This is how the news used to be presented - by grey people, before anyone and everyone became media stars by simple dubious virtue of being on the telly.
We now have people like George Alaghia who, instead of just reading the news, acts it out as if he is auditioning for a part in a local amateur dramatics production.
We now have people like Chris Choi on ITN and [insert first name here when you remember it] Robinson on the BBC who give their own versions of the news, rather than just telling us what is going on.
This leads to a grateful nation being told that the British Airways strike is all - and only - about horrible people depriving lovely holidaymakers of their chance to sun themselves in wonderful abroad.
So, today is a shameless plug for the new age of me, me, me.
The link above is to a new site I am in the process of setting up.
The line of thought is that news can benefit from the way the open source software movement has used public collaboration and openness of code to make ideas and products freely accessible by everyone.
We are used to receiving news through a process whereby it dribbles from the few and mighty, through the filter of the media (which have traditionally been owned by the same few and mighty and their mates and henchmen) until, after distillation and evaporation and a fair amount of adulteration and corruption, we, the supplicant poor and many, receive it like a gobbet of phlegm spat at us from the passing limousine, filled with shrieking drunks, as it speeds on its merry way to a party to which we will never be invited.
The idea of the filthy public as newsgatherers and reporters is neither new nor original, but the underlying idea for this project is that all the time we think that we have to scrabble and ferret for the droppings and leavings from the tables of the old media channels - yes, like The Guardian - we are having their versions of news imposed upon us, with only the occasional and limited facility to politely and respectfully beg to differ, before our stupid thoughts are deleted.
So, here we go.
It may be that things will be invitation only to begin with and I am still playing with setting it up.
Anyone interested can get in touch through the contact form on the site or:
atomboy -(at)- atomboy -(dot)- org
If you felt like it, you could even pass it on.
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