Caroline Flack: James O'Brien's moving monologue about the effects of tabloids and trolls

I trust 40 year old

flack

and in many ways not long ago she had the world at her feet. I don't know anything and I know more than you about all this so I can't sit here and tell you it was because of that or it was because of this, I have some pretty negative opinions, beliefs about the British tabloid media, but since I talk about it almost everyone the days, I don't think today needs any special mention, public narrative is one of social media at least as much as sensationalist media. My opinion on the tabloid media is not new.

We and I used to be entertainment editors at a national newspaper, although I did it at one time and with an editor who let me. Do not allow me to fall into the type of excesses and abuses that are common in the profession. I'm going to be completely honest with you, it was luck, right? If I had been in the chain of command of a different newspaper under a different editor with the same personality and the same ambitions. I don't think I would have ever said no. I'm not doing that on principle, not as a younger man because I mean, you know it's okay, we'll find someone to do it and I would have I've measured the inside of my legs again at tea time, which is a bit embarrassing, but I think it's very important to be honest, this sort of holier-than-thou position that some media critics take is probably false.

I'm lucky to be able to do it. I didn't have to do the things that I would now feel tainted by, but I don't think I would have had the financial security and the moral confidence to say no, so the stories and, again, just briefly about the tactics of the

tabloids

. Before I move on to other areas of the tragic death of Caroline Flax, the stories that used to make me laugh but always with a slight sense of discomfort, a deep discomfort and, you know, would make people almost brag about having committed an alleged death. call and try to steal a photograph of the murdered child from the grieving family's mantelpiece now some of this might have been an exaggeration some of it might have been embellished but there will be a kernel of truth and that was a kernel of truth which was around 10 years ago 20 years ago 30 years ago could probably be traced back to when Rupert Murdoch bought the Sun and put a man called Larry Lamb in charge, that's when things started to change and Rupert Murdoch realized how much money could be earned. from commodifying to being kind, to fetishizing to being a little less charitable death and tragedy, and given that the story that really caught Murdock's attention involved his best friend's murdered wife, it's a particularly interesting period in the history of British media, but again, it's not necessarily what we should be worrying about today, what I'm interested in is whether you, as a consumer of both traditional and social media, think that something profound has really changed and, really, I just want to know what do you think, but that will be question number one if so. and also this is a very strange conversation regarding Instagram Instagram is quite nice right, you don't understand, do they harass you on Instagram? confined exclusively to Twitter on Facebook I'm only in contact with people I already know Twitter is very much part of what some people would ridiculously describe as a brand it's part of my job it's part of the platform I used to get out there and you take the hard edge the soft and of course you can go.

I found out this morning that my friend Amanda Abbington, the actress, is no longer in it, so I had to keep track of where she had been, but given that. her ex-husband or ex-partner is on the news talking, I think quite responsibly, if that's not an inappropriate word to use in this context, talking very responsibly about the fact that she has hit her children. . I thought I'd better see what Amanda has to say about this and then I found out or remembered that she had left after being in this a long time, so you can't always do that and there's no point in pretending otherwise, but for me it's a little different from everything that has happened. before because it gives a kind of speaker to people that I think most of us would be baffled, really concerned and worried, if you spend more than two minutes of your day trying to hurt people you've never met because it happens. be famous quotes end of quotes or quotes in the public eye end of quotes there's nothing new about that impulse there's nothing new about you're probably close to an illness, right?

I mean, depending on how much time you put into it, but there is something about social media that has magnified phenomena that have been around for a long time in a way that to me, as a former Fleet Street showbiz journalist and obviously now as a professional with half a million followers on social media, it seems a little different to me, but my goodness, I have to jump from that to quite dangerous and irresponsible and directly contrary to the advice that the Samaritans give us when we deal with stories like this: it is a claim that a single problem could have led to an act like this.

This is not only very unlikely but also very irresponsible, so perhaps the issue that intrigues me most is anonymity. I mean, it shouldn't bother anyone if someone who doesn't have the confidence to put their own name on it is cheating on them. in your own communication, so I mean you shouldn't, but I can show you that yes, if you received death threats in the mail this morning, you wouldn't really care if it was signed or not, so there's always an extreme situation. I can read to illustrate the point I'm trying to make if you received a note through your mailbox saying "Oh, I really hate you, you evil ugly man, it would probably hurt more if it was signed by Doris in number 37 than if it was signed by Doris about three four six seven eight six six six two or I don't know the rose of England or the Christian west or something.

I mean, there's something quite comical about anonymity to the point where people actually care. and it's You might be worried about an existing threat or whatever. I think in this case the focus has been on the issue of mental fragility, you know, vulnerability and I heard a clip of Mark Wright, who I think is famous for being on The Only Way. It's Essex early in the morning, it was playing on our own bulletins, which actually touched me a bit. I mean, I think having experience on Fleet Street means that when you hear nonsense on social media you're almost Proud of it, you know?

The idea that people think you're so important is almost flattering, but if you come from a different background, if you don't come from a journalistic background, it must be really strange and hearing him say that it really hurts made me feel a little embarrassed, actually. because You know, the laughs and giggles you can have with people probably overlook the fact that other people could really get hurt by these things. Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me, it's probably one of the biggest lies humanity has ever had. he said to himself and yet we all sang that somehow in the 1970s in the 1980s