Much has been made today about the news that the Iran captives have been given permission by the MoD to sell their stories.

Most commentators that appeared on TV were ex-soliders or seamen etc, and they seemed unanimously against the idea (at least I think it was unanimous, I spent most of today cramming chocolate into every last inch of belly — so I didn’t see too much TV).

There was one person, though, who made a very valid point about those condemning selling stories. They were all famous. And how did they become famous? By writing books, articles and whatever else about their experiences in combat… selling their stories.
Which lead me to think it wasn’t that they were annoyed with the stories being told, but rather the manner with which the ex-captives would go about it. Is there anything less gracious about sticking your story in the pages of the News of the World rather than amongst the hardbacks in Waterstones?

You could argue, successfully I’d say, that the tabloids would stretch and skew the story and make it a tad more dramatic to make it seem even worse than it perhaps was. But that is unavoidable. A solider writing his or her own book will also exaggerate to a point — except it won’t be in big bold headline font. An all round classier way to make money.

I’ll be looking at the coverage these captives get with great interest.

Some other reads from today…

[THE OBSERVER] Lesley Thomas: Posh girls fight, borrow and steal too

I was debating bringing attention to this piece as this post will be categorised as ‘Good Reads’ — and this load of drivel certainly isn’t.

Drivel is maybe a little harsh. But this author has written about her anguish over the portrayal that it was only black women rushing into that Primark opening on Oxford Street last week. I hadn’t noticed. I don’t think anyone had, really, so this column is really just an excuse for her to say “Hey! I’m black! Let me write!”. Sadly The Observer replied with an optimistic “Hey! She’s black! Let her in!” attitude.

I’m not suggesting for one minute that the only reason she writes for The Observer is her colour — of course not — but I do resent having my intelligence insulted by an article that is so blindingly obvious that it beggers belief why Lesley Thomas thought we weren’t aware of it.

[GUARDIAN UNLIMITED] Bobbie Johnson: Blogs turn 10

Wow. Ten years these blogs things have been hanging about. Which makes me part of the old school, I think, as I started my first blog back in 2001. I took it offline a few years later and had it made into a book! Highly recommend.
This article from the Tech Guardian’s Bobbie Johnson takes a look at some of the defining moments in blogging history. The thing I like about this is the sheer range of things that are deemed historical. Iraq bloggers to prosititutes to teenagers pretending to be dead. All very different events with one thing in common: people talked about them.

[GUARDIAN UNLIMITED] Roy Greenslade: Celebrities playing paparazzi in surreality TV show

Shamefully, I’d never heard of this Greenslade man, but it appears he’s 1) very famous 2) very clever 3) doing just what I’m trying with this blog… but a lot better.

So, jealousy aside, I can admit that his post on the new ITV show ‘Deadline’ (in which a load of celebs run around trying to make a magazine) is pretty much spot on.

One commenter points something out as well: It’s a magazine, with a team. The team will, eventually, get kicked off until there’s a winner. Which leaves the problem of what happens when the team is too small to run the bloody magazine?!

We’ll see. Or rather, we won’t. It’s on ITV2, and who’s watching that? No-one.

One final thing, I’ve added a comment spam filter to this site so that now I won’t be advertising for viagra, sex toys or hot latino women. Well, not on this blog at least.