Home  Attitudes & Opinions So Why Does the Media Insist on Fabricating Horror Stories About My Life |
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So Why Does the Media Insist on Fabricating Horror Stories About My Life |
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Saturday, 15 March 2003 |
Well, I've been thinking about this and I've decided that, whilst a small part is the normal demonisation of a celebrity, that we all love witnessing, and another small part is the automatic, regular response of lazy department editors ("Do something on KING; we haven't covered him for weeks") followed by basic journalistic incompetence ("beaten up....or prison romance...or business ring....or special treatment...or suicide bid") which merely involves "writing by numbers", the largest reason is simpler. Society hates the idea of prison being a perfectly acceptable life style. Clearly, if criminals start realising that life inside is perfectly bearable, the discouragement effect will shrink. So - whilst it's a natural right wing impulse to construct the odd "prison is luxury" piece, the true reality, that it's dull but bearable, is never covered and it's much better to try to paint a picture of grief and danger so as to deter other potential criminals. And who better to do it with than a celebrity? The advent of the internet and websites enables prisoners to update their daily life with regular reports and, just like in all other aspects, society hasn't learned how to adapt to the impact of the new technology. I know from readers that my site is acquiring enormous cult status. Over l0,000 people a day log on and visit - reading the true words of someone who has been locked up by the UK forces of law and order. Unfairly, I believe and, more than that, foolishly. The police and legal bodies were not prepared for the impact of the truth on a carefully constructed false allegation such as happened to poor Matthew Kelly. I only wish there had been an equivalent KING OF HITS site to carry the instant and immediate denial that I made after the saturation negative publicity, which lead to the abandonment of the charges against Kelly, when I was similarly set up in November 2000 with fictional accusations. A loud, public denial by others might have helped defuse the absurd case against me too. Some people in prison are innocent. But the vast majority are partially guilty (who hasn't got the odd skeleton in the closet?) but essentially decent. Their words, opinions and evidence have, in the past, been ignored. The police like that, as hearing their words might well indict the officers themselves (it's not just the publicised secrets you learn about individual cops - in prison you discover they are a pretty corrupt lot, as close to criminal mentalities as you can get). I predict that this decade will witness an explosion of prison based websites. Meanwhile, I continue to reveal that British jails are essentially boring but efficient places. Most prison officers are decent men and women, trying hard to do an underappreciated job as fairly as possible. Most inmates are very interesting and many are intelligent and nice. It's a fascinating world here. Don't believe the horror stories. JK"
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