Selling sex shouldn't be made illegal

I read in the paper today that there are government plans to cut phone links to call girls and maybe even outlaw paying for sex. This is utterly stupid.

It is an oft-cited fact that prostitution is the world’s oldest profession – I have no idea whether this is true or not but it’s got to be up there in the top five. No matter what your moral views are on the matter, it is a fact that there will always be a demand for prostitutes. If we make it illegal for people to pay to have sex with others, the already dangerous trade will be driven further underground and become even riskier for those working in it.

Having studied several aspects of the sex industry in quite some depth as part of my first degree, I’ve read a variety of opinions on the pros and cons of the legalisation of prostitution. One particularly eminent authority on the subject is an Australian sex worker (I’ve forgotten her name) who chooses to remain in her profession, despite having published several academic works on the issue. She is a radical feminist who believes that sex trafficking statistics are vastly exaggerated, arguing that the majority of these women are fully aware of what they’re signing up to and, even when they’re not, they choose to remain doing it when they’re free to go. She says this is because it’s good money, and as long as they’re working in a brothel where they’re protected by their pimps it’s not actually that dangerous.

While this does seem to be a somewhat rose-tinted view of the murky world of prostitution, she makes some valid points and it’s important to remember that there are at least two sides to every story. By outlawing a practice that is ingrained in society the world over, we will drive prostitutes onto the streets where they’ll have no choice but to get into the cars of strangers, taking their lives into their hands with every tenner they earn. Surely it would be better for everyone if it was legalised – this has worked well in the Netherlands, where prostitution is made much safer with free sexual health services and brothels are regulated, where the women (and men) who work in the industry can join unions and are liable for income tax. By adopting a fresh approach we could reduce STI rates, tackle the stigma and taboo surrounding this subject and make things safer for everyone involved.

Cyclists: the bane of my life

I’ve been working on a highly scientific observation process since coming to Cardiff which is based on what I see on my journey from home to uni, and I reckon around 80% of cyclists don’t wear helmets. A fall from a bike is pretty likely to entail some form of head/ground contact – in fact, according to brake.org.uk, nearly 50% of cyclists’ A&E admissions are for head and face injuries. So why don’t people bother helmetting up?

Let’s face it; cycle helmets aren’t ‘cool’ – you wouldn’t catch Vinnie Jones dead in one, and we all know that he is the embodiment of what a young person wants to be. Admittedly, dying young often gives people a ‘cool’ status (Kurt Cobain, James Dean)… But is premature death the length you want to go to to be assigned such a meaningless label through shunning a potentially life-saving piece of plastic?

An equivalent in driving terms is the seatbelt: I fail to understand why taxi drivers, who spend their lives driving dangerously, don’t see the need to wear them. Luckily, role models are starting to reinforce the fact that they’re actually pretty important – in fact wearing one saved rapper Kanye West’s life, as he reminds us in his lyric on Through the Wire, “Thank God I ain’t too cool for the safe belt.” I can’t imagine the multi-Grammy award-winning artist being too happy about scooting round the Principality on a push bike, but I hope you can appreciate the comparison.

Anyway, I digress. The other thing that absolutely infuriates me to ear-steaming levels is the fact that cyclists expect to be given the same rights as drivers without accepting the associated responsibilities. If they want to cycle on the roads and be respected by car drivers, they need to adhere to the rules. It seems to be the norm for cyclists to completely ignore red lights, sailing through them as if it’s their divine right, while becoming fist-shakingly indignant if a driver doesn’t happen to notice their half-hearted arm flap. This miniscule movement supposedly lets other road users know that the cyclist intends to turn right, resulting in drivers being cut up and half the time causing multi-vehicle pile-ups.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that people are being environmentally friendly and getting some exercise at the same time – but endangering others through reckless behaviour and sheer stupidity is seriously uncool.

The ineffable gloom of Boxing Day

Is it totally, inexcusably Scrooge-ish to admit to hating Boxing Day? Before you scream ‘Yes!’ whilst resolutely toasting the Messiah, wearing your cracker crown and feverishly thumbing through the Christmas Radio Times, hear me out.

Everything fun about Christmas is over and done with, at least until New Year's Eve, which seems like a lifetime away. Presents? Opened and, provided the giver has been thoughtful enough to leave the tags on, ready to be returned and exchanged. Food? I’ll never eat again (til turkey curry tonight). Alcohol? Ug, another G&T and I’ll officially turn into Pat Butcher. A nice, crisp, refreshing walk to clear away the cobwebs? I had my annual turn around the park yesterday – that’s quite enough exercise for this year thank you.

The grandparents are downstairs ensconced on the sofa watching Sky News, which was on its fifth repeat last time I checked. My dad’s frantically exercising on the rowing machine, terrified of the extra pounds just waiting to pounce on his poor middle-aged, ever-expanding waistline. My mum is pacing the hall, consumed with guilt at her desperation to hit the Boxing Day sales, and my brother has escaped to his girlfriend’s house, where yet another turkey-themed extravaganza awaits.

And me? I’m blogging for Christ’s sake – need I say more?!

Kim Hollamby and the relationship between magazines and websites

Last week IPC’s Kim Hollamby provided an insightful take on the relationship between a magazine and its website. It’s a conundrum that’s had me wondering for a while now: do you replicate the print version’s content word for word, offer a sample of enticing nuggets from the paper copy to encourage people to go out and buy it, or publish an entirely different selection of stories, thus reaching out to a larger audience?

Kim’s answer was that you should not replicate the entire publication, but focus on one element and do that really well (eg Country Life on property). I’m not sure if this would work with all magazines, many of which are popular because of the breadth of material they contain – it would look lazy.

One of my pet hates is websites which are full of promising teasers that take you to a page saying ‘For the full story buy our magazine’ – the ‘no such thing as a free lunch’ approach. Maybe it’s because the editor thinks if their content’s all online, people won’t bother buying the mag. I beg to differ: there’s nothing quite like the wonderful tactility of my sumptuous new papery-smelling, glossy-paged Traveller.

Personally I think the magazine industry needs to look to newspapers, which are miles ahead on this issue. They should embrace multimedia enrichment through complementary video – for example, how about footage of the preparation for a big photo shoot, which we multi-skilled Cardiff kids will be more than able to assist with…

Richard Burton: Journalistic Businessman

Richard Burton, managing director of the Jewish Chronicle and former editor of the Telegraph online, believes that print is not dead. Is it just me or is this statement less groundbreaking than it sounds? I think the online module has (unintentionally?) given us an exaggerated faith in the omnipotence of web-based news, and Burton’s assertion only reinforced my print-shaped question mark. Sure, newspaper circulation’s decreasing, but the UK’s 17 million non-liners would be pretty unimpressed if their paper boy no longer had anything to deliver.

But of course, the web is generally speaking the way forward, and Burton of all people is perfectly aware of that (just check his CV).

Print/online debate aside, something didn’t sit right for me with this lecture. Burton was at pains to state that he wasn’t a businessman, yet his job is undeniably business-oriented. In a marked contrast to the ‘accuracy over exclusivity’ mantra of the BBC, Burton’s priority while at the Telegraph was breaking news first.

Two examples he offered particularly struck me. Apparently, when 9/11 happened, his team were “literally changing facts as [they] knew them.” And even worse (particularly for a ‘serious’ paper) was the Kylie story: when it was announced that Minogue would begin chemotherapy, he knew that this wasn’t big news (“Well of course she’s being treated, they’re not just going to leave her to die,”) so they ran the story with a ‘career in pictures’ add-on. Why? Because most of their readers are 35-year-old male office workers.

Is such cynical decision-making really the only option for commercially successful journalism?

Frightened of a 12 year old

This evening I went to see Ratatouille with my housemates. The film was enjoyable enough but sadly our experience was marred by a group of three boys, aged around 12 or so, talking nearly the whole way through. They would chatter away, then get annoyed with each other and swear aggressively, then one would get up and move to a different seat, then they’d all follow, then they’d move back to where they’d been, then the cycle would start all over again, with some banging on seats thrown in for good measure.

I was glad to see they hadn’t completely forgotten their manners though – when one boy’s phone rang he did have the courtesy to move three rows down so his conversation wouldn’t disturb his friends.

So, what to do? I tried giving them a Hard Look™ – a type of icy glare my mother specialises in, guaranteed to turn even Osama bin Laden to stone, and which I have been honing to perfection in the mirror for many years now.

Maybe it’s been too long since I practised, or maybe these kids were just too damn cool – whatever, they didn’t succumb to the fear. Thus I began to formulate a Plan B. I decided that the best thing to do would be to go over, tap the ringleader on the shoulder and ask in a saccharine sweet way if they would mind being quiet – the ‘embarrassing them into silence’ tactic.

This idea sprang from imagining what would have shut me up if I were them – at their age an older person directly confronting me would probably have reduced me to a shadow of my former cool, boisterous self.

But as I was on the verge of going over to them, something stopped me. And what did I do?

Nothing. Save for a few Hard Looks™, I did not act. An absolute failure of modern day citizen policing, I sat there, heart racing, and chickened out of going over there in case… In case of what? Getting stabbed outside the Cardiff Vue? Well yes actually. What if they were Bad? They were wearing hoodies after all… They might be harbouring knives, or even guns, under there!

Ok so I know I sound like a Daily Mail-reading, Tory-voting 50 year old (although I wouldn’t have hugged the little rogues for love nor money), but these days you just never know.

As we left, I saw them counting their pocket money to see if they could afford an ice cream before climbing into a parent’s Renault Espace. But I could have sworn I saw the glint of a blade peeking out from beneath the ring leader’s anorak as he scrambled in, baggsying the front seat.

Pete Clifton's guest lecture

When I read over my notes from Pete Clifton’s lecture, I found a flurry of statistics, new ideas and potential concerns – an average day for the Beeb then.

The main themes for me?

Audience statistics

Apparently, 80% of us will see (participate in?) some form of BBC journalism every week, but the way we want our news is diversifying. The website has 5.5 million hits per day, yet 15 million non-liners use Ceefax. Auntie Beeb wants to cater for everyone and faces the daily challenge of how to keep her increasingly demanding audience engaged, from using video to complement rather than regurgitate its written counterpart, to localising news. Whew – no wonder she’s struggling for cash.

Web traffic monitoring

Unsurprisingly, the news interactive team monitors web traffic like a hawk. This awareness of what is relevant to the site’s visitors is vital in maintaining the BBC’s popularity. But could this morph the site into a fluffier version of its former glory?

I asked Clifton whether popularity statistics affect editorial decisions on newsworthiness. He answered yes but only to a certain extent – especially because there is room for deliberate manipulation by the audience. The concern for me is what happens if a journalist identifies an important issue which doesn’t attract many hits – does it get taken off the site? It’s unlikely but let’s hope the Beeb doesn’t forget what it stands for – accessible but serious news as well as the fun stuff – in its quest to please the world and his wife.