in the making, I am told.
Through the medium of this column, Mr Jack Brodie, Mr Clive Freeman and others have asked me to pass on their thanks as NEWS.MC strives to publish straightforward and accurate news reports likely to be of interest to our readers. Sometimes, press releases are not enough.
Monte-Carlo Diary is published in the interests of editorial diversity and any views expressed do not necessarily reflect those of the publishers.
PHOTO: Smell the ink. A web offset newspaper printing press
