Saturday, August 25

Publish and be Damned

The Hexham Courant is our local weekly paper. It somehow manages to find enough news to fill a large broadsheet week in week out and now I know how they do it. You see last week I was the Courants Heroic Inspirational Cripple Story. You see, they found out about the Blog. Certainly this wasn't what I intended when I started writing this, I know I don't give the impression but actually I'm quite shy and am pretty private as well. So I really wasn't sure what to do, but a journalist rang me up and asked me a couple of questions, when did I start writing it and why? and basically that was it, the 'interview' cant have lasted more than a minute. I then grudgingly allowed them a photo which I must say was the best bit.
Anyway suddenly I now know why celebrities get so hot under the collar about reporting, because the whole story was written without him asking me one thing about my medical background. It was all assumptions and the phrasing is pretty dreadful for 2007.Its just amazing how a full article can be written on so little factual information. Anyway read it and weep is all I can say!!
A WHEELCHAIR-BOUND woman who keeps an Internet blog has been head-hunted to write for a national magazine.Lorraine Hershon, who lives at ******** with her husband and two young children, has been confined to a wheelchair since sustaining a spinal cord injury in an accident.However the injury has not stopped her living life to the full.In 2006 she started writing the blog – a web journal or newsletter – which was eventually spotted by Able, the leading disability life-style magazine in the UK. Four to five months ago they approached her and offered her the chance to write for them.Lorraine recalls how the blog took off: “It just sort of got bigger. I did not write it in the expectation of anyone seeing it. It was more my own personal thing.” The blog is called Keep Buggering On. The title is a reference to a line from Winston Churchill which is a running joke within the Hershon household. The idea of keeping the blog came about when she was referred to a counsellor after visiting her doctor with depression. Lorraine said: “The counsellor kept saying, ‘Tell me how you feel?’ So I started thinking, ‘How do you think I feel.’ “I thought it was a way to get things off my chest in a more anonymous way.”Lorraine writes on the blog most days. She shares her daily thoughts and stories of disability related issues she comes across in everyday life. Lorraine shares experiences in shopping centres and the reaction of friends to her being in a wheelchair.She tries to keep the blog humorous. Readers can comment on and share their thoughts with her.Lorraine will be contributing to every issue of Able but has no plans to stop her blog, which the magazine describes as successful and witty.The magazine’s latest re-launched issue features Lorraine’s first instalment.According to Able, her contribution is proving to be a great success and is getting a great response from readers.

2 comments:

  1. Wow, it's like someone challenged them to cram as many cliches and groaners as possible into one paragraph--and, well, mission accomplished. Painful!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous01:43

    I understand why this is so annoying, but I hope the story will spur others to enjoy what I think is a fantastic, very well-written blog.

    ReplyDelete