Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Berton
Hi, I'm Peter Berton, a freelance writer who lots of experience covering the t-girl niche.
I am currently researching t-girl admirers. I am trying to find out what it is that t-girl admirers like about t-girls, what attracts them, how they view themselves, and so forth. I am seeking answers to the following questions for an article in the Capital Xtra! newspaper.
Here are my questions. You can send answers to me via this forum's private messaging system.
Whether or not you use your real name is up to you; I respect your privacy...
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You know, I have some questions TOO...
1) Speaking as a published writer myself, if you're
"Peter Berton, a freelance writer" why is it that I plug your name into Google and nothing comes up?
2) Better yet, if you're
"Peter Berton, a freelance writer who lots of experience covering the t-girl niche" how come I plug your name into Google
and add secondary search term like "t-girl" (which you used) or shemale, transsexual, TS, ladyboy, etc., and nothing still comes up?
I mean, you described yourself as having "lots of experience covering the t-girl niche".
Well, if you have so much experience, why can't I find any of it?
3) Also, how come when I call up the Capital Xtra! website, which is located here...
http://www.xtra.ca/public/National.aspx
...And likewise plug your name into THEIR search engine, looking for any previous articles you've done, you STILL don't come up?
4) If you're a journalist...or even a writer trying to slap together an article which you're then hoping to sell on a freelance basis...why didn't you FIRST contact the site's administrators/message board moderators and provide THEM with proof of who you are and who you're working for? For example, send them an email that clearly shows it came from Capital Xtra, at which point the Admins/moderators could have introduced you to everyone by saying "Hey, this guy's for real! Everyone feel free to help him out, if you feel up to it!"
Or you could have had someone from Capital Xtra contact them as well, to likewise make a professional introduction and to say, "Hey, we're planning on doing an article and we'd love some help. So, we're going to be sending a journalist along, and here's who he is."
No offense, Mr. Berton, but it seems to me you either went about this all wrong...you went about it rather clumsily...or, worst-case scenario, this is a scam where a person (you) is hoping some of the people here will reveal who they are, send you some pictures, or give out their private e-mail addresses (such as when a reporter might request that for "follow-up interviewing and fact checking").
Look, it's an open forum. If any of you are interested in responding to this guy, that's your business. Many of you have seen my posts here, I've been a member for a while now, and you should all know that I respect everyone's opinion -- because I do. So, you're all free to do as you like. But personally, speaking as a professional writer myself, I'd also strongly recommend that everyone here absolutely, positively, NOT give out their REAL names or ANY type of private identification AT ALL. And I say that just for your own online security.
Sorry, I hate to be the wet blanket here, but as someone who learned the hard way that the Internet is filled with more than it's fair share of scammers, people who try to get all kinds of info out of other people for their own jollies, I'm just trying to raise a few red flags. In fact, here's a scary and cautionary tale you should all read and take to heart...
http://www.laweekly.com/2007-10-11/n...-jesse-james/1
Truth be told, "Mr. Berton", here's a tip for you -- from one professional writer to the next. Just a little something for you to think about. Literally ALL of the questions that you're seeking answers to are ALREADY on public display here, for your reading pleasure, within the loads of message board threads at this site. So, since this is a public web site, you could have
already read through a zillion comments and pulled the research you need for your article. Which is another fact that again makes me a bit wary.
But hey, maybe I'm just the overly cautious type, you know?
I'm just sayin'...