The middle of the line

Skuds has dedicated a recent post to me, all about a subject which has already appeared on RMF a couple of times – the odd relationship between the media and the sex industry.

Not only is the Crawley News still advertising adult services (albeit with a ‘disclaimer’, which I like to think was a result of this humble blog’s attention) near the back pages while reporting the case of a woman trafficked into the country and forced to have sex in a local brothel, but there was an outcry when the South Wales Echo did the same thing late last year.

As a result of a meeting with the government in November, it would seem that the Newspaper Society will be revisiting their guidelines on acceptable advertising. It would be good to know what those guidelines are, but they are available to NS members only. I can’t even find how much it would cost to get the ‘PERA’ membership required to look at the ‘Ad Points’ section of the website, so I suspect it’s not something I’ll be buying. If a friendly journo / advertising editor happens by and can let me know what these guideline are?

Only I’m pretty sure that they already suggest that adverts for massage or escort services clearly suggest that ‘extras’ are also on offer, or if the publication could reasonable expect that to be the case. I’m not sure if the ads in the back of the News cross the line, but they are pretty close.

After last month’s RMF exposé on the double-standards of the Crawley News, it seems that the paper has taken some action.

Firstly, after Skuds linked to the article here, he received an email which seemed to suggest that it was the News’ duty to publish the story because otherwise they’d be accused of burying it to placate advertisers. Personally, I’d think it a better idea to refuse the advertising to avoid accusations of hypocrisy, but hey?

Now, after becoming an avid reader of the back pages of the News’ classifieds, section, I’ve noticed this disclaimer appearing above the ‘Adult’ ads this week:

Notice to Readers
East Surrey and Sussex Newspapers advise readers that the content of the advertisements in this section relate to products and services of an adult nature. We accept these for publication in accordance with guidelines issued by the Newspaper Society and the Advertising Standards Authority, together with our own policies and procedures. If you have any concerns or comments about the nature of the material in this section, or complaints about specific advertisements, please contact Jo Mockford

Well. That’s us told! The adverts have also changed slightly, perhaps because they’ve been rejected or simply that the payment for them has ceased. Certainly the one for ‘The Honeypot’ has gone. The one looking for ‘Glamorous ladies’ has also gone.

But the kicker is this: Scattered throughout the classifieds are little boxes which advertise the – News classifieds itself, either in general terms or for specific services. Most are for recruitment. And the little box in the ‘Adult’ section is no different. ‘Do you have difficulty finding staff? Call our dedicated Recruitment Team’.

Now why would they put that in the section dedicated to Adult Chat lines, Escort Agencies or ‘Massage’ services?

Today the Crawley News had a splash on the front page (actually page 3 as it had yet another of those outer-page advert thingys):

“ANGER OVER ESCORT AD

Teenage girls could be lured into £1000-per-night escorting work from an advert placed in a shop window”

Pretty shocking stuff, huh? The advert reads “Wanted – female 18+ to earn good money. £30+ per hour. Open minded, fun work immediate start”.

In a masterpiece of investigative reporting, a female reporter called the number and got more details. A few residents, and a councillor are reported as (surprise surprise) thinking this advert is ‘shocking’, ‘outrageous’, ‘wrong for this sort of area’ and so on.

Well, I’m certainly glad that the Crawley News brought this to our attention. After all, it’s not as if Crawley is already fairly well known as having a number of adult services being offered – apparently the airport draws in a lot of ‘trade’.

However, I wonder if the Crawley News reporters ever read their own paper. For example, this week on page 55 we have the ‘Adult’ section of the classifieds has:

• 6 ads for Adult Chat lines
• 1 ad for ‘The Honeypot’ for Adult Massage
• 1 large ad for ‘No strings dating contacts’ with 8 ladies briefly described
• 2 ads for Escort services

But best of all under the heading “Staff Required”:

“GLAMOROUS LADIES REQUIRED for prestigious escort agency. Please leave name and number for interview”

Below which is a blue box to try and encourage people to place ads in the Crawley News.

Now, did the reporters really have to expose the dodgy nature of an ad in the Tilgate newsagents, when pretty much the same thing is being delivered to every household in the town? I would call the number myself, so as to launch my own ‘exclusive’, but my impersonation of a female is not very good. Perhaps the Crawley Observer will look into this possible scandal? (of course, I don’t buy the Obs, so I have no idea if the same sort of ads appear in their classifieds, or in the Herald, which I think is part of the same stable).

Local newspapers – as ethical as ever, eh?