There's a couple of media-related items I want to your attention tonight just in case any of you were drifting towards a position whereby journalism might be considered as nothing more than alternative way of making a living.
We start with our friends at The Sun newspaper, who on Sunday rang to ask about how the Trafalgar Club Dinner had gone. Having answered a number of questions including what wine was on the table, I was asked about the future plans for the organisation. "Eventually" I said "we would like to expand the Trafalgar Club to a thousand members, in that way we could raise about £250,000 a year." So what do we find in The Sun the following day:
BNP banquet to raise £250k flops
BNP supporters staged a swanky black-tie dinner hoping to raise £250,000 - but it FLOPPED.
The extremist party flagged up the invitation-only do in the hope of getting a huge war chest to finance its dream of putting MPs into Westminster.
But leader Nick Griffin and his followers were later forced to admit they had raised only "a few thousand pounds" rather than the quarter-million they had set their sights on.
Next I had a journalist from the free newspaper the London Lite call me. "We've had an editorial meeting" said the journalist "reluctantly the editor has asked me to do a feature on the BNP." "How do you mean, "reluctantly" ", I enquired. He then started on about how opposed he was to everything that the BNP stood for before I stopped him and told him that under the circumstances I wasn't going to waste my time taking to someone so unprofessional.
A little bit more light is shone on the London Lite incident this morning as the Evening Standard reports the following:
London Lite set to close
The London Lite was today placed under threat of closure.
The free newspaper, which is owned by Associated Newspapers, is set to become the latest victim of the recession, with 36 jobs at risk.
Still with that journalist now joining hundreds more on the dole queues he is hardly in any position to complain as he takes his place amongst the sizable proportion of the world's population jockeying for position in Britain's benefits system.
This afternoon I attempted to do an interview with a journalist from the Isle of Man. Understanding where his tedious line of questioning was leading I turned the tables and asked him to answer whether or not he thought there was such a thing as an indigenous Britain. Time after time I asked the question yet he still refused to answer. In the end I said I would terminate the interview if he didn't either confirm or dispel the extent of his own racism. He wouldn't and so that was the end of that.
Finally today, I have had to deal with the ridiculous non-story about a BNP leadership challenge contained in The Times. What utter garbage and do you know what those responsible for writing and publishing it know that too. Doesn't stop them from printing it though does it?
Anyway, thank god I have John Walker to help me deal with some of these people otherwise I think I would be either in jail or a sanatorium by now.
Here's a couple of interviews John has done recently that I'd like you all to hear:
BBC Radio Four Today Programme Friday 23rd October - 2hrs 12mins in
BBC Radio Five Live Steve Nolan Show Friday 23rd October - 7 mins 28secs
