Gossip

Journalists for sale? -maybe!

I am not Eugene Lacey. It's not vital information, but I have to admit this before I start. I never have been Eugene Lacey.

So it was probably not entirely ethical of me to open the envelope. It was addressed to him; and my only excuse really, is that it was also addressed to me; it came to my home. And it wasn't really, truly addressed to Eugene; because Eugene works for ZDNet - an online publishing outfit where I used to write opinion columns. It wasn't for him.

This letter came to Eugene Lacey, D Net. That's not ZDNet, is it; so it can't really have been for Eugene, I thought, as I tore open the envelope. I'm working on "plausible deniability" here.

Inside, a letter: "Dear Ms Roman," it began. I'm not Ms Roman, as it happens. There is no Ms Roman at ZDNet, that I know of.

"Clearly," I thought, "whoever sent this is very very vague about who journalists are, where they work, and who they work for. I wonder what it's about?"

It was a special offer for Willings Press Guide, offering a "special discount price" of £423 for a Web subscription to their guide "which contains details of UK and International printed media titles, publishers and broadcasters."