Ellee Seymour

How much compensation should be paid to a journalist who is insulted by comment is free readers over his beard? The Guardian decided on the princely sum of £75.

This was apparently the amount paid to Paul Markillie, special features editor of The Economist after his report Blue sky thinking was posted on their site last month.

As well as the content of his text, some readers took exception to Paul’s beard saying:

My first instict was to trust you. But I was wrong. You are a marketeer in an environmentalist’s clothing. The beard is piratical rather not ecological.

and

This bloke works for the Economist? I thought he wanted tenpence for a cuppa tea!

and

The bearded one is perhaps pissing into the wind.

I wonder why a payment was made to Paul and how the figure of £75 was reached, and does comment is free make a habit of making similar payments to writers who end up facing personal abuse?

Paul and I used to work together at the Cambridge Evening News, he was very easy going and laid back. He had a beard then and used to smoke like a chimney. Ironically, Guardian Editor Alan Rusbridger was also a fellow hack.

I heard about this today from Paul’s daughter Rebecca who I met a Cambridgeshire Chamber of Commerce networking breakfast in Newmarket. We had a really good giggle about it, she described the payment as “compensation” and told me her father was still very easy going, so I can’t imagine he made a fuss about it. As a professional journalist, I imagine Paul’s concern would be on the accuracy and quality of his work, not his appearance. Why should bearded men be discriminated against this way? It sounds very juvenile.

I just hope Paul went out and had a good time with his £75.

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When Alan Johnson visits his “forgotten” constituents in Hull, I hope he grabs a mop and joins in the clean-up operation, that he shows some genuine concern by his actions, not just empty words.

An important lesson for him to learn is that he still represents his constituents, thousands who feel their suffering from the recent horrendous flooding has been ignored by government.

The newly appointed Health Secretary of State, who is MP for Hull West, is being shamed into visiting the city after council leader Carl Minns pleaded for government support:

“We need government help and we need government help now. We need to get the message out to the government to the people of this country how hard Hull has been affected.

“If this was anywhere else it would have been declared a national disaster and I think that Hull has been forgotten about.

“We need to get the message out to the government and to the people of this country how hard Hull has been affected.”

Even if Alan Johnson has been too busy to visit Hull, he should at least have picked up the phone and assured the council and his constituents that he was on the case.

He needs to remember that constituents have very good memories and will remember this during the next general election. Votes can never be taken for granted. Let’s hope he shows some humility during his visit.

And what about John Prescott, who represents Hull East? Has he given up on his constituents too in pursuit of a new career in Europe?

(Paul Thresh sent in this picture of a salvage yard in Adwick-le-Street, Doncaster to the BBC).

P.S. Norfolk wants its millions back for flood defence for East Anglia after the Environment Agency slashed its budget back this yearfrom £99m to £79m.

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Jacob Wetterling was kidnapped by a masked gunman in 1979 aged 11. He was cycling home from a convenience store in Minnesota where he had rented a video with his brother and a friend when the gunman appeared from a  driveway and ordered the boys to throw their bikes into a ditch and lie on the ground.

He later ordered the other boys to run off and not look back else he would shoot them. After a while they did look back, and they saw the gunman grab Jacob by the elbow and walk away towards a wooded area. Jacob has never been seen since.

His parents Jerry and Patty Wetterling formed the Jacob Wetterling Foundation four months later. In 1992, the Jacob Wetterling Act was formed in his honour. It was the first law to institute a state sex-offender registry in the USA, later amended to Megan’s Law in 1996.

Hat tip: Heather Yaxley.

In memory of those who are still missing.

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