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Jonathan King writes …

By Jonathan King, from insidetime issue August 2007

Beating the bullies


Jonathan King writes … Lots of publicity recently as my Earth To King collection is on the Mercury Music Prize long list for the best album of 2007. 25 copies of the CD have been requested for the judges to review. Not that it stands a hope of winning, of course. The music content is far less important than the image and the Mercury people could never allow such a winner; however good it may be.

Whether it is any good is for others to decide. It’s not just complaining about society – my favourite track is about a Celestial X Factor in heaven (no Simon Cowell; just God). There are love songs and covers, but the tracks getting most attention are about the state of the world, ranging from Satan’s Ultimate Weapon Of Mass Destruction, about the Devil telling his troops to destroy the reputations of all priests, teachers, foster parents and others who look after children; to Plead Guilty, condemning the legal trick of persuading innocent defendants to plead guilty in return for shorter sentences; and Professional Victims, about those who get money, sympathy and attention by making false allegations.

The one getting most media protest, however, is The True Story Of Harold Shipman. It’s actually not about Shipman at all but about the media and police/CPS habit of exaggerating and demonising defendants in order to get convictions, provide headlines and increase circulation and ratings. The public love a good monster.

But there is a way of fighting back. When I was inside, hardly a week went past without a huge spread in a tabloid about me; nearly always total rubbish. The tabloids are bullies, and there is nothing they love more than a vulnerable victim. Inmates are the most vulnerable.

Once, after a ludicrous Sunday spread about my cell being decorated with erotic paintings and being in the lap of luxury, a Governor came in to see for himself what rubbish this was and said to me: “Why don’t you sue them JK?” I pointed out that this is just what the tabloids would love – it would cost a fortune and I’d probably win, however the Judge would decide in his wisdom that I had no good name to lose and award me a nominal one pound compensation.

Instead, I used the new media and I strongly suggest this for any inmates who suffer from similar treatment. Whenever a rubbish story ran I called my friends, who were keeping a website for me that had (and still has) 10,000 visitors a day, and put up the true story plus the name of the Editor of the tabloid concerned and the phone number. Next day the answering machine was clogged with 50-60 complaints. It drove them crazy!

Every day I read some stupid story in a tabloid about an inmate, which I just know is rubbish. Often they are so lazy they simply recycle previous articles, changing the names. Don’t let them get away with it! You are entitled to have your side of the story read and modern technology now makes that possible.

My strategy was so successful that the Evening Standard devoted an entire two-page spread to it, claiming ‘How dare this vile pervert run a website from inside prison?’ But it is, of course, perfectly legal, very simple to set up, and easily updated with a quick phone call or a letter.

And it infuriates the journalists and editors. Bullies hate it when victims fight back. As Dad’s Army used to say, ‘They don’t like it up them’.

Let's hear it for murky lyrics Charlie Brooker The Guardian Monday July 16, 2007

The other song is Jonathan King's bewildering anti-tabloid tract, The True Story of Harold Shipman, in which the disgraced pop mogul outlines his skeptical approach to the media by penning a jaunty little number about Britain's most prolific serial murderer. Say what you like about old wonky gob, but he hasn't half rustled up a toe-tapper. It would make a fantastic entry for Eurovision, if only its lyrics weren't a) horrendously upsetting and b) written and performed by a convicted sex offender.



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This article appears under the following categories...
Miscellaneous

Summary of headlines for August 2007
What goes around comes around
Newspaper for Prisoners to be launched in
Month by Month
Current page: Jonathan King writes …
CCRC maintains performance despite year of change
Parole Madness
Journalistic pornography
The changing face of probation
Thought crime
Doing things differently
Missing or damaged property
Super-Asbos
On the same side
The Exclusion of Unlawfully Obtained Evidence:

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